Essential Oils for Weight Loss

Each day I become a bigger "essential oiler." For those of you unfamiliar with essential oils, they are the life blood of a plant. They were used for medicinal reasons before chemically created medicines began to poison us. Oils are referenced many times in the bible (just to show you how long they have been being used). 

I started out extremely skeptical. These "smelly waters" were just another expensive marketing scam. They don't do anything. These people are crazy. 

Towards the end of the school year, I began to get sick (sore throat, congestion, yucky head stuff). A friend invited me to a meeting and gave me thieves and eucalyptus. I felt better before the end of the meeting! My scratchy, sore throat was GONE. My congestion was clearing up - I could breathe! She sent me home with peppermint for anymore sinus issues - and I. Was. Hooked. 

I ordered a Young Living started kit (Young Living is the only company with a seed to seal promise. After a great deal of research, I settled on YL.) shortly after that meeting. 

I've used them for so many things! Cleaning, sinus trouble, migraines, headaches, sore back/feet/anything (especially from working out), my son's eczema, anxiety, insomnia, ETC! The list could go on forever. Now I'm using them for weightloss!

I had the idea to make and take these from reading another blog: http://stuffparentsneed.com/tag/young-living-oils-for-weight-loss/

She used grapefruit, peppermint, and lemon essential oils mixed with coconut oil. Peppermint and lemon come in the kit, and grapefruit is fairly cheap. I also ordered empty capsules and the coconut oil. Following her directions, I mixed them up, filled them up, and stuck them in the freezer. 

I've only been taking them for a few days, but I can tell a difference! It's summer time, and I'm used to snacking constantly throughout the day - I don't have the snacking urge anymore! I don't even really care to eat until my tummy is talking to me. I can't speak to how big this is for me and my body!

I don't weigh myself each day, but I will definitely update when I do to see if they are helping with weightloss!

Progress Perfection!

There are few better feelings than watching the scale numbers decrease! It means my hard word, sweat, tears, and lack of sweet treats isn't for nothing! The scales aren't headed down fast, but down is always better than up. 

PACT app has been a HUGE help. I may be comfy on the couch and exhausted, but I still don't want to owe $5+! So my butt gets up and walks for 30+ minutes. I've found the time goes by a lot faster if I try to run. Apparently when you are gasping for air like your life depends on it, you don't notice time. I've completed over 200 activities (excersice, calorie counting, and eating fruits/veggies), and I've earned almost $20! May not seem like much, but when I lose the weight - shopping here I come!

I went shopping recently due to the new school year, and I made myself use their full length mirror (I don't own one!). I see weightloss in my calf/thunder thigh areas, but not much of it. My butt, stomach, and arms sure aren't going anywhere fast. It's okay. I know I'm headed somewhere better - getting my life back! I won't be trapped inside this flubbed suit forever!

Motivation is Key

Motivation is key! Last week was very successful. I'm using the PACT APP, and I met all of my goals. I don't like loosing money, so it works well!

I went down in weight (just a smidge) by the end of the week. I've upped my goals for this week. Looking forward to more progress!

To Eat or Not To Eat

     To eat or not to eat? Well that's a stupid question - Eat! Eat all the foods! 

     I am horrible when it comes to eating. Either I eat well or a eat horrible. If I'm eating horribly, I'm eating everything in sight. I snack. I snack all the time. I keep snacks in my classroom - and when I say snack I don't mean apples and grapes - I'm talking JUNK: salt and vinegar Pringles, Chocolate Chip Blue Bell ice cream, twizzlers. I can always find a way to justify eating it: "I'll run a mile tonight" (I don't), "I'll start my diet Monday" (it's over by Tuesday). It never fails. I eat and I sit. It's a cycle. 

    Time to end that cycle! This is the time it's over!  Yesterday I finished off my ice cream and Pringles. These are my two huge vices. It's not that I'll never have them again, but I'm 'taking a break' from them until July. I'm sure they'll understand. 

     I recieve a CSA order each Wednesday - local fruits and vegetables. From this day forward, I will no longer purchase junk or crap. I will eat things from my CSA share instead. 

PROBLEM: I hate veggies and many fruits. 

    It's going to take a lot of practice cooking to turn this stuff into stuff I like! But here is to a new journey and a new (healthier) me!

My CSA for this week:

My breakfast today: Julienned sweet potatoes and farm fresh eggs. 

This was really good! I should have put the potatoes in the oven to make them crispier. 

My lunch: Zuchinni Noodles and Teriyaki Chicken

This was not good. Zuchinni was yuck! I'm not a fan. The chicken was okay, but I should have seasoned it better. 

I have a craving for more food. I'm not necessarily hungry - just want to eat. Thankfully - there's nothing in the house to eat! If I was hungry, I'd cook. Since I just want to mindlessly snack, I will not eat randomly. I have grapes and peaches I could snack on, but I don't really want those. 

TIP ONE: Don't keep temptations in the house!

First Success!

     I created this blog to help "lose my excuses." I'm a single mom, so more times than not it's just my son and I at home. If I'm already sitting down, there's no one to help motivate me to go complete my mile - this has been my biggest issue. I am in no way a self-motivator. 

    Today I spent almost ten hours in the car taking my son to camp. I was up before 4am. When I finally got home, I curled up with netflix and ice cream (I'm not denying myself bad foods - but I am cutting back and counting calories). When it came time to get ready for bed, I hadn't completed my "mile a day" goal. I started thinkjng of how I'd phrase it on my blog: "long day in the car - legs too cramped to walk today", " sad because my son's at camp - I'll walk two miles tomorrow to make up for it", "too tired from a 4am wake up - no mile today." They. All. Sound. Pathetic. I mean really a in home alone with no responsibilities no pressing issues and nothing that says I can't get my butt off the couch for twenty minutes. 

     When I started having to put my excuses into words for someone else, I just couldn't do it. So I got up and did my mile!

And it was the fastest mile to date! Woohoo! I was so pshyched! But I was also completely winded so keeping going was a definite no go. It felt great! And it feels even better to be able to come to my blog and share that I overcame my first excuse of the "New Me."

If I can do it, so can you!

Run Tubby Tubby!

     Exercising has always been difficult for me. Why force myself to be uncomfortable and sore? Well - now that I am motivated, and I know why! If I don't start being sore, I will never get to where I want to be. My immediate goal is one mile a day. Just one mile. It takes me a little less than twenty minutes to complete one mile. (Yes, that is me pushing it!) I know I am slow, but at least I am moving. 

    I began the month of June off right with a mile first thing this morning. These hideous and embarrassing photos are from after my mile this morning. I hate looking in the mirror, but I know if I don't start looking in the mirror and forcing myself to see what I've become - I will never change.


Here is to NOT looking like this in July or ever again!

Day One

     I have always been overweight. I don't know how it started, where it began, why I didn't stop sooner, how I became this large - I just know I've always been overweight. It has always been a battle, but a battle on the back burner. My weight has never stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do - of course I could never run or play sports or go hiking without a lot of difficulty, but I never let myself head towards those things. Other, slower, activities filled my time. 
      I have never hated myself. Being that I like who I am, I pushed my weight to the side. "If I like who I am, why should what I look like matter?" School, friends, family, and jobs were always placed I could be successful. Clothes, sports, and stairs gave me trouble. At sixteen I became a mom. Sixteen and pregnant isn't as glamorous as it looks on TV. With family support, I had my son, graduated high school, graduated college, and became a teacher. During my pregnancy, I gained 70+ pounds (yes, in addition to the baby). 
       Between being a mom, student, employee, daughter, ETC, I never had time to focus on fitness or eating healthy. After having my son, I knew I wanted to lose the weight. I want to bit fit, so I can run and play with him - so I can keep up - so I can set a good, healthy example. Each week of college always started with the "Let's Do This" attitude, up at 4am to workout with Fitness TV, taking stairs at classes, packing a good lunch - yatta yatta yatta. As the week progressed, I did not stay motivated. Excuses. Excuses have always been my downfall. I have homework. I have a test. I need to prepare. I need to cook. I need to clean. I need to play with Wyatt (which is always, ALWAYS important). I need to help someone with something. So I never reached any goals. I continued to back slide. 200 pounds in high school. 250 by the end of college. I moved out after college and bought junk food. No one to watch me as I splurged on ice cream. No one to motivate me to workout. Bad relationships that fostered more bad eating. By my second year of teaching, I was 330 pounds.
     Now - yes, there are a lot of holes in the above story, but it sums it up - I'm fat, extremely obese at 5'6" and a busy lifestyle with no motivation has gotten me here. Today. Day One. 


    Day One - I call this day one because it IS and WILL BE the first day of the rest of my life. I am financially secure (not as much as I want, but enough), I have a career, my son is eight years old, and it's summer (I'm a teacher, so this means FREEDOM). I am tired of breathing heaving with half a flight of stairs. I am tired of not being able to practice soccer with my son. I am tired of tight clothes. I am tired of expensive clothes because it requires a circus tent amount of fabric to fit.
     This blog, even if it never gets read, is my way to LOSE THE EXCUSES. There is no reason I can't take twenty minutes a day to do a mile. There is no reason I can't take time to plan healthy meals. I am going to LOSE THE EXCUSES and this blog will help keep me on track. It will also serve as a reminder that I can do whatever I put my mind to do.


Highest Weight: 330
Start Weight: 327
Goal Weight: 150
Height: 5'6"