Losing weight and getting healthy! (How I'm doing it)

I'm excited to share that in the past 2 months I have lost 20 pounds and a total of 35 pounds since April.... and have dropped 2 sizes in my shirt/top size and 1 whole size in my pants size. As of last week none of my clothing fit me any more and I bagged up all my plus size clothes that I have worn for at least the past 5 years and am going to give them to a friend who is the same size that I once was. Luckily I had a few things left in my closet and in rubber maid bins that I used to wear back in 2006-07. I've been saving them "just in case" I ever lost some weight. My goal is to loose another 40 pounds at least and ideally I like to loose another 60 pounds. Two days ago I went to Old Navy and bought myself 2 pairs of  the very popular "skinny jeans" and 4 new shirts. I have not been able to wear anything that looked good on me at Old Navy for at least the past 5 years. It felt so good to not be in the "Plus size" dept and to be able to just wear normal misses sizes again!

What I'm going to tell you next may blow many of you away. I did not diet to lose this weight! I have not counted points, measured portions or eaten pre packaged food from some expensive weight loss plan. In fact, I have not felt hungry one day in the past 2 months. Actually it has been quite the opposite...I'm always FULL and don't have the urge to snack between meals anymore. More importantly, I definitely have kicked my long time sugar habit and late night junk food snacking issues.

In addition to losing weight without dieting, I have also become healthier  than I've been in many, many years and have been able to reduce the amount of medications I used to take for many illnesses and health issues by nearly 75%!  After having a failed back surgery in 2002, I began living with chronic pain and have been taking a large amount of medications 3 times a day for the pain. I've been taking 3 different types of medication 3 times a day to manage the pain. Due to being sedentary, on meds that cause weight gain and developing poor eating habits I quickly began gaining weight. In the ten years since the back surgery I had gained over 75 pounds and went from a size 6 to my largest size that I wore just 2 months ago....a top size of 2x and a pants size of either 18 or 16w. I was miserable to say the least!

I now only take 1/2 of the normal amount of medication I use to take for my back 3 times a day....but I now only take it once a day. In other words, I use to swallow 4 pills three times a day for chronic back pain. Now I swallow 2 pills only once a day and I am positive that it won't be long before I am off all my medication. It used to be that if I missed even 1 pill from the 4 pills I used to take 3 times a day, my pain would rebound. My pain levels are now at the lowest the have been in 10 years and on 75% less medication!

Not only have I reduced my pain medication, but I have been able to go completely off almost all of my allergy medication, have stopped taking my high blood pressure medication and no longer take large doses of  glucosimine, MSM and chronditin for arthritis in my hands and feet. Recently my Dr. told me that my blood pressure is not only PERFECT that it is like that of a runner! This is completely amazing to me as I have been battling high blood pressure for the past 6 years and it is now completely normal and without medication. Another amazing change in my life is that after years and years of dealing with insomnia issues I am now sleeping the way I used to when I was a teenager. I fall asleep without trouble and stay asleep all night long.  Additionally, for the past few years now I have been suffering from unbearable hot flashes and sweating episodes. I was told by my Dr. that it was due to peri-menapause and that I better get used to it as it would only get worse and worse as I approached my 50's. Now my hot flashes are reduced by at least 80%. Surprisingly I no longer suffer from weekly migraines that have plaqued me since my early 20's. It used to be I wouldn't go anywhere without knowing I had my migraine medicine with me. I have not had a migraine in 2 full months.

Lastly is the incredible feeling of vitality and mental clarity that I now have. I have the energy of a teenager ! I no longer hit that "afternoon slump" of feeling exhausted and drained. I no longer get up in the morning with little sleep and drag myself to the coffee pot where I used to drink at least 3 cups of coffee just to get my day started. In fact I quit drinking coffee and put my coffee maker away! I have unbelievable energy all day and my mind has never been sharper. A few years ago I started having serious  short term memory issues and was very forgetful and down right "foggy" most the time. That is no longer the case! I'm reading more than ever and retaining what I read much better. For someone who is an avid studier of the Bible, this has been wonderful for me!

At this point I know what you are thinking and wondering...."How on earth has she been able to loose weight, reduce her medications and become over all healthier physically and mentally?"

The answer is I have began to eat whole food herbs. I'm NOT talking about buying herbs in bulk and whipping them up in my blender...what I have been eating is whole food herbs that are produced by a company called Sunrider International.

Sunrider was introduced to me in mid April by my very good friend Joanne. I had been infected with a very serious, potentially life threatening gut infection. I was placed on very strong antibiotics to get rid of the infection, yet it was recurring and I kept getting sicker and sicker. As my bible study leader and friend, Joanne was very concerned about me and stopped by one afternoon with some of the Sunrider herbal foods for me to take. She made up a gallon of Calli tea and Fortune Delight for me and gave me a shaker bottle full of Nu-Plus. She instructed me to drink the entire gallon of tea over the next 24 hours and let her know how I felt. She also left me with enough of the Nu-Plus packets to last me the next few days. I wasn't the least bit concerned about what was in the Sunrider foods at that point...I knew I trusted Joane completely and if she said they would help me...then I was all for it!

The next day I was completely and totally amazed at how much better I felt. I went from having  severe diarrhea up to 10 times a day to having a completely normal bowel movement the next day. After a few more days on the Sunrider I noticed my energy levels increasing and my feelings of anxiety and fear about the gut infection beginning to fade. I could actually feel my body healing itself as a continued to eat the Sunrider foods.

Obviously I continued to eat Sunrider foods from that point on. I lost 15 pounds in my first 3 months on Sunrider and began slowly reducing my medications as I was getting healthier and stronger than I have been in years. As my budget allowed, I went from drinking  Calli and Fortune Delight tea mixed together each day and having 1 packet of NuPlus every other day to the amount of Sunrider Food that I currently eat which is the recommended amount of the Calli/Fortune Delight tea daily and recommended amount of packets of NuPlus a day. This is considered a SMALL amount of Sunrider to consume daily and I have had amazing results. I am now getting ready to increase the amount on Sunrider I consume by adding another amazing herbal food to my diet. I love the fact that I can still eat whatever I want each day in addition to the herbal foods. The things is though...I only want to eat healthy food and I am completely satisfied now with smaller portions. The reason many people crave sugar, carbs, junk food etc is that they are under nourished. That is why when you are eating the whole food herbs in addition to your regular diet, you will want less of the things that are bad for you.

I am 100% positive that I will not only loose all of my weight, but that I will be able to continue to go off my medications and my goal is to be completely medication free. With Sunrider, I know it is possible.

A few days ago I decided to post on Facebook about my good fortune of losing 20 pounds in the past 2 months, going off 75% of my medication and feeling better than ever. I additionally added that Sunrider herbal foods was HOW I was doing it. Literally within the next 3 hours I had FIVE people leaving me private messages asking me where they could get Sunrider herbal foods for themselves. Kevin and I had already decided that after the holidays we would become Independent Business Owners with Sunrider International so that we could begin to share these miraculous herbal foods with our friends, family and co workers. However once I realized that I had 5 people wanting information NOW, Kevin and I decided not to wait and we became IBOs for Sunrider yesterday. Now we can begin to order the herbal foods for our family at a greatly reduced price and can help others find healing and weight loss as well.

I'm excited to say that in less than 24 hours as an IBO I already have customers that are extremely excited to begin their journey of healing and weight loss as they begin to eat the Sunrider herbal foods. In the next few weeks I will be using my Definitely Debi blog to post information about Sunrider; specifically tutorials for my customers on how to mix the herbal foods and when and how much to consume for optimum results.

I will also be sharing more details that explain what an herbal food is, how it works and who developed it, when it was developed and how. So stay tuned for all of that. What I will quickly say now is this: When you consume whole food herbs, your body is receiving complete and total whole food nutrition that rids the body of toxins, nurishes the body and completely regenerates all of your major bodily functions. Your body is able to do as it was originally intended....it HEALS itself. Because you are completely nurished, you no longer crave sugar, caffiene and carby, fat laden junk food. Sunrider herbal foods are completely organic, chemical and preservative free and they do not contain caffiene or any additional stimulants. I have never had any strange or negative side effects as a result of consuming Sunrider foods. I have only felt nurished and full of natural energy that can only be described as having the energy and vitality that I have not felt since I was a teen.

If you want  more information about how you to can experience natural weight loss and well being as your body heals itself of whatever ails you...then please call me for more information at 702-788-6451. Additionally, if you are someone who struggles to gain weight, Sunrider will help you to properly nurish your body and you will be able to maintain a healthier weight. If you choose to visit the Sunrider website, please do not attempt to order the products on your own. There are over 400 products to choose from and you only need a few of them to get the results that I have. Additionally you need a representative to teach you how to prepare the foods and how  much and how often to eat them etc.

 Kevin and I will have our own personal Sunrider website and blog soon and I will let you know when that happens.

In the meanwhile, I wish you all good health and vitality!

Fall Interior Decor

WELCOME FALL!!!

Today is October 2nd  and I am so ready for the fall weather to arrive. It's been the hottest Summer on record in at least 30 years and living in our older home without A/C has been a challenge to say the least. Yesterday it was 90 outside and over 100 degrees in my house. The weather report calls for another day in the 90's today and then it will start to quickly cool off and it is supposed to be in the 60's next week which will definitely feel more like fall!

I decided it was time to bring out the fall decorations in hopes that the cooler weather would soon follow! Above is our fall wreath hanging on the gate that leads into our front court yard.

 
Here is the front porch. I hung a basket arrangement on the front screen door. 

 

 

We have a step down galley kitchen off to the left as soon as you come in the front door. There is the perfect little nook just inside the kitchen where I keep our corner iron shelf unit. It is the perfect place to display my whimsical Halloween decorations.

 

Here is close ups of the shelves. Above is my "pumpkin people"

Here is my "friendly witch" collection. The painting was done by my Mom.

Here is my ghost and black cat collections. Both paintings and the cross stitch were done by my Mom.

I try to add something new to my collection every year. This year I bought this vintage black cat at Tuesday Morning. Don't you love his little trick or treat pail shaped like a bat? 

Above and below are shots of our kitchen.

 

I love this Halloween tree that I bought at Home Goods several years back. The ornaments are vintage Halloween stickers that I put on card stock and hung with a black ribbon.

 

Here is a framed picture that my Mom gave me years and years ago. It's a vintage Good Housekeeping magazine cover with a little boy in front of a fall scene.

Here is another framed picture (the flash erased the little boy's head who is sitting on the pumpkin.!)

Here is our dining room. I'm especially excited to show the new light fixture that Kevin hung up over the table. As a reminder, when we moved in to the house...the dining room light fixture was a very contemporary style that did not go with our decor.

BEFORE

AFTER

Kevin had to re-route the electrical about a foot to the right so that we could center the new light fixture over the center of the table. He also took down the ultra contemporary light sconces that hung on each side of the window.  The new fixture was given to us FREE by a friend of mine who had it stored in her attic. It was brand new. I priced light fixtures like this at anywhere from $300-$500!

 Here is an iron pumpkin candle holder I found last year at Home Goods.

 I added the gold ceramic pumpkin to my display in the china hutch.

 I added some fall touches to the wine rack

Here is a big bouquet of fall leaves...which are sitting on a book case in our entry.

A few fall decorations grace the shelves.

I used acorns in the vase.

 Remember this plain wall and fireplace below?

BEFORE

 

AFTER

Thanks to Kevin, it is now painted and has a hand-made mantle! Kevin was so sweet to build this mantle for me after I said how much I would miss decorating the mantle with the fall decor this year.

I think he did a great job! I love it!

 Here is the living room.

 I bought these new pillows for the couch at Target.

 ...more fall decor on the end table and coffee table

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I also bought these tab top drape panels at Target for the french doors so we could have some privacy at night.

I hope you all have a wonderful fall season and may your days be crisp and cool :-)