November 14, 2012
I'm Josie,
Mom, daughter, sister, friend, business owner, and sugar addicted stress eater..
I was 38 when I got pregnant with my daughter. The same week I got pregnant I had a skiing accident which led to a total ACL reconstruction of my left knee. The rigorous exercise program and healthy eating habits that I had followed for ten years was put on hold. In the years that followed, my fairy tale life of love, marriage, family, health and fitness, began to unravel around me. With that, I became a stress eater and sugar my culprit.

Fast forward … My daughter is 14 and I am 80 pounds over weight, I have tried every diet including the “Raw” diet without success. Today I am challenging myself to change; change my eating habits, change the way I feel about myself, CHANGE.... I will be blogging daily, starting with today, my 53rd birthday. I will share with you my challenges, some solutions I come up with, photos, recipes and each success. It is my hope and desire to make a difference in my life as well as the lives of everyone that visits me here. Thank you for supporting me. I am now publicly accountable to myself and each of my readers. Come back often to read and see how I evolve. My goal for this year is weight loss and wellness. My diet is simple, whole foods and nothing artificial! I am using experience, logic and you to keep me going.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. – Lao Tzu

Morning after Christmas: Day 43

Mon. December 26, 2011 9:00 am

: HAPPY HOLIDAYS

The Morning after Christmas Day and I feel good!

I’ve done it!!! Or should I say ‘I’m doing it’! I made it through my birthday, my daughters birthday, Thanksgiving, a Christmas Party food and drink fest, Christmas Eve and now Christmas Day without sugar or diet soda or artificial sweetener, or artificial anything.

The menu for Christmas dinner: Homemade pasta with meatballs and sausage. Ham and salad.. and more.. I brought my healthy marinara and shaved zucchini for my main dish. I had a big salad with some fresh mozzarella. I have been almost 100% dairy free but I did opt to have some fresh mozzarella.

Temptation runs high but I wasn’t tempted in the least.

This year, my sister decided to ask everyone to bake one type of cookie rather then one person bringing all the cookies. Then we would all take home an assortment of cookies. A “cookie exchange” she called it. My amazing nieces who win the Thanksgiving bake off every year and my sister Laura who normally brings all the delicious Christmas cookies did not disappoint and let’s not forget my sister in law Nina’s homemade pizzelle cookies my sister Ginny’s chocolate chips and Grandma’s oatmeal cookies. They were all delicious to look at but my mission is clear and commitment is strong.

I love the ornaments on my sisters tree. They remind me of when I was living in Austria. I took pictures of beautiful art work and statutes inside 13th century churches.

christmas-orniments-on-changingitnow.com

Ornament on MaryAnn's tree

One of my favorite pictures of the night.. My great niece Grace playing beautiful music on the player piano.

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Kathryn Donatelli - December 27, 2011 - 4:18 am

Wonderful inspiring story! The photos are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing those.ReplyCancel
Loreen - December 26, 2011 - 1:00 pm

Amazing. Great job! New Year’s will be a cinch. 🙂ReplyCancel
Ginny - December 26, 2011 - 9:23 am

Good job, and thanks for sharing the marinara sauce and your pictures.ReplyCancel