"Today would've been my mom's 53rd birthday. She died at the age of 47 from a massive heart attack. She didn't eat well at all, ate out most days of the week usually twice, and she smoked about 3 packs of cigs a day. All of that, as you can imagine, led her to have a heart attack. She died when my oldest was only 8 months old and just three days before her second grandchild, my nephew, was to be born. She has missed so much in our lives, BUT I took her death on as my motivation to lose my weight. I didn't want my kids to go through the loss like we had. She died way too young, and I WILL NOT do that to my kids!

First of all, while I didn't count calories in the beginning, I did look at other numbers...fruits/veggies servings, water ounces, minutes of exercise, "cheats," etc. I journaled everything I put in my mouth and eventually did post it online. I didn't want others to see me eating poorly, so I tried not to eat that "bad" stuff often (which is why I think having a public food journal on here is kind of important). I upped my water ounces to an average of 96/day, I aimed for at least 5 servings of fruits/veggies daily, I limited carbs (empty carbs, that is, and went for whole grains, not just eliminating all carbs), I choose lean meats, lowfat dairies, and add more healthful options to my menus. I added in more beans, different whole grains, veggies and fruits I hadn't really ever tried, and I LOVE taking a recipe and making it healthier/more beneficial.

Basically, I eat pretty "cleanly," and I try to think about how the food I put into my body is going to affect my body. If I have too many "off days" or cheats, I can definitely tell. I crave healthy foods. This took me about 30 months to do with 2 pregnancies in there. It may have taken less time if I had counted calories. wink

As far as exercise, I started out walking and doing Walk Away the Pounds dvds along with the first Biggest Loser dvd. I eventually added in Turbo Jam and other dvds. Over time I started running, doing Turbo Fire, and doing ChaLean Extreme along with other videos. I crave exercise also!

Hope this helps someone!"