3 Things that Surprised Me About My Weight Loss Journey

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This journey to wellness have been long and tumultuous for me. I know it’s been the same for many of you. I’ve gotten your messages, your texts, your emails…

I had 3 babies in 3 years. My body went a little crazy, my hormones and my emotions were all over the place. After a year of spiraling downward, I began seeing a counselor and psychiatrist who both recommended medication. I was desperate so I decided to give it a try.

I was on antidepressants for more than 7 years. They helped at first…but slowly, they began stealing my personality. Stealing my joy, my excitement and my tears. And giving me many pounds in exchange. Over the last 3 years God has blessed me with FREEDOM and I am now off every single medication I was on a few years ago! You can read all of my posts from my journey out of depression here.

September 2017

July 2018

My Wellness Journey

So, in this post I will list EVERYTHING I am using as far as what I’m eating, exercises I’m doing, essential oils I’m using and supplements. I hope this post is a blessing to you and you find something helpful here! I am down about 28 pounds so far… (53 pounds as of July 2018!)

I can truthfully say that it feels good to feel good. After feeling badly for so long, after living in survival mode for years, I am so thankful I know what it feels like to feel good.

First the bad news: there is no one easy answer or quick fix to losing weight and getting healthy. I’m so sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. Grin.

Now for the good news: we are capable of change. God’s Word tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to renew & transform our minds. If God’s Word tells us this, then it must be possible! We are also told that we are being MADE NEW.

Friends, we are not stuck where we are. And that is what I believed for so very long. No wonder I was always so discouraged. But our God is a God of change, renewal, transformation, beauty from ashes…He is making you new, friend! Part of what needs to happen when we begin a huge journey like this is a mindset change. Believing that change is possible is the first step to making a huge life change.

I want to make sure everyone that stops by this post remembers how intricately our bodies were created by a loving Father. All of these things are so closely tied together. Our diet affects our motivation, our hormones affect our sleep, our exercise can motivate our eating, our sleep can affect our entire attitude. Do you see what I mean? It is all tied together!

I could not have lost 25 pounds doing ONE of these items. It just wouldn’t have helped me. I need a total life make over so to speak.

3 Things that Surprised Me Most

My mindset is just as important as exercising. (If I don’t believe I can change, why would I try??)
Essential Oils support my emotional wellness & help motivate me to a better life! (If I don’t have emotional wellness, I don’t FEEL like doing any of these things below!)
Sleep matters so very much. (After YEARS of not having good sleep, waking up refreshed has helped me with my energy levels so much.)

Diet

Yes, I’m changing how I eat. No, I don’t eat perfectly. I do my best to cut out grains, carbs, and sugar. But, I don’t tell myself I will NEVER have sugar again. Yes, sometimes I have ice cream. Moderation is key here. I have to stay away from it for the most part, as it is addicting for me. But I also can’t tell myself to NEVER have it. Mind games, I tell ya. 🙂

I started with a somewhat modified Whole 30 at the beginning of the year. Dr. Edie (Lifeingrace) shared with us in our oils group to read It Starts with Food and some of us jumped on board! I recommend starting here and googling Whole 30 recipes if you want to make some changes!

I have been doing a smoothie or juicing one meal per day. This helps me get in my veggies and gives me energy! (For juicing I add spinach, apples, oranges, carrots and 1 lemon. For smoothies I add banana, frozen berries, greek yogurt, spinach and orange juice.)

Exercise

I started exercising in 2017 more regularly than I ever have before in my life. I have gone through various things for exercise. For awhile I used my church’s gym (free) and I met friends there. I went to a local gym for a few years too, and now (Jan. 2024) I am currently walking outside with my husband when it’s warm enough and we have a treadmill and weights inside for the days we can’t go out.

I believe that exercise – both cardio and strength training – is helping my MENTAL state as well as my physical state. There is so much research to prove this point as well.

“10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than counseling.” from BodyBuilding.com

Hormones

My cycles have always been horrendous. Until now! I was on the birth control pill for years due to terrible cycles. In college I was on a different medication for this. When I joined Young Living one of the first things I tried was Progessence Plus. This has changed my female life and my overall health.

I used progessence plus every night before bed for several years. Then I hit my mid 40’s and believe I entered peri-menopause. My cycles started acting up again. This time around I tried another Young Living supplement called Mineral Essence and it TURNED AROUND my peri-menopausal cycles!

I also rub Clary Sage over my inner arms and back of neck each night before bed and I no longer wake up hot and sweaty! So grateful.

Our hormones affect so many things, so getting my hormone issues settled and healthy has been a HUGE blessing! {If you want more information specifically on progessence plus or other natural options, please send me an email and I can forward you some info.}

Sleep

Sleep has been a life long struggle for me. I have had insomnia since high school. I have tried everything from prescription sleep meds to using tylenol PM or benadryl every night. For years. Multiple capsules. I also tried every natural thing anyone ever recommended to me!

Up until this year, I woke up feeling like I could go back to sleep and sleep most of the day. I woke up feeling like I needed another 3 hours of sleep. I woke up miserable.

I believe that all the positive changes I have made to my health have impacted my sleep. AND I am using a supplement from Young Living called Immupro. It has the wolfberry in it for immunity and also melatonin for sleep. Win-win.

For the first time in my entire life that I can remember, I am waking up WITH ENERGY between 6-6:30am. Every morning. I wake up ready to get up and start my day. Praise God for good sleep!

Essential Oils

I think when people ask what oils I’m using for weight loss, they may be thinking that they can just rub an oil on and the pounds will fall away. I WISH. {grin}

For me personally, essential oils have helped immensely with emotional wellness. I was in dire need of emotional support. Because my emotions are 100 times more stable than they were a few years ago, I think I have the emotional strength and motivation to do what I need to do as far as my health was concerned.

I would love for those of you that are skeptical to just take a glance at PubMed. PubMed comprises more than 27 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. Go to the search bar and type in “essential oils” and any other topic or ailment you want to search for. You will be as amazed as I was!

Here are the oils I use daily:

Frankincense vitality – for stress management, nervous feelings, racing thoughts, emotional stability and good for my skin. I put a drop in my face lotion + 1 drop pressed to the roof of my mouth daily. Frankincense is my FAVORITE oil in the starter kit!!
Orange – orange is my happy oil. I put it in my diffuser every single day. Citrus oils are all my favorite happy oils!!
Grapefruit vitality – I put a drop of grapefruit in my water each morning. I prefer it to lemon, but some people love lemon in their water!
Dragon Time – for extra female wellness support
Valor – I love smells. This one smells amazing to me. I use it like perfume and put it on my wrists and neck every time I get in the car. Valor is great for calming, too.
Peace & Calming – in my diffuser nightly
Progessence – my female wellness BFF. I use it nightly by placing 1-2 drops on the inside of each ankle before bed.
Tranquil – I roll this on the bottoms of my feet before bed

Supplements

So, the more I learn about Young Living, the more I appreciate their ingredients and the care with which they create their products. I believe 100% that we have some of the best supplements on the planet. Most of them are infused with essential oils, making them even more beneficial to our bodies!

The supplements I use daily:

Ningxia Red – (read more about Ningxia at this link) this is our super fruit juice supplement. It is great for supporting nearly every system in your body. For me personally, it gives me energy. 1 daily dose (2 ounces) has the antioxidant power of 146 strawberries, 98 Spinach leaves, 44 carrots, 118 pieces broccoli, 186 apples, 45,628 almonds, 200 oranges and 1,628 blueberries. Wowzers. I don’t know about you, but I don’t get that much good stuff in my daily diet.

Immupro – this is the supplement that helps me not lay awake half the night. Immupro has a blend of 3 mushroom powders, orange oil, strawberry and raspberry powders, wolf berry powder, melatonin.

Greens – I know we don’t get enough greens in our diet and this helps!

Mineral Essence – we are so depleted of minerals these days, this is also the supplement that helped my peri-menopausal cycles. It tastes terrible but I’m willing because it has helped me so much! ha! I put it in orange juice with my greens.

Mindset and Motivation

Change your mindset, change your life! I’m going to highly recommend that you listen to my friend Edie’s September Morning Mentor videos she has been doing. She is giving us the WHY and practical tips for making changes in our lives!

Psssst. She is also the leader of our oil team. Isn’t she amazing? We get this kind of teaching often!! Such a blessing to learn about essential oils from a doctor’s perspective.

Get Started with Essential Oils & Supplements from Young Living

If you’re READY to take that FIRST STEP, I am here to answer any questions you may have and I would love to PRAY for you on your journey!! I would love the opportunity to walk this journey with you!!

Our team is led by my amazing friend (and medical doctor) Edie Wadsworth of Lifeingrace blog. We have an amazing Facebook group and support group of women who are on this journey as well.

You can choose the starter kit you would like to get started with by going here and creating your own Young Living account! As a wholesale member you will save 24% on all purchases but will not be required to pay any fees or monthly orders.

Every month I offer a new incentive…send me a message to find out what I’m offering this month if you join my team!

Read Part 1 of my Weight Loss Journey

(Click here)

Thank you for stopping by today, friends! I do hope and pray that something you have read here today will spark some HOPE in your heart regarding changes that need to happen in your life! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions or comments! I would love to hear from you!