I really thought I was doing everything right, but it turns out I was doing a lot of things wrong. My mistakes cost me my health. I had a stroke by the time I was 28. A few months after having a stroke, I contracted a disease called necrotizing fasciitis (aka the flesh eating bacteria). I got it through a paper cut of all things!

My body was literally saying - "that's enough!"

After multiple surgeries, weeks in the hospital and a new perspective on life, I decided to listen to my body.

I avoided fat almost entirely. 

I distinctly remember driving to Starbuck's most mornings before work to order a venti Skinny Latte with some sort of sugar free syrup. This was breakfast! I'm not saying a super sugary latte would have been any better, but this is how I elected to start my morning...with zero fat and artificial sweeteners. Ha! 

The rest of the day looked a lot like that. If it said "diet" or "no fat" I was all over it.

I counted calories like it was my job. 

Fewer calories were better, I used to think. If I could keep my caloric count around 1000 a day (essentially what my five-year-old eats today), I was 100% happy. It didn't matter too much where the calories came from as long as they were counted. 

Oh, and the calories couldn't come from fat, remember? Needless to say, ingredients in what I was eating didn't matter. Yikes!

I'm not proud to say it, but knowing what I know now about nutrition it's not a surprise. All the crap I was eating was throwing my body onto a blood sugar roller coaster. I had INSANE cravings that I was able to resist most of the time, but when I succumbed to them, the flood gates opened. Some nights it was a sleeve of cookies. I'd tell myself no more, then I'd do it again the following week polishing off a nearly a half gallon of ice cream. I was often bloated and depressed. Not shocking.

I weighed myself too often. Every time I went to the gym, I jumped on the scale. Of course, it was before I drank water with as few articles of clothes on as possible. I felt defeated if the scale went up at all. My gut reaction was to cut more calories.

I was a cardio queen! I used to throw on a pair of headphones and stride away on an elliptical for at least an hour, six days a week. I was surprised and saddened that the scale never seemed to move. I mean, I was burning all those calories, right?

The list doesn't really end there, but you get the point. Diet matters. I was 15 to 20 pounds more than I am today.

Today I eat what I want, when I want. Of course, I'm eating all the right foods. I still love working out, but those workouts are 100% purposeful.

If you recognize any of these habits in yourself, be patient, but be aware. But more importantly, do something about it.

It's time for change and I'm here to support you. 

Connect with me today.