I've battled my weight since childhood.  Through the years, the weight kept creeping on and when I was pregnant with my 3rd child, I saw a number on the scale that horrified me. 200 lbs.  I finally decided to do something about it and 1 year after baby #3, I finally was down to 130 lbs - perfect weight for my height and frame. I didn't allow any item that had "no nutritional value" across my lips.  Well that was almost 16 years ago...

Today, I've got 25 lbs to loose and it's been very tough.  I had baby #4 five years ago and have been struggling with the weight ever since then.  I've lost most of it just to gain it back trying a variety of diets and running all the time.  I blew out my thyroid and haven't been able to balance out my hormones since. -Being in my 40's doesn't help this.  I feel horrible, my joints hurt, I'm over tired and I'm mildly depressed.  During the last 5 years of dieting, the weight loss was always very slow weight loss - needing to eat 1200 cal/day while running 6-12 miles a day.  It was not a long term solution.  I counted calories meticulously and I should have lost far more weight than the scales would show.

So today, I decided that I need to get back to my roots, and focus on eating only nutritional value foods. I'm not sure how this will affect my weight loss - but at this point - I'm desperate to feel better.  I spent the morning preparing a huge vat of stir fried veggies in coconut oil.  (Many raw veggies are hard on the thyroid).  I've done well today - but the halloween candy is staring at me and I'm feeling sluggish and would love a sweet treat or two...  Instead, I've turned here to write out my feelings and when I'm done I will go eat a handful of prunes.