How many times are you at work and you don’t have a healthy lunch? How many times do you get home from work and you have NO idea what you are going to eat? I’m just gonna say it……it will never get better UNTIL YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!! NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT! I kept hoping it would happen that some “Healthy Living Fairy” would show up and guess what she never showed up!
So before I start my healthy breakfast and lunch preparedness blog post which is coming soon I just want to talk to you about the old days the way I used to be…….
Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I was that person who was stopping at convenience stores buying sodas, zingers and cigarettes…..(No I don’t wonder how I got thyroid cancer I have a clue my diet and lifestyle were atrocious)
Lunch was often fast food and dinners out…..Yes if you are surprised I haven’t always been the way I am now but I can only hope that my kids will learn from my mistakes and learn to love whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies and a little organic meat….although we don’t always buy organic because I’m frugal!
Dinner was often just anything I could run in and pick up at the store and then once I stayed at home with my kids I learned that there was another way although this took time…..and many years to get things to the level I have them now.
Just know their is no point in me having this blog and not be transparent with you so lets just say we wasted hundreds and thousands of dollars. Life has a way of teaching you about all your stupid choices whether you want to see them or not. And I gained weight….and just kept adding to it over time. I am also extremely grateful for the medical professionals that diagnosed and caught my thyroid cancer and for my nutritionist that I see now that helps me stay on track. This has not been an EASY journey for me but its part of my life so I am sharing it with all of you my readers who continue to inspire me!
I don’t even know what my highest weight was but at one point I was a size 24 and now I am a size 16 and working to get that even lower. I hope to live a long healthy life and be very involved with my grandchildren. Sustainable living provides those avenues eating an abundance of fresh kale, tomatoes, squash and other fresh veggies we grow on our homestead. Eating our delicious eggs layed by our beautiful chickens….they are beautiful trust me 😉 And we use our honey which is the best honey I have ever tasted in my life…..I’m not boasting it’s true! Maybe because there is something about extracting your own honey. There is nothing like sweat to work up your appetite…Nothing! And I must confess I could not stop licking my fingers….no I couldn’t it was too delicious!
I was a sugar addict and completely impulsive. My life is so different now and my next post is going to outline my healthy breakfast and lunch routine being a full-time working Mom/Wife/and Homesteader. When I speak in terms of being prepared I am discussing being prepared in all ways….if you were to go off grid tomorrow could you live without the finer things? It doesn’t make sense to hoard a bunch of chocolate just give it up and trust me after a while you won’t even have a taste for it. Well for the most part 😉 I have not had a candy bar or a donut since April and I really don’t miss them…again for the most part 😉
Are you caught up in fast food addiction? Quick fixes and impulsive decisions are they your temptation?
You are at the right blog! I was the person looking for quick diet cures and instant gratification for years and I promise you there is a better way but you can have fun and enjoy life and hey if you get your own bees you will never have to eat sugar again! (well not much of it anyway)
I am always so appreciative of those of you who come by my blog and say hey to me I am flattered because I realize your time is your most valuable asset and you chose to spend it reading these words.
Live, Laugh & Love!
Fondly,
Related articles
- Thyroid Cancer and Depression (everydayhealth.com)
- The Benefits of Thyroid Cancer Support Groups (everydayhealth.com)
- Cooking for a Thyroid Cancer Diet (everydayhealth.com)
- The path to true wellness – it’s a loving choice (truthaboutsergebenhayon.com)
- Thyroid cancer risk persists decades after Japan atomic bombs: Study (todayonline.com)
- Study shows risk of cancer appears to last for entire lifetime after exposure to radiation (enformable.com)
- The Busy Girl’s Guide to Eating Healthy (happykaylieplace.com)
- Hiroshima’s ongoing thyroid cancer legacy (abc.net.au)
Take one day at a time and your healthy lifestyle will become habit not work!
Thank you Susan I sure hope so!
Very awesome post—both for laying it all out there and for inspiring us all to choose better. You are doing an amazing job!
Thanks so much for the compliment and stopping in……I hope to share with others that no matter what point you are you can always start and change your ways. 🙂
Wow! What a difference in those 2 photos. You were beautiful in the before, but the after is stunning! Glowing, healthy skin, and that smile! Good for you, for making the changes you needed to for a healthy life.
Thank you so much Wolfsong….I really attribute a lot due to getting off of that white sugar stuff our bodies just don’t know what to do with it. I am constantly striving to improve.
HURRAY KAREN 🙂 What great changes you’ve made and although your smile is beautiful in both pictures the smile on the healthier you is radiant. A dx of thyroid cancer can have a lot to do with your weight as I’m sure you know. Keep on homesteading it’s certainly doing good things for you 🙂
*anna
Anna absolutely after my thyroid cancer was removed I had a new lease on life and very soon after lost 15 to 20 lbs….It’s this recent 30lbs that have been hard and really required me to be disciplined and change my ways. Thanks for your encouragement! I believe being involved in all my passions gardening, raising chickens, admiring our bees and eating the delicious honey all homesteading pursuits have been a huge part of my lifestyle change 🙂
Hi Karen Lynn,
I’m very proud of you for choosing health and life and sticking with it! Your family is much better off for it too!
Lisa Lynn I agree! I really realized the other day I was in Walmart and saw all the processed foods people were buying how much different we really are……I just wish I had more time to make homemade crackers and such….but we keep getting better and better at it!
I have realized that diet and health have a strong relationship. That said, I eat well for awhile and then in times of stress or change, I resort to fast foods and snacky things. I have at least gotten off of Coca-Cola. It was truly like an addiction to me and I dare not even drink one.
Those two pictures are dramatic. You’re doing a great job and I know you feel better. You go, girl! You glow, girl, too! 😉
Thanks so much Cristy! I can’t touch regular soda it is an addiction for me too…..and I used to just slurp it down. I drink lots of water and some coffee and kombucha mostly and thats about it. Thanks so much for your kind words and for stopping in 🙂
WOW! Karen, you look fantastic!!! BRAVO!!! What an inspiration you are!
Thanks Ewa! I keep working at it! 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing openly. What an encouragement…we really can change bad habits! It’s a great testimony! Thank you for being a good example.
Thanks you so much Rose Petal I appreciate your encouragement and thanks for stopping in. 🙂
Dre at Grackle & Sun thinks your blog is On Fire! You can accept your Blog On Fire award here: http://grackleandsun.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/blog-on-fire/
Don’t forget to write 8 unusual things about yourself and to share the award with 8 blogs that you think are awesome. If you’re not into blog awards, no worries. Just wanted you to know your work is appreciated. 😀
Thank you so much! I will have to work on this and I love feeling appreciated 🙂
Congratulations…you look beautiful.
Thanks Connie!
We too are on the path to live more sustainably. I think for us we have noticed far less agression and anger. My husband and I have not had one fight in almost two years, arguments, yes, but we resolve them calmly. I think that sugar and other things in such high quantities has more affect on people than most studies show.
I am so happy for you that you have had such improvement with your health! That is incredible! 🙂
That is a great point. I must say our house has been calmer as well. Thanks for your comment!
You are an inspiration. Not only for your stick to it additude but for your great gardening.
Thank you!
Thanks so much Lacy! I so appreciate your kind words!
I’m so glad I found your blog….I found you from the Homestead Revival Barn Hop. I love witnessing the changes in others, it gives me encouragement that I, too, can do it! You have a new follower and am excited to witness the changes as you go along.
Mary
Thank you so much Mary! So glad too connect with a new homesteader 🙂
This is such an encouraging post! Right now, I am where you were in the 80’s and 90’s and am trying desperately to change..I hope to use your blog for encouragement! Thanks so much!
Miranda I am glad it encouraged you I plan to write some more healthy living posts soon!
I am trying to get the weight off too….you look so beautiful in your after pic…you can really see how stressed your body was in the first pic!!!
Thank you Deborah! I believe I was very stressed ironically I felt great or at least I thought I did….it’s definitely a journey!