Happy Tuesday!

In September last year I fell at the movies and sprained my ankle and ligaments. This week last year I believe was my first week back at work after being out for 6 weeks. I remember this because it was our Halloween Fall Festival and I was still not 100%. I could walk but I couldn't stand for long periods of time. I was also still in physical therapy weeks after returning to work. Walking on my foot again was the hardest thing to do. I didn't really start walking until my first physical therapy appointment, and I was told that I was going to hurt, I was going to have cramps in my legs, I'm drinking too much caffeine (Dr. Pepper) and not enough water.


This is really what changed my mind in starting the process to work on lowering my caffeine intake. After I returned to work normally instead of taking 5 cans of Dr. Pepper to work which equal 750 calories total. I did not drink all 5 in a day, but sometimes I would if I was stressed out at work. I changed to mini Dr. Pepper cans that have 90 calories per can. I started out with three cans a day which equaled to 2 1/2 of the regular can of Dr. Pepper. Although not a good start I did this so that I could spread the intake throughout the day ( Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.) I'm telling you guys that this was seriously a year long process because I was a severe Dr. Pepper addict. I actually thought that I would never be able to give it up. Guess what? I have. Its funny how we don't normally take actions on ourselves for the things we want unless something pushes us to do so. I would have never worked on lowering my caffeine intake had I not hurt my ankle, and I really wouldn't have worked on my weight loss these last 4 months had I not dislocated my jaw at a previous job and experiencing health issues afterwards. As I type this I do feel slightly anxious because I feel all that I felt back then when I was hurt, when I was home 24/7 when I hurt my ankle, when I returned to work struggling with anxiety and depression caused by methlyprednisolone as well as work related issues. Even when I dislocated my jaw I had severe anxiety prior to leading up to the incident. It makes me think that I really need to take things in stride and focus on my health mental or otherwise. I had to wake up and realize do I want to continue struggling? Do I want to go through pain like this because I'm eating so horribly? How can I make a change in my life so that I'm healthy?

My last hospital visit where I spent 8 hours in the ER. This is way too personal to be sharing but it definitely made me realize that I need to eat and drink better. I told myself I did not ever want to feel this way again and that I need to do better than I had been doing. I started looking up healthy recipes online, easy recipes for lazy days, and trying different foods that I had been longing to try since dislocating my jaw. I've always been a picky eater my whole life, but I told myself that wouldn't happen anymore that I would try foods one time. If I don't like it that's fine but at least I try it. I don't like dieting I would never had stuck to it so the way I went about it is to increase my water intake that I have been doing for the last year, but to also really try to get rid of Dr. Pepper. I now drink Coke Zero which has no calories or sugar. It does have 25mg of sodium and I'm not quite sure if that is good or bad. However, I only drink 2 a day if that and I've watched my portion intake of food. I eat slowly so that I know I'm full because if I have a huge portion on my plate I'll want to eat it all. I've cut out all candy, chips, etc. this wasn't by choice. After a jaw dislocation eating hard crunchy things is very difficult and this is still a work in progress. I'm hoping I'll be able to eat crunchy chips again and if I am I know to portion it because I've disciplined myself in my portions. If anyone is interested in the meals that I eat let me know and I will make a separate post about this.

In my journey I try to include working out on the treadmill. I don't go hardcore in this and I only walk on the treadmill for 24 minutes with a 1.5 speed and 1.5-2.0 incline. I've not done this in quite a while but I'm going to start working on trying to incorporate 24 minutes into my day. Lets be in this journey together to work on ourselves for ourselves and no one else! I'm rooting for you!

Starting weight: 240lbs

Current weight: 202.8lbs