I never thought I would look in the mirror and love what I saw looking back ever again. I thought those days were far behind me. Guess what? I’m looking better than ever! Stay tuned as I will be sharing in the near future.
By the way, why plan has a six week challenge beginning on Monday, June third. I can help you get registered. Give it six weeks, I guarantee you will love seeing the changes.
I lost count how many posts I have seen recently about Ozempic !
Taking it for weightloss can have negative consequences on your health. I actually know a few people who ended up in the hospital from taking it and they’re not diabetic.
What if there was a natural alternative?
Berberine.
Berberine is a compound found in many plants, including European barberry, phellodendron, Oregon grape, goldenseal, and goldthread. These plants have historically been used to treat everything from infection to sores.
The first traces of berberine being used medicinally are found more than 3000 years ago, when the barberry plant and its relatives were being cultivated in China and South Asia. The stems, leaves, and bark of the plant were used in a variety of ways. Evidence also shows that berberine-containing plants were used in South America, the Middle East, and Europe to treat different conditions.
What are the benefits of Berberine? I’m hearing a lot of things. From being investigated as a treatment for diabetes; lowering blood pressure and cholesterol to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
.One friends doctor put her on these rather than Metformin. Being that I have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, I’m going to give this a try (after discussing with my doctor, of course!) to see if this will be a better alternative for me. In fact, I’m hearing phrases like “Nature’s Ozempic” because it has been shown to lower glucose levels in people with diabetes. Studies show that it helps your body respond better to insulin and prevents your liver from creating more glucose. As a result, people with diabetes may find berberine helps lower their blood sugar levels and help with weight loss..
I found this article from WebMD That goes into more detail about this potential solution:: https://www.webmd.com/diet/berberine-health-benefits
As with any health supplement, it’s best to consult your doctor before you start taking berberine.
Carbs have gained a poor reputation over the years, and many people think that these foods are off limits when trying to lose weight. There are a lot of holes in this theory, unfortunately, and it leads people to be misinformed. If you don’t get enough carbs, you’ll be left feeling sluggish, irritable and unable to focus, things that won’t help your diet.
Good Carbs or complex carbs are full of nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are absorbed by the body much slower, which is why nutrient-rich carbs leave you feeling fuller. Complex carbs don’t cause an immediate spike in blood sugar like their refined carbs. Vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grain products are the best examples of healthy carbs that should be included in your diet.
Refined or bad carbs are found in foods like white bread, white pasta, cookies, cakes and sugar. Refined carbs have no nutritional value and are broken down quickly, which is why you get that burst of energy….and then fell sluggish afterward.
Complex carbs can help you ….
So don’t be one of those persons that “cuts carbs”. Just cut OUT the bad ones altogether!
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active can improve your
Sometimes we use “I don’t have time” as our excuse, but it’s really about priorities. As the saying goes, “if we don’t make time for exercise, we’ll probably have to make time for illness.”
If you find yourself having trouble staying committed to exercise, then grab a buddy and go out for a walk. Starting with a walk, early in the morning, during your lunch break, or after dinner is a great place to start!
Here’s what I do:
What do YOU do for exercise? Post in the comments below.
A person’s height is determined by their father, and their weight is determined by their mother.
My R3 journey started around 2017. I wanted to lose weight feel and better about myself.
You see, I wasn’t always overweight or obese, I was always fit in spite of my asthma. To keep my lungs healthy, I worked out several days a week lifting weights. I did aerobics two to three times a week. I swam. I biked with the bike club two “short” rides and one long ride every week. I also rode my bike to work 19 miles each way practically every day. I was active and had a great social life.
Then, I gained a little weight, not much at first. After a major asthma attack which landed me in the ICU for several weeks, I gained “prednisone weight” about 20 pounds. I still participated in the Dublin Marathon three weeks after getting out of hospital. I was so full of Prednisone weight, I walked the marathon. (It took five and a half hours.)
Shortoly afterward i participated in an asthma drug study. During that study, I gained 70 pounds.
I had become fat. Not only that friends treated me differently as though I lacked will power or I was lazy. I wasn’t, but…
Around this time my dad went into a nursing home. My mother did not drive, so I became her driver and patient advocate for dad while working 60-hour work weeks and volunteering for local charities. Although I was busy and on my feet all day and water running three days a week, I remained heavy.
At my heaviest, I was 250 pounds and often the heaviest person in the room. I hated it.
At this point, my dad passed, I was now my mothers caregiver. Because of my weight, my doctor suggested human growth hormone injections to see if I could lose weight. His program started out promising, and combined with early morning workouts with a personal trainer, I lost 13 pounds in the first two weeks, but nothing after that. After 3 months we gave up. It wasn’t working for me.
That brings me to that first R3 Challenge around 2017. I took the before picture and submitted it. I didn’t do all that well, but I did lose maybe 10 pounds
When comparing the after picture with my before picture you could tell my clothing definitely ldid not look or fit the same. The same clothing is in both photos. If you look closely you’ll see my left arm is in the pants. Most of my work colleagues and friends thought I lost a lot of weight but I hadn’t. I’d lost inches. A Non-Scale Victory (NSV).
I semi-participated in other challenges after that, but never really finished them. My schedule was terrible, I was taking care of everyone and everything but myself. But I finally was j200 pounds thanks to swimming and rowing three times a week. It was progress.
In 2021 my mother passed away and I decided I needed to make life changes.
I changed jobs. I put my house on the market. I took a trip to South Carolina to check out the housing market.
2022 arrived. For me, 2022 will forever be “Year of the Shoulder”. The year began with a good purchase offer on my home on January 6. That same day, while at work, I tripped over a case of wine, fell and broke my right shoulder (my dominant hand). My house was closing on January 25. I had 20 days to pack, find a new home and move—all with a freshly broken shoulder. I ended up purchasing a brand new house sight-unseen in Florida with a closing date of January 26 — a day after my New Jersey closing. I was lucky as I was also able to find a good mover to match my timeline. It was a very painful move but i made the 16-hour drive with my mother’s dog.
Once arriving in Florida, it was time to regroup. I found I moved to a new development in a town I had never heard of, but it was now home. Rain was coming down in buckets. I was wondering if I did the right thing. The pain prevented a lot of unpacking (It took nearly a year to find all of my silverware).
Being on Worker’s Comp, I needed to find an orthopedic doctor in Florida who would accept the Worker’s Comp insurance to care for the shoulder. I finally got an appointment for an orthopedist on April 28. I weighed in at his office at 213.
I wasn’t happy. I went on a girls’ trip vacation the following month at nearly 250 and wearing a sling. I was once again the fattest person in the room. I was sick and tired of being overweight, unhappy and in pain. I had to do something.
When I saw the Challenge beginning June 6 – the same day I started Physical therapy — I joined. I figured I couldn’t work and unpacking the garage was still a tedious, painful, one-armed process. I couldn’t even find my scale in the garage, I had to buy a new one! Nor did I have a mirror (It was somewhere in a box in the garage). What could I lose? Weight!
I started the challenge with no expectations at all. Some days were good, some weren’t. My physical therapy lasted the entire length of the challenge. I was in constant pain. When the challenge ended, I was down 25 pounds! I was surprised I lost the weight, since I wasn’t the best at sticking to the plan 100 percent.
The best part, I continued to lose weight (another 15 pounds) after the challenge just by following the Real Life part of R3.
In August, after an 18-month wait, I flew to Washington, DC and Arlington National Cemetery to bury my mother. The flight home was an adventure. After multiple delays and a layover, I arrived at my destination airport, and I woke up two days later in a hospital ICU. Apparently, stress and the pain medication caused a cascade effect resulting in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). I also had never been a diabetic prior to this event, I have no memory of being in an ambulance, in an ER or let alone in an MRI, but I was.
When I was released, to go home —my day trip to DC had turned into a week. I had gained 11 pounds (they said water weight from IVs). It took three weeks to lose the water weight. I followed R3’s Real Life phase. The good news was the endocrinologist approved the R3 plan and liked the idea of my eating five to six times a day to keep my metabolism balanced. By September, my blood numbers were back to normal and I was taken off nearly all of the medications that came home with me from the hospital.
October came and I was down a total of 53 pounds. I decided not to do the Fall R3 challenge. I had a surgical date for a total reverse shoulder replacement on November 16—I didn’t want hospital food ruining my challenge!
Knowing I would be incapacitated for six weeks, I cooked R3-friendly meals—enough for 42 days and froze them tor my recovery meals. By the time of my surgery, I had lost an additional 14 pounds. This time, at the orthopedic office, I weighed in at 146 pounds! I was fully dressed and still in my shoes!
Of course, after surgery, I swelled up and gained 30 pounds! I left the hospital weighing 176 pounds, It took a month to shed those 30 pounds of water weight. Again, I did it by following my R3 Real Life phase.
On December 31, I was 145 pounds.
I’m happy about the weight loss, especially since I wasn’t allowed any workouts other than walking my chihuahua. I admit I feel better about myself now that i’m closer to my ideal weight. My shoulder still needs to finish healing, before I can go back to swimming, water running and rowing, to stay fit, but I’ll get there with R3. I want to lose the last 15-20 pounds for my ideal weight.
R3 is really a lifestyle for me and I know I’ll never go back to being that overweight again.
.
FiberWise® Blueberry Cobbler Bar, that is
For me, a great-tasting bar is an easy, quick and favorite way to get my fiber. Made with full FiberWise goodness, FiberWise Bars are simply scrumptious. Each bar gives me 10 grams of fiber and is bursting with tasty whole grains, real fruit, and only natural flavors, colors and sweeteners.
Blueberry Cobbler FiberWise contains a unique blend of natural fiber sources along with vitamins, antioxidants, soothing herbs, and probiotics that give me a broad spectrum of full-body benefits, and it makes me feel fuller. I never realized that fiber has no calories, so filling up on high-fiber foods crowds out less-healthy foods. When I feel full it’s easier to say no to extra snacks, bigger portions and second helpings.
I find FiberWise Bars are enjoyable at breakfast or any time I want a healthy tasty snack. They are portable so they can go anywhere I go, and leave me feeling satisfied. There are four varieties from which to choose, but since it’s blueberry month, I’m sticking with blueberry cobbler. blueberry cobbler.
This is a healthy snacking secret. When I want something delicious, filling and refreshing for my 3:00 p.m. snack, I reach for Blueberry Attain with revolutionary, natural CraveBlocker®. This simple shake helps stop cravings at both critical sources, putting me back in control. I have been able to manage and lose weight without feeling irritable or hungry all the time—and I don’t deprive myself of the nutrition I need. Controlling my cravings is an essential part of losingand keeping weight off for good. Since it is blueberry month, I blended in a few fresh blueberrys for an added jolt of antioxidants.
Physical activity may seem hard if you’re overweight. You may get short of breath or tired quickly. Finding or affording the right clothes and equipment may be frustrating. Or, perhaps you may not feel comfortable working out in front of others.
The good news is you can overcome these challenges. Not only can you be active at any size, you can have fun and feel good at the same time.
Research strongly shows that physical activity is safe for almost everyone. The health benefits of physical activity far outweigh the risks.1
If you have problems moving or staying steady on your feet, or if you get out of breath easily, talk with a health care professional before you start. You also should talk with a health care professional if you are unsure of your health, have any concerns that physical activity may be unsafe for you, or have:
Being active may help you live longer and protect you from developing serious health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer. Regular physical activity is linked to many health benefits, such as:
• healthy bones, muscles, and joints
• lower blood pressure and blood glucose, or blood sugar
• a strong heart and lungs
• better sleep at night and improved mood
The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition defines regular physical activity as a minimum of 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking. Brisk walking is a pace of three miles per hour or faster. A moderate-intensity activity makes you breathe harder but does not overwork or overheat you. You should also do muscle-strengthening activities at least two days a week.
You may reach this goal by starting with five minutes of physical activity several times a day, five to six days a week. You could then gradually work up to 10 minutes per session, three times a day. If you do even more activity, you may gain even more health benefits.1
When combined with healthy eating, regular physical activity may also help you control your weight. However, research shows that even if you can’t lose weight or maintain your weight loss, you still can enjoy important health benefits from regular physical activity.
Physical activity also can be a lot of fun if you do activities you enjoy and are active with other people. Being active with others may give you a chance to meet new people or spend more time with family and friends. You also may inspire and motivate one another to get and stay active.
Hayseeds Creative 