As I sit here at the end of yet another workout, I started perusing one of my dietbets that's about to end. I see someone post about how Dietbet has started changing her attitude towards food. It urged me to share my experience with Dietbet as well. I will give a little more background here before I share what I shared in that game.
I was in a car accident nearly 13 years ago. I very literally nearly died with vivid memories of seeing my dead brother and crossing over with him and everything. I had multiple organ damage and multiple fractures.
The year after that accident my PT was done with a trainer at my chiropractors office. Those two guys really changed my life and helped me more than words can say. Don't get me wrong, the paramedics and hospital staff saved my life and I will be forever thankful for that too. Without the paramedics and men on the fire department I wouldn't have even made it to the hospital alive and without those Doctors I wouldn't be alive. I'm talking once I was getting better and able to walk again and feed myself again and all thst fun stuff I was habit muscle atrophy and severe sciatica. The PT and adjustments 3 days a week for several months that tapered down to 2 times a week for the rest of a year, made it possible for me to have a decent quality of life. These two men both made it very clear I would need to exercise the rest of my life to retain mobility in my body and when that year was over strangely enough I was probably in the best shape of my life from the chiropractic care and PT with the trainer.
Fast forward a few years, I wasn't exercising regularly and hardly at all. I finished college and started working and had one illness after another... Mono, pneumonia, a pulmonary embolism (and discovered a genetic blood clotting disorder), gallstones, rheumatoid arthritis, endometriosis, and on and on and on. I was sick ALL the time. I had to quit working because I was off work as much as I was at work due to health issues. During this time before I quit working, I went through a period where my primary Doctor referred me to a psychiatrist who loaded me up on medicines which made me a complete zombie. I have a couple of years I barely even remember before I went off these meds.
Once I finally started seeing a different gynecologist, I got my endometriosis under control. Once I started seeing a rheumatologist I got my RA under control. I was starting to feel better and felt like I could finally do more than just be sick and fight to get out of bed every day.
I will say in all of this medical stuff my weight went up and down several times from 135-200-130-200-150-180-140-160 and you name it I've been every weight there is between 130 and 200 in the last 13 years. After my accident and through all the PT I was 135 and was in great shape. The best shape of my life like I said.
Well ill after I had my last surgery to have an ovary removed due to the endometriosis and got on a good regimen of medications for my RA, I was finally ready to lose the extra weight again.
I started walking more and drinking more water and less soda around the end of October or the beginning of November in 2014. I had been 186 pounds. Then, I discovered dietbet around Thanksgiving. I decided to give it a try. I jumped in to 3 kickstarters (4% in 4 weeks) and joined. transformer too at the beginning of December. Later I added a second transformer in January and a 3rd in February. The more I got into it the more I discovered I loved the whole dietbet community. I learned more and more recipes. I discovered more and more workouts and really found a lot of stuff I loved.
As I kept going my whole attitude about exercise and nutrition changed. I learned so much about what's really good for the body and what's not. My whole lifestyle changed.
I played games all the way up through August. I got down to about 140 by June. I went back up a little but was mostly in the 140s. Then, I decided to take September off from Dietbet.
I was still trying to exercise until I started having another minor medical thing in October that caused pain and swelling internally when I would exercise. So I had to take time off until I could see the gynecologist again in November. I tried to start exercising again in December, but was still having the pain and swelling. I decided it was best to wait until I went back for a follow up and found out I was OK.
Now I am back and I just love it. I love the motivation to keep eating better and supporting each other. I even found another workout channel on YouTube I love this time too. I love learning more and more about nutrition and fitness.
That brings me to more info on how my life has changed for the better. With my new attitude towards health, fitness, exercise and nutrition; I have found that it's not only my new lifestyle, but it is my PASSION! I mean I love everything about health, wellness, fitness, and nutrition. I am currently taking classes to become a triple certified health coach.
I have future aspirations for attending a Yoga Teacher Training (I am considering two places currently).
I think I would also like to become Certified in teaching Pilates too. These two things are pretty pricey for where I am considering, and I feel like I'm still a beginner, so I would like to future my own practice first too.
I am considering for possibly sooner though a Pop Pilates Certification. I think this may require a group instructor certification and I may want to get a personal trainer certification with this too. I have looked at several schools for this, but just don't have any idea what's best yet.
Another thought is the advanced course that comes after my health coach certification courses. I'm not quite sure yet which I will pursue first, or I will pursue any or all of them. Just having the thoughts that I could possibly do some of or all of these things is super exciting though.
I never in a million years dreamed my life would head down this path but it is. I love it; wherever it takes me.
I will finish my first health coach certification exam in just a couple more weeks and hopefully I will pass it and my oral presentation. Then the next two courses are just 3 more weeks each. I hope to pass those certifications too and see where it leads me next!
I owe this new path largely in part to dietbet and all of the great hosts and people I have met along my Dietbet journey. Without dietbet, I never really stuck to an exercise program before. I was always thinking I was going on a diet before snd was still eating all the wrong foods. Dietbet changed my life and my thinking about having an overall healthier lifestyle! It's not about a diet, it's about having a healthy life!