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Introduction Text I am 54years young and mother of a 36 year old son and grandmother to a 4 year old precious little girl. I own my own business & it affords me the time to spend with my granddaughter a few days a week while caring for and teaching other children as well. I love my career however It requires a lot of physical & emotional endurance. I am not as physically active as I once was and run out of energy quickly. It has always been part of my program to teach the children about Healthy Choices. Keeping up with them had become painful and I was ending my days thoroughly exhausted. I used several health calculators and the results show that I was headed for Adult Diabetes and certain types of cancer. I had one cancer scare 9 years ago & a cardio scare in 2008. I was suffering from chronic joint pain, acid reflux, and migranes. My quality of life was very poor. I didn't want to do anything, go anywhere, and even talking on the phone was an effort. Going for walks which I previously loved to do had become painful so I quit. I often used a cane to assist me with stairs of if I had to go anywhere that required a lot of walking on hard surfaces. It affected my business because I limited my enrollment to older children. Lifting infants and toddlers was very taxing on my physical strength, so I stopped taking them. My doctor's recommended prednisone, and other drugs for my back & hip pain but never once suggested that I lose weight or exercise. I actually asked my Othopod to send me for PT because I just felt that is what I needed more than drugs. I did go (while the insurance lasted) it felt great and I did feel better. But once I stopped the progress that I made did too. My declining physical health and watching different programs about how the excess weight affects your internal organs was the "wake up" call that I needed. My goal was & is to take baby steps adding exercises that are more suited to my physical limits & by setting mini goals of 10% each, to reach my Life-Time Goal 151lbs. with less than 20% body fat. I don't want to take a fist full of prescription drugs each day . I take vitamins & eat healthy but not as physically active as I want to be. I have weaned myself off all RX and want to stay that way until the Lord Calls me home! I Joined SparkPeople to make myself accountable and I am one that needs to track meals and activity. I love the tools here. I have made great progress, without starving or feeling deprived. I track my meals and physical activity. I am eating correct portions now and also trying to avoid processed foods. I have replaced “white” for brown where ever and whenever possible. Whole foods are what I eat more often. I don’t restrict myself too much but I am aware of foods that trigger some bad habits and treat them like allergens, avoiding them as much as possible. I do however indulge on occasion. Deprivation has never lasted long with me. I am doing things much differently this time. I went from an obese BMI to a Healthy one. I have lost 20% of my body weight and improved my BMI by 20%. I took the "RealAge" test and have improved my age by 10 years since I began my Journey! My joints and my back do not ache all of the time taking me from chronic pain to almost pain free. My stamina and outlook have improved and I am ready to kick it up a notch. I am HAPPY to report that I have resumed taking Infants and Toddlers I added another Business to my resume (Kindermusik) and now I can keep up with the little ones - almost ;-) This year adding more physical activity & strength & resistance training. I am confident that I will be in much better health by my birthday in July! Stayin Alive at 55!! :^D

To lose fat gain lean muscle. I want to become the best ME that I can be. Physically & Spritually.

Focusing on eating to live. Fueling my body to sustain not "entertain" me. Adding more whole food to my day. Cut way back on drinking so much coffee - a large portion of my daily calories. Replacing empty calorie food with tasty but nutritious alternatives. Eating on Purpose & controlling portions. Avoiding preservatives and artificial ingredients as much as I can.

I am from Northeast Pennsylvania. I am a wife, mother and grandmother as well as a Business owner. I operate my own Child Care and I am a Licensed Kindermusik Educator, and KinderSigns-Sign Language Instructor. I provide a preschool program along with Day Care and offer Kindermusik enrichement classes. I am a Cantor in my church. You would think that I get enough exercise with this but although I am fairly active it is not much cardio.

With God All things are possible. That is how I make it through my toughest times. When I think that I can't -- I surrender it to God. He CAN! My Motivation is 1. To perform my "Job" more effectively allowing me more ENERGY and enable me to keep up with my grand daughter - my little rosebud. 2. Look and feel better in my clothing.

Add a Link ~macs <link>hgcp.blogspot.com/</link> <link>kindermusikbymsmarianne.blogspot.com/</link> I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ~ Phillipians 4:13 NKJV
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