Challenge Yourself!

When was the last time you challenged yourself? 

You made a decision not to give up, you said I can do this and followed through. 

What was the challenge?

What was the outcome? 

My Challenge-it started with a trip to the doctors office for my yearly physical, I knew something was wrong but I didn’t want to say it. The increased pain, frequent urination, mood changes, and increased night sweats, to name a few. 

My physical was completed along with the lab work being taken, five days later I got a call the doctor wanted to see me to go over my labs.

I knew what he was going to say and it was the turning point for where I am today. 

Hearing the words you are in the pre-diabetic phase and we will have to start you on oral hypoglycemic medication paralyzed me for a moment. This is something that I never wanted to hear because I never wanted to be forced to eat right or to be told what I could not eat. I was able to convince my doctor to give me time to work on it, he agreed and this is where the journey began. 

I was given a year to make changes to improve my health on my own terms. 

I left the office with a plan in mind: everything from my gum chewing, the candy that I ate, the two Splenda put in my coffee at least 2 to 3 times a day it all added up. It seemed that the more I ate the more I craved sugar, the more I wanted to eat. 

I began to pay more attention to my body’s signals: increased sugar, increased pain, increased urination all of these were signs of pre-diabetes. I can imagine you are probably saying I have experienced similar symptoms but you continue to ignore the signs. 

You are not alone, don’t fear there is hope and all it takes is a determination to focus on you. One thing I want to encourage you to do is know your numbers. it’s important to do a yearly physical so that you know where you stand with your health.

I am excited to share with you the beginning steps that I took to accomplish the goal of decreasing my hemoglobin A-1 C and going from prediabetic to having a normal blood sugar.  

All my life I have fought this battle dealing with my weight but this year I made the decision to challenge myself to focus on my health. I began listening to my body and paying attention to what it needed.

Sharing with you the three things that I did to jumpstart my healthy lifestyle change:

1. Eliminate sugar to decrease the cravings.
   I know you may be thinking this is easier said than done, but I will tell you it can be done.
   One of the first things that I did was make the decision that I would eliminate sugar from my diet.
   I started out by first talking to my husband and getting him to commit with me to one week of no sugar. What we decided to do was do a pantry sweep. We went through our cupboards and removed anything that was high in carbohydrates from pancake mixes to oatmeal, before doing this I did not realize how much sugar I was consuming. The key to eliminating sugar is mindset and meal planning. I learned that I had to reprogram myself, I had to change the pattern of using sugar in everything. Sugar is a real addiction, one that you will have to pause and take a deep breath and realize how much it has controlled your life. 

2. Change Your Mindset in order to stick with the plan you must shift how you look at food.
   Ask yourself: is the food that I consume harmful or healing for my body?
   You must remember why you’re making the decision to eliminate sugar, know your why. I am doing this because I do not want to have a diagnosis of diabetes, I do not want to be on insulin, and I want to live a long and healthy life. 

3. Start Moving! I started out walking three days a week for 30 minutes then I went from 30 minutes to four days a week.
   I am now up to six days a week walking about 45 minutes to an hour.
   
   Just doing these 3 Steps will greatly help to improve your health.
   
   I was able to reduce my HGb A1C, lower my cholesterol by 3 points and increase my good cholesterol. My cravings are lower than ever and this is just the beginning of a new healthy lifestyle!

   There is more, and I am excited to share my new plan “Modeling Your Way To Wellness” with you. So today I encourage you to challenge yourself, make a decision that will change your life forever. I am here to support you on your journey to wellness.