Ouch!

A few weeks ago, I was at a friend's house when this excruciating pain hit me. I like to think that I handle pain well. This was definitely a mind over matter situation. I had to remind myself to breathe. It started out, with what felt like indigestion, and just intensified. Before I knew it, I was slumped over in pain on her bathroom floor, sweating bullets. The pain was radiating up my back and it hurt to breathe. There was no comfortable position I could get myself in.  My sister had had a similar experience a few weeks earlier and she said she felt like she was having a heart attack. All I could do was tell myself that I was not dying. I was not having a heart attack and that the pain would subside soon. Well, "soon" took 45 min. Once it was gone, it was gone.
Fast forward to two weeks. My husband and I were talking about that us eating out so frequently needed to stop. We were consuming way too much crap and spending too much money in the process. I had already begun to really cut out all the yuck food and this was just a reminder of what needed to be done. My husband has had a break from school/work and he's been taking care of the cooking. The dinner he made that evening was delicious but I remember thinking it was a bit too heavy for my stomach, considering all I've been eating is mass quantities of fruits, veggies, and some chicken.
12:20 AM I awake feeling like I have indigestion. I jump up, run downstairs, grab a bottle of water and try to prepare myself for what's about to happen. 12:30 I asked my husband to take me to the ER immediately. I was not about to deal with that amount of pain again.This time, we drove to a different part of town. The ER that is nearest to us, I don't trust, at all. I won't get into the all that, but our 25 min drive was worth it.  After the first incident, my mother felt that it sounded like my gallbladder. That's what I went in thinking. This ER doctor wanted to check all my levels and rule out any blood clots. He pressed on the area where my gallbladder is located, and everyone's surprise, there was no pain. I was still experiencing pain internally, but nothing to the touch. He then told me, I think we may be dealing with a stomach ulcer. It was explained to me, that because of the location and the pain I was describing, it could be one or the other, but he felt it was most likely an ulcer.
My mother had her gallbladder removed years ago. Stomach ulcers are not an uncommon thing in my family either. I always thought that stomach ulcers were stress related, but as I am discovering, they can just happen. Of course there are ways to help prevent such things from occurring. Lifestyle has much to do with it.
It will be two weeks before I can see my PCM (what a shock that I have to wait so long). It will probably be 6 weeks, at minimum, before I can see a specialist. Either way, I have been scared into eating healthy. No soda, no alcohol, as little sugar as possible, lean meant, yogurts, and an insane amount of fruits and veggies.
With that being said, my body has changed.

Here's the latest:

Current Weight: 162

Arms: 11.75 

Waist: 32.5

Bum: 42.5

Thighs: 23.5 

I started out at 180 something about 6 months ago. While I have not stuck to any kind of plan until recently, this is a big difference. I've lost close to 10 pounds in about 10 days. That's just from cutting out ALL of the crap from my daily diet. I've been taking nibbles of cookies, or a piece or dark chocolate here and there. I am human, after all. I need my sweet fix every now and then. The difference now is that I will not eat the entire giant chewy cookie. I will have one bite size piece of dark chocolate and not the entire candy bar. 

School will be over for the kiddos in less that two weeks. This is when the next challenge begins, the fitness portion. I'm tired just thinking about it but it has to be done. If I ever get around to uploading pictures, I'll post some. I can't promise anything though ;)

A month???

I am slacking! Big time! It's been almost a month since my last post. That is no bueno!

Here is an update:

I've lost no weight or inches. Shame on me. I've been busy busy! That is absolutely no excuse, I know :(
So, as soon as I am off the computer, I will begin working on my meal plans for Friday-Wed. I usually do my grocery shopping on Friday and Wed. As much as I would like to only go once a week, I have 5 people in my house and 3 of them eat a LOT! By August 15, I am determined to be halfway to my goal, which is to be a healthier person. The reason I say halfway is because I know it's going to take a solid 6 months to my numbers (bp, blood-work, and such) where they need to be. My blood pressure is a battle everyday. I really overdid it with my sodium intake last week. It's just a struggle, really. I love food. Bad food. That's a problem that is going to take some time to deal with.

I've been volunteering my bum off, which has been fantastic! It's always very rewarding doing volunteer work! If you don't offer up your time to help someone or some organization out already, do it! You will not regret it!

Let's talk essential oils for a second. I know that many of y'all think I'm crazy with these oils. I promise you, I am not. Something that I have been hearing a lot of lately is how people are really becoming concerned with the hundreds of side-effects of prescription & OTC meds. I share those same concerns. There is a time and a place for western medicine. I will not argue that at all. However, there is a way to naturally help with common ailment without the use of OTC meds. Essential Oils. I made the investment 7 months ago, and I do  not know how we ever lived without them. For real!

I got into this business to share my love of Young Living Essential Oils. I want people to take the time to do some research and see just how awesome these oils are. I want people to try the oils. I want people to fall in love with these oil. Overall, I just want people to know that there is an alternative, and it's a great one.