Caralee Baker Part 1!

Hi, my name is Caralee in the past 6 months I have lost 30 pounds, and now weigh less then I have in over 4 years. Jocee asked me to do a guest post on my weight loss journey.

For as long as I can remember I have always struggled with my weight and feeling pretty. I am tall and big boned and I always felt like I was a fat giant compared to my friends. When I was 16 I was diagnosed with a thyroid condition. For those of you that don't know having an under active thyroid usually causes weight gain and a very slow metabolism.So any type of weight loss was a struggle. After I got married I wanted to get pregnant, but couldn't. I was diagnosed with a type of infertility called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), one of the side effects of PCOS is weight gain. At this point I kind of gave up hope of ever being skinny again, it was two strikes your out kind of thing. Well time went by, I finally had a baby and then I had another one. By the time my second baby came I was heavier than I had ever been in my life. Along with my thyroid condition and my PCOS, I have always struggled heavily with depression. Depression kicked in a this point and hard. I tried fighting my depression with out taking meds(because they can also cause weight gain) but my depression slowly got out of hand and started interfering in my family relationships.  Finally enough was enough, I sunk lower in my depression than I have every been and it scared me. I finally made the decision to get control of my body again and made an appointment to see my doctor. I broke down and cried in her office as I told her how trapped I felt in my body. She suggested getting my thyroid checked and regulated, going on antidepressants, getting on  a birth control (the only thing that can help balance hormone imbalance related to PCOS), and getting on a medication that will help to regulate my blood sugar(another side effect of PCOS).  I left her office feeling more hopeful then I have ever felt. I was finally going to get control of my body and my depression. I was going to lose the weight that I had gained and I was finally going to feel better about myself, inside and out.

So the first thing I did was:

1. Become determined to make permanent changes in my life for a better and healthier me.

 I mention this because losing weight and keeping it off is not a diet here or some exercise there. Losing weight  requires changing your life/diet and activity level permanently. A lot of people gain the weight back that they have lost because they after losing the weight they go back to their old habits of eating bad or not exercising. To be really successful in weight loss you have to change your life, and make a commitment to yourself and your body to become more healthy.

2. Go see the doctor. Make sure that ether are no underlying medical issues that will prevent the weight from coming off.

Make sure that you don't have any other underlying condition that may be preventing you from losing weight.In my case it had a lot to do with my hormones and depression. Some of you may not need this step but for me it was crucial in my weight loss.

3. Find a diet that works for you.

For me the diet that I decided to be one was eating  raw and natural food as much as I could. It is more expensive to buy the healthier foods but it is much better for you and your family. I started drinking green smoothies for 2-3 meals a day. Green smoothies are so awesome and deserve a post all to itself.( I will do one if you want me too) What really makes them awesome is that most of us don't get all the good fruits and veggies that your body needs on a daily basis. Also it has been proven that a diet high in veggies helps you to lose  more weight. But seriously who likes to eat veggies all day every day? Blech! I love veggies but eating them all day is just not going to happen. By blending your veggies with fruit you not only get your fruit and veggie intake for the day, it tastes better and the process of blending up your food is important too. By blending it all up, your body doesn't have to work as hard to break down your food as it digests it, because the blender all ready did that step for you. So all your body has to do is collect all the nutrients that are in the fruits and veggies and send all that yummy goodness to where it is needed the most.

I have found that with eating green smoothies every day I have lost more inches all over my body(especially my stomach and butt). That I have a million times more energy than I used to have. That because I get to drink a fruit sweetened drink all day, I don't crave sweets nearly as much as I used to. Also green smoothies have been said to help with depression and I have totally noticed that benefit as well.

Along with green smoothies I have tried to add lean proteins to my diet. Hard boiled eggs, chicken, and nuts, and string cheese. I have eliminated most carbs and dairy from my diet.

Most of all just try to make better choices in your diet. Choose fruit and veggies over cookies and fried food. If you go out to eat a lot, go to Subway and get a turkey sandwich and load it up with veggies. My family loves Subway and my 4 year old says that it is her favorite restaurant(even more than McDonalds!)