Finding a Happy and Healthy Me!

Be it a diet, a lifestyle change, or whatever description you choose to call a change in your nutritional intake in order to lose weight, gain weight, maintain weight, or just get healthy... I have tried many different scenarios talked about in the world today. Back in college when I gained my freshman fifteen forty I definitely needed a change. At close to 220 lbs I was feeling a tad miserable about my choice to eat a hamburger and fries every day at good ol Kramer Dining Center. (But they were so good and convenient!!!) Needless to say my ways of eating needed an adaptation. That is when I decided to try the Weight Watcher’s program. Did I actually attend meetings and such? No. But my grandma did and she was wonderful enough to share all of her wisdom with me, and I am happy to say with that program I was able to lose 40 lbs! There was a definite change in my body after that! I was feeling pretty great about myself, but I wanted to continue to reach my ultimate goal, unfortunately that is when the dreaded plateau hit. At this point in time I was also extremely bored with Weight Watchers. I don’t have anything negative against it, but it was not something I was excited about sticking with. Figuring all of the points for everything became a chore for me and thus my journey with Weight Watchers was over.

I had managed to maintain my 180 for quite some time which for me, felt pretty good, but I knew I could feel even better about myself. Which is when I started on SlimFast shakes as meal replacements. I was a bad person and would usually skip breakfast because I was always rushing around in the morning, but then I would have my shake for lunch with a side of something on the healthier side. Only problem was I wasn’t following an actual program and I was still sitting at my 180. So SlimFast went the way of Weight Watchers... out the diet door. For a while I just kept tabs on my food intake and portion control, and 180 and I lived to be very comfortable together as my wedding day was approaching (obviously you don’t really want to have drastic wedding gown alterations before the big day) so we just kind of hung out together. I will mention that for the better part of a year up until this point I had given up soda and was feeling really great about that, but then came our honeymoon and my unfortunate motto became “Oh why not, I’m on vacation!” Well once you go on vacation with the dieting and being careful with what you eat, you do not want to come back from vacation.


Months had passed since we arrived home from Mexico and 180 and I sadly parted ways and I met up with 193. Seeing this number on the scale and letting it sink in let me to a scary realization that if I kept these habits up I would be right back to 220 again. (The place where I was most miserable about myself) Enter my amazingly supportive husband... He introduced me to the Keto diet which I previously featured in one of my posts, so I won’t go into all of the details on what it is. With that I said goodbye to 193, goodbye to 180, and found a new friend... 174. Again this was progress, but still not my personal goal. I had more business to attend to but... another plateau as well as another vacation... this time to Disney World’s Food and Wine Festival... Goodbye keto... hello carbs! Let me tell you something about low/no carb diets... once you find the carbs again... you never want to give them up at all. Again coming back from vacation I could never seem to get back completely on track especially with the holiday season coming up and then excuse after excuse would find itself engaging in me eating too much of stuff I shouldn’t be having which leads me to now...

I was close to meeting 190something again and feeling sorry for myself and the choices I have made. I am skeptical of diets and what they have to offer, but I saw one of my friends having success with this program that I have decided to try the Herbalife 3 Day Trial. Yes, I have researched. Yes, I have some skepticism. But I also know what I feel like I need to hold myself accountable with any nutrition program. I need something simple, quick, and planned out (for the most part). I am that weird person that would rather have a shake most meals that something else. I am excited even though I still have some reserves about this program as I do with anything new, but I want to document my experience not to promote Herbalife or say negative things about it, but rather to share my own unique experience the 3 day trial brings for me, so stay tuned.

(I want to make a note that my goal number is one which will put me in the healthy BMI range. As of now according to my height and body fat percentage I am considered in the overweight category. Losing weight for me isn't about superficial issues, it is about feeling good about myself, gaining confidence in myself, and most importantly getting to a healthy stage of my life so I can continue to make the most of it.)

Mrs. Imparato

My Child Has Autism...

My child has autism… and I have a carrousel of emotions spinning in my head on a daily basis: feelings of embarrassment, frustration, aggravation, but also feelings of compassion, admiration, and love.

After our last few days of social interactions, I have had ample time to reflect on my thoughts on having a child with autism:

1. My child has autism… she has no filter and YES I do notice.

           

            I do not ignore her sometimes (most often times) inappropriate outbursts or over fixations out of being a bad parent. I do it out of her not always being able to control herself or change these fixations. Yes I do see you staring at me, probably wondering what sort of things we subject her to at home, but lets face it, the world is a lot more desensitized than it was when we were even kids. YES we have had conversations with her about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior in social situations, but these new habits will not happen overnight. We do however try to provide appropriate social situations at home. YES she is 9 and has seen the puberty video at school and YESSS this has become a new area of fixation for her (unfortunately). But at least she is educated and YES we have and will continue to have conversations with her about how that is a topic only to be discussed with family or a trusted adult at school, so here is my public apology for anyone she offended tonight or any other moment when speaking out about puberty and I quote, "the bloody part."

2. My child has autism… she does not have complete social awareness.

            Oh were you having an adult conversation with just adults? Well sorry about that but my child is going to interrupt the heck out of that conversation with about 36 questions/opinions of her own. Were you trying to eat something? Oh sorry about that too because my child is now going to talk about how corn syrup gives her runny poops. You live in a dwelling that does not contain children and expect everything to stay in its perfectly placed spot when we come to visit? Well I apologize for that too because it is just not going to happen when you have an extremely curious child seeking out tons of new knowledge as she gets older and more aware of her surroundings. YES again I notice these things and wish there was more I could do to help these situations be easier and more convenient for you, but these are my everyday situations at home and we do what we can to adapt and provide positive learning opportunities for when we venture out into the world but that is not always going to be enough. This is where my frustration and aggravation comes into play because again I can feel the searing gaze of your eyes looking at me as if I have the magic button to turn off the autism and make her act like a typical child her age. Trust me, if I had that button I would need about 50 replacement batteries by now, but the truth is there is not such a device and aside from restraining her there is no immediate solution to your inconvenience, so suck it up buttercup… you see her for a couple hours? I get this 24/7. It will take time and practice (lots of it) to see these changes, and that is just the way it is.

3. My child has autism… what would you like to know about?

            One of the most wonderful things I see everyday is the breadth of knowledge this girl has. She can recall some of the most amazing facts that may have otherwise gone unnoticed by us “normal” folks. She also takes an interest in things that her peers may otherwise find boring. Lately this 9 year old wants to know everything and anything about history. Civil War, California Gold Rush, you name it. We recently had a conversation in the car that completely took me by surprise the other day wherein she asked if we could go to church because she wants to learn things she cannot learn in school. Her appetite for learning just astounds me and I really hope this is a trait she will hang onto for quite some time to come.

4. My child has autism… do I wish she did not have autism? NO!

            Lets start with this, would I wish this disability on anyone including her, no I wouldn’t, but would I wish it to go away so she could suddenly be “normal”? Absolutely not. This is her normal, this is our normal, it is what makes her the person she is, and in my opinion (which may contain a little bias) she is one fabulous kiddo! Yes, we have our rough moments, and YES I know everyone is watching to see what our next move as parents is going to be when these rough moments arise, but quite frankly I don’t give a squat what anyone may be thinking as they witness our worst moments, because unless they are also there to witness the wonderful moments we have with her, they are not getting the complete picture. We will continue on with what has been working and try new strategies for things which are not working in terms of helping her grow into a more well rounded being so we can prepare her for a future filled with endless possibilities. And when it gets down to it, I suppose this is what any parent wants for their child.

Mrs. Imparato