So 2 years after I lost weight with L.A. Weight Loss, I had gained all the weight back.  I was on my binge phase.  I ate mostly doughnuts, cakes, and fast food.  I was up to 155 pounds.  I looked up L.A. Weight Loss but they had shut down their stores by then.  I adapted their diet plan.  So for breakfast, I would have half of a 100 calorie bagel with some butter on it.  I would either have an apple or applesauce with it and then 8 oz. of milk.  For a snack in between breakfast and lunch, I would have a 100 calorie snack pack.  For lunch, it would either be 3 cups of spinach and 3 ounces of fish or 2 cups of lettuce and 4 ounces of chicken.  I found that salad dressing had too many calories in it so I started to use the honey mustard sauce instead for salad dressing.  Another 100 calorie snack pack in between lunch and dinner.  For dinner, it was either 1/2 cup cooked vegetables and some meat.  I basically ate like that until I lost 30 pounds.  I could only keep up with this diet for about 7 months.  I found that when I said no to foods that I liked, I would get this weird high.  I felt in control and powerful because I could say no to bad foods.  At the time I thought I was in control but I wasn’t.  It made me feel good, when people said that I looked like I was losing weight.  There would come a point, every day that I would feel like I was about to pass out.  My ears would start ringing and I would feel faint.  I didn’t pass out, I just took 2 deep breaths and the feeling would pass.  Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I would do an hour of cardio.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would do pilates.  I would also drink about 5 or 6 water bottles a day.

 

I just started my first travel job last Thursday.  I moved down to Macon,GA on October 24th.  My mom came with me to help me.  It’s about a two hour drive from my parent’s house to Macon.  We left a little later than we wanted to so my mom couldn’t stay and help me unpack.  When I was watching my mom drive away, I felt very overwhelmed and lonely.  I was out of my comfort zone.  I was in a strange town.  My closest family was about 30 minutes away.  All my life, I was used to being around the Atlanta area or surrounded by family and friends.  Even when I went away to college, I was only 30 minutes from my parents and I had my best friends at college with me.  This is the first time in my life that I’ve been by myself.  I’ve wanted to be a travel nurse for about 10 years now.  I didn’t think about how I would feel when I actually became a travel nurse.  After my mom went back home, I went grocery shopping.  Thank God I chose an extended stay hotel with a full kitchen.  While at the grocery store I picked up some Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the 6 pack.  I haven’t had a craving for doughnuts in about 2 months when I had to move back in with my parents for a while.  I still bought healthier foods too.  When I got back to my hotel room, I immediately ate the doughnuts.  I couldn’t finish all 6 of them which surprised me.  When I was eating doughnuts every day, I was able to put 6 down with no problem.  After 4 I was full.  I knew why I was craving the doughnuts, I was craving comfort.  I didn’t know the area.  It also didn’t help that I couldn’t call my best friend.  She was in Nigeria dealing with her own problems.  I emailed my health coach.  I had forgotten that I could have called her.  I wrote down in my journal everything that I was feeling.  In those first 2 days, I literally rethought my decision to become a travel nurse.  I told myself that I would give myself a month.  If I was still feeling like this in a month, then I would go back to Atlanta and find a permanent job at a hospital.  I’ve wanted to be a travel nurse ever since a travel nurse came to speak to our class in LPN school back in 2004.  It combines the two things I love, traveling and nursing.  God even showed me that I was going to be a travel nurse.  I’m going to meet my future husband while I’m a travel nurse.  Even knowing all those things, I still wanted to turn around and go back to my comfort zone.  By the end of the first week, I was starting to feel comfortable being in Macon.  When I started the travel job, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  The nurses on the floor are helpful and they don’t mind me asking a lot of questions.  I thought I would be thrown out on the floor without orientation.  I had orientation on Thursday and I worked on Friday and Saturday.  Even after just 2 days, I’m getting back into the swing of nursing.  I took a 3 month break before I started this job.  I’m no longer feeling overwhelmed.  I went to a yoga class on Sunday.  Thank God my health coach found a yoga studio.  When I was telling the yoga instructor that I was a travel nurse, I felt very happy and proud of myself.  I’m finally living one of my dreams.  It took 10 years to manifest but with God and my health coach, I did it.  It feels so surreal sometimes when I wake up and realize that I’m living one of my dreams.  I used to be afraid to live this dream because then what would my dream be next.  I was afraid of what was to come next.  I didn’t know what my next dream would be.  God has showed me what my next dream will be.  Stay tuned!!!!