My Journey to Health: November 2011

     This photo is my BEFORE picture! Before I left for my week (October 3, 2011-October 7, 2011) @ Sly Park with Molly and her 6th grade class, I knew when I returned that I would begin my journey to wellness...little did I know that while @ Sly Park I would face many physical challenges that I was not prepared for...including hiking for miles at a time, climbing rock walls, a lot of walking, and little time to rest!

     Before I left for Sly Park...I weighed myself and was surprised to see 186 lbs! I was not expecting the numbers to be so high, but I knew upon my return, I'd get started on my journey to wellness.

     When I returned to Sacramento after 1 week @ Sly Park and 1 week of constant physical activity, I began my journey to wellness weighing 179 lbs...I guess my week @ Sly Park was actually the beginning to my journey to wellness, losing 7 lbs.

     In July 2011, my stepmother, Karla became an independent distributor for Herbalife products. She began to share how my dad was enjoying the products and that his blood sugars were decreasing rapidly, he has type 2 diabetes, just like me. That really sold me...I was willing to try anything that could lower my blood sugar level, risk for high cholesterol and risk for high blood pressure. I currently take two medications for diabetes and one each for the prevention of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, due to the high risk of heart disease with type 2 diabetics.

     My first day on the products was October 13, 2011 when I weighed in at 179 lbs. Herbalife not only records your weight, but also requires you to measure yourself, which is a real benefit.

*Day 3 my weight was the same, 179 lbs, but I had lost 3 inches!!!!!
*Day 7 my weight was the same, 179 lbs, but I'd lost 9.5 inches!!!
*Week 2 I finally saw a weight loss of 1 lb but it was the inch loss that was telling my story, after just two weeks on the Herbalife products I'd lost 13 inches!!!
*Week 3 I weighed in @ 174 lbs, 5 lbs lost and 18.5 inches!!!
*Week 4 I weighted in @ 172 lbs, 7 lbs lost and 21inches!!!

The more important part of the story, for me, is that my fasting blood sugars have been reduced from a reading as high as 184 to morning readings averaging in the 130's, still high, but much more in the 'normal, acceptable' range :-)

Here are few additional pictures from my trip with Molly to Sly Park, located in Pollack Pines, CA:

I came down with a bang...thank goodness for the padding!!!

Molly said she would not climb the rock wall, unless I did!!! What's a mom to do??? I had never attempted such a physical challenge before...needless to say the cheering on of dozens of 6th graders was the kind of peer pressure that was hard to ignore...I made it to the top, rang the bell and then Molly began her climb...so proud of both of us!

Molly with her Sly Park teacher, Patrick!

Here are some pictures from the hikes we took during our week @ Sly Park:

This was called the Park Creek Hike and getting down to the creek was very steep...you can guess what happened getting back up...yup...I was the last one up...very embarrassed that I had such a hard time keeping up with the group...however more motivation and determination to get well and in shape!

Here are some pictures from the Shelter Hike: