Overcoming Fibromyalgia and reclaiming my life!

I’ve been married for 15 years, of those years I’ve suffered from chronic pain and fatigue for at least 14 years.  Over the years I’ve been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, arthritis (back, knees, feet), hashimoto’s thyroiditis, gout, and pseudotumor cerebri.  Either because of these conditions or as a result of the impact of them, my weight has always been an issue.  When I graduated high school I was at my thinnest at 140 lbs.  My heaviest weight was 226 lbs. Today I weigh 160 lbs and am healthier than I’ve ever been in my entire life! Let’s recap how I got from there to here! (May 2014 update: I have lost a total of 83 lbs! Lowest weight is now 143 lbs!)

At the beginning of 2013 I was going through another round of neurological testing to check for MS.  When those tests came back with inconclusive results the doctor said we may never know what’s wrong with me.  After suffering years of pain, fatigue and other disabling symptoms I felt hopeless. Over and over again doctors said the only thing that might help me was losing weight.

When suffering constant pain it’s often easy to get depressed. I was very unhappy with my life.  I felt like my family would be better off without me around. I couldn’t be a good mom or wife because most days just getting out of bed was difficult.  I was fed up with feeling the way I did. The thought of working out was intimidating because just moving hurt.  Sometimes I hurt even when I did nothing at all.

Determined to reclaim my health I set out to lose weight. I decided I would start by walking every day. I started out with one mile Leslie Sansone walk at home dvds. In time I moved on to 2 mile dvds. As I advanced to the 3 mile dvds I thought about taking my workouts outdoors. I decided to train to run/walk my first 5k. It wasn’t pretty but I did it!  Along the way I’d lost some weight.

In September after my 5k, I decided to try some different workouts. I did my first Beachbody workout, Slim in 6.  I got stronger and lost more weight. I followed this up with the Slim Series express workout program and continued to lose weight and get stronger.

Now that I was seeing results I was determined to keep pressing on. I did another beachbody workout called Body Gospel. I lost even more weight and found I was able to do advanced workout moves because I was no longer in pain!

In November I did my second 5k of the year with an amazing group of friends.  I love that my husband and friends joined me in this race. Two years prior to this we had walked this same race and I was so out of shape I nearly didn’t finish walking the course. This year I ran/walked it in record time for me!

When I went to the rheaumatologist in December 2013, all of the symptoms of fibromyalgia were gone! I had been healed from it through eating healthier, being active, and losing weight! My doctor was amazed at the progress I’d made in just a few months time.

Knowing I was getting stronger every day, I decided to push myself a little harder. I recently started doing a very advanced workout program called T25. It’s hard and some days I dread it, but I’m now able to do lunges and squats. For a long time these movements were impossible due to the pain it caused me.

I’m also drinking daily meal replacement shakes called Shakeology. These are nutrition packed shakes that help me take better control of my eating. I love the taste and it has really helped curb my cravings for unhealthy foods.

This month my doctor and I decided that I’ve lost so much weight and become so healthy that I can wean off of my blood pressure medicine. I’ve

been taking blood pressure medicine for 12 years!  I’m through my first week of half doses and at the end of the week after the doctor evaluates my daily blood pressure readings I may be able to go completely off of blood pressure medicine!

In the last year I’ve gone from being in daily pain, depressed, and miserable to being healthy, active, and overcoming major medical problems. For the first time in years I am no longer pre-diabetic!

There is hope and healing available, it might take a little hard work and determination but I do believe you can help your body heal when you feed it the right foods and take good care of it.  We are called to be good stewards of all God has given us, our bodies included. Are you taking good care of your body? If not, what’s preventing you from doing so? Don’t give up because you feel limited due to your current health,  because YOU have the power to change your future!

I’d love to help you reach your health goals!  Contact me if you want to start the process of reclaiming your health!

Here’s a little example of the changes I’ve seen in the last year:

 

# beachbody # overcoming fibromyalgia # weight loss #health # Slim in 6 # T25 # transformation