I Am a Success Story

[KellyMarie]

I am a success story, my doctor and his nurse said so :)

I saw my doctor yesterday and was told I don't have to come back for 6 months. My weight when I saw him on 2/23 was 254 pounds and yesterday it was 233! I lost 21 pounds in 6 weeks and have lost a total of 43 since 2/1. My blood sugar has been in a good range, my kidneys are functioning at 100% and my blood pressure was perfect. My skin is clearing, even the butterfly rash on my face seems to only worsen with sunlight exposure and stress and right before my period.

I am so darn proud of myself! I have worked extremely hard and just the other day I was able to do 60 full minutes on the elliptical machine! My doctor said he wished he could do 60 minutes!

I am eating a mostly plant based diet now with the exception of one egg a week (my treat, I love them so much!) and I do drink 6 ounces of 2% milk twice a day and eat 1/2 cup cottage cheese with my lunch...but those are the only animal products I consume and am hoping to eliminate them from my diet soon.

I have never felt this good in my life...ever..not even as a child. I wake up feeling refreshed and go to bed exhausted and sleep like a baby. I don't ever get hungry anymore, I eat so much food so many times a day that I don't feel like I am missing anything.

2 weeks ago I noticed a decline in my energy and there was no reason for it. I gave some thought to what new foods I had introduced into my diet and the sucralose was the culprit! After some Google searching I found out that up to 40% of women in their 40's report energy loss when consuming sweeteners like Splenda! I do still drink Crystal Light (well the Walmart brand of it) once or twice a day, but completely cut out all other use of sweeteners. Within 3 days my energy was right back where it had been.

I am noticing that the texture of my hair, which was frizzy and unmanageable is beginning to smooth down. My eyes are brighter, and am now only getting an occasional pimple, before the diabetes diagnosis I was covered with acne!

My feet still hurt, a lot and my body stays sore, but come on, I am 47 years old and am still over 80 pounds over weight and am pushing my body to it's limits almost every day! But I am now only 80 pounds over weight compared to I was 125 over weight!

I thank all of you for being my cheerleaders and support system and thank you all so much for the prayers and good thoughts, the cards and the wonderful messages! All of that means so much to me and keeps me going!

[Heather]

That is amazing Kelly! I am so proud of you for all you have done! You are inspiring me to get myself healthier also! I really need to start eating better, too! Keep it up you rock!!!

[KellyMarie]

Heather, honestly, if I can do it anyone can! Just a few months ago I could barely walk to the mailbox without being out of breath! You can do it!!! And thanks :)

[Allison]

Kelly, I am so proud of all the positive changes you have made. By talking about your struggles and changes and road to recovery, you are helping so many people make an effort to change for the better. Keep up the great work!

[KellyMarie]

It has been a struggle Allison! I know that so many people need to make positive changes, I needed to desperately! But how do you do all that when you have a family as large as mine? Or when you know nothing about nutrition? Or worse yet, when you don't have insurance? Or because couponing for the junky food is cheaper than buying whole foods?

I am all of the above...at any given time there are more than 8 people in this house to feed, I have no insurance, we aren't well to do....but I had to get healthy because if not, I would die and when I realized that I would actually die, push came to shove.

I cannot wait to have time to write about how my shopping habits have changed and how you can coupon and buy healthy foods! Vera (chatwithvera) sent me a wonderful message about how I shouldwrite constantly about that and encourage others and I plan to...Vera is a waise woman :)

[Kim]

Kelly that is awesome. Yes I agree with Vera please write about it and maybe you can encourage me to eat healthier and maybe someday a BIG maybe give up soda but that will be if and when I am ready. lol I did just buy over 20lbs of fish so we are going to get that into our diets as well. There is so much junk food you can get with coupons and hard to find good stuff with coupons so PLEASE share.

[Delissa]

Kelly, my friend! I am so proud and so happy for you! You deserve every moment of feeling wonderful!!!!!!

[KarrenOliver]

Kelly...you are indeed the greatest success story ever!! I have so much admiration for you and all you have succeeded in doing. You are a great inspiration for all of us to get healthier!!

[KellyMarie]

Thanks so much ya'll :)

We just got back from a crawdad boil at my son's...I took my dinner with me :lol:

[KarrenOliver]

[QUOTE=KellyMarie;120033]Thanks so much ya'll :)

We just got back from a crawdad boil at my son's...I took my dinner with me :lol:[/QUOTE]

[B]A woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do! :)[/B]

[KellyMarie]

I did eat 2 giant shrimp he cooked and one crawdad, but the last time I ate them my sugar went through the roof and sure enough, I checked it tonight and it was the highest it had been in 2 weeks.

[stlcouponwizard]

Great Job Kelly, and if you didn't know it all ready you were a sucess before all of that, just a bit unhealthy. We may be your cheerleaders but we also need to be your followers on the road to a much healthier life style. Keep it up and keep us informed.

[ChatWithVera]

Well, done, Kelly. You're an inspiration - but then, you already were. You've achieved......
[LIST=1][*]The ability to stretch a limited income to facilitate the needs of your family and your friends via couponing and shopping in a frugal and insanely intelligent way.[*]You've successfully helped launch two well-done and helpful couponing forums on the internet sharing your wisdom with many, many folks.[*]You've shared your ability as a fantastic cook and kitchen-chef-supreme by your insight into food preparation[*]You've raised a family.[*]You've found Christ and He has found you.[*]You've faced death and death has not won.[*]You've faced your future and made changes that positively affect it.[*]You're sharing your success and your method with others unashamedly in the hope that it will benefit them.[/LIST]More? Yes, there is more as you live your life day-by-day touching the lives of people.

[Kim]

Kelly you truly are an inspiration. Vera thanks for pointing out all of Kelly's accomplishments. Kelly you are truly an amazing woman.

[lh150107]

Congrats, Kelly! That is amazing!! You go, girl :)

[KellyMarie]

Vera, gosh, you made me sound so wonderful :) Thank You. You are an amazing woman and really know how to make a gal feel good :)

[KarrenOliver]

I think Vera said it all very well!!! :)

[Kim]

[QUOTE=KellyMarie;120117]Vera, gosh, you made me sound so wonderful :) Thank You. You are an amazing woman and really know how to make a gal feel good :)[/QUOTE]

Kelly you are wonderful :)

[Rasha]

Congrats Kelly. It's so amazing!!!! Keep it up!

[KellyMarie]

Today's weight was 222, a total loss of 54 pounds since 2/1. My blood sugar has been between 80-105. I have bever felt this good, well except for being so sore! I have been working so hard and this old body isn't used to being pushed :lol:

[Allison]

But it is a good sore! Congrats Kelly!

[KellyMarie]

Thanks Allison! My morning weight today is 221.6!

[KarrenOliver]

You are without a doubt the awesomest of awesome!!