Amy steals the show!

Hey everyone! I decided to steal Matt's blog for a few!  As Matt and I have had more and more success with our weight loss, we have had many people ask us about the way we've been eating. Since I have been the one basically in charge of the learning, buying, preparing, and cooking the food... I wanted to write something up to let everyone know what all I have learned. It has been an amazing journey, and I HOPE you all can take something, ANYTHING, away from this! I have been terrified of putting my story out there in the public, but if my story can inspire one person, then it will be worth it!

Hello, my name is Amy, and I am an over-eater. I have been my entire life. I remember times when I was 9-10 years old and my parents would take us to Golden Corral after church. I remember eating so much that when we would get home I would need to vomit. When a 9 year old girl has to unbutton her pants because it's hurting her overly full stomach... That's a problem. As every person who has struggled with weight, I have tried pretty much everything out there to lose the weight. The most luck I had had previously was on Atkins. I dropped over 50 pounds in about 5 months. The issue was, I was MISERABLE. I wanted bread so badly that I would actually put bread in my mouth, press it between the roof of my mouth and my tongue and then spit it out... True story. And because I was so miserable, as soon as I quit Atkins, I began eating like a horse and gained the weight back within 7 months. A diet that excludes a certain group of foods altogether will always leave you wanting it more. I also had a bit of luck counting calories. I began buying everything I could labeled "100 calorie pack".  I downloaded several apps, and would not allow myself to eat over 1200 calories a day. That combined with going to the gym 5-6 days a week, and I lost over 50 pounds again in about 7 months. The problem was that I never really felt that great. Sure losing the weight was awesome, and dropping that kind of poundage off of your body will absolutely help you to feel better, but I never felt like I had more energy really. Or like I ever fully was in charge of my eating. Sure I wasn't over-eating anymore, but I definitely was not putting the kinds of foods in my body that it needed to maintain the types of workouts I had begun to do. I got pregnant, and once the "100 calorie packs" were off of my grocery list, I began adding weight back quickly. Because I hadn't LEARNED how to EAT HEALTHY. .

DDP Yoga is FANTASTIC. It is PHENOMENAL. I could not sing the praises of the exercises enough. The flexibility is ASTOUNDING. The amount of cardio is INSANE. However, as a wife, as a mother, and as a woman who has been overweight nearly her entire life... I can honestly say that the things I have learned from DDP Yoga regarding nutrition, have absolutely been life changing.

We began with a simple challenge. No fast food and no soda for the month of January. Now that... was tough. The soda wasn't as much of a challenge for me as giving up fast food was. I am a mom of 3! Fast food was my life saver! After a long day there was nothing better than giving my babies a Happy Meal and watching them smile! Not to mention that there would be no dishes left to clean up! It was a challenge, for sure. However, I made the decision to feed myself and the kids before we left anywhere so that I wouldn't be tempted to give into the fast food monster! As the fast food addiction began to fade we decided to add something new to our nutrition. We added a fresh veggie to EVERY MEAL. Once we had accomplished that regularly we began switching our ground beef meals into ground turkey meals... We then traded all white flour products to whole grain... We cut out almost all white sugar... We began grilling our food 4-6 days a week (Matt looks good standing in front of a grill doing the cooking for me, jus' sayin!) Every time we had successfully made a positive change, we added a new one! One of the reasons I believe we have been so successful sticking with these changes is because we never went "cold turkey". We didn't just walk in our kitchen one day and throw out everything we shouldn't be eating. We never shocked our systems. We gradually weaned our bodies off of the junk, and it in turn showed us how much it had been needing the fresh things!! It is absolutely incredible just how good you will feel when you stop putting junk in your body.

I continue to learn new things about nutrition daily. Our new adventure is learning about the world of GMO'S and organics. An incredibly awesome thing happened a few weeks ago. Matt and I both received a phone call from none other than the man himself, DDP!! My conversation with him revolved mostly around nutrition. He emailed me a video I would really encourage you guys to watch.(watch it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEVcLpMr4iU) It is the story of what GMO'S are, and what they are doing to us. When we began this journey, I thought the GMO thing was just a gimmick or a fad... It's not. Please watch the video, do some research, and come to your own conclusions! Educating yourself about something new is NEVER a bad thing! However, once again we are doing this gradually. Every grocery shopping trip I make I switch out something I normally buy, for the organic version! Some people say that buying fresh produce and/or organic foods is more expensive. Truthfully, some of it is. However, you will realize that when you combine that with NOT buying the chips, soda, cookies, boxed food, and junk... It actually levels out!! Your body will thank you. I PROMISE!

Now this part I believe is the MOST important part of our journey, hands down. All of the nutritional changes we have made for ourselves, we have also made for our children. My ultimate goal in all of this is to make sure that none of my children will ever sit in the back seat of a car at 9 years old, with their pants unbuttoned, trying not to vomit up their dinner. I want my children to never have to teach themselves to be healthy. I want healthy eating to just be... Eating.  When they are in charge of their own diets as teenagers and adults, I want the junk to just be something they choose to eat on rare occasions.  Ella has always been above the 100% at her check ups on height and in the 90-95% on weight. She has always been a big girl. She will most likely always be a big girl. My JOB is to make sure that she is never the "fat girl". Anyone who has ever been the "fat girl", knows what I mean. It is my job to help make sure that a group of boys never chases her around the playground chanting " 1-800-94 Jenny, you're so fat you need to be skinny!"......... It's funny how some things you just never forget...  I know I cannot stop my children from ever being bullied. BUT I can at least make sure that being overweight isn't the thing the bullies go for. In December at Ella's 4 year old check up, her DR informed me that she had surpassed a normal BMI and wanted to see her back in 6 months for a weight check. At first I dreaded it... Then our last 6 months followed and at her check up she was completely back to a normal BMI!! Just from eating clean and adding exercise to our families routine!! THIS is my job. THIS is my goal. I will NOT fail them.

I began this journey at 245 pounds.
I currently weigh 188 pounds! And I ain't stopping there! ;)

Matt has said it, and I will say it. I have learned to OWN MY LIFE. My children will learn to OWN THEIR LIVES. Please, PLEASE begin learning how to OWN YOUR LIFE! If I can do this... If we can do this... You can too!! Please go check out www.ddpyoga.com. You won't regret it!! 
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