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Just came back from my honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean, so most of July 2007 has been a step back. Will have to say though that from the conditioning and healthy eating did not gain one pound on our cruise!! YEAH!!

Now, I was always thin growing up. Was able to eat what I wanted, whenever I wanted and not gain one pound at all. Back in high school was exercising 6-7 days a week, which helped me to eat anything. Was it healthy? No. What high school kid ever eats healthy.


Once I hit college though, plus with a full time job to help pay for it, the weight started creeping on. In my late teens, had ballooned out to 200lbs and was already in size 14/16. Being in an abusive relationship made matters worse, until one day, just looked in the mirror and told myself I wasn't going to take the abuse any longer. I had more respect for myself. So I started working out, walking a mile to work in the morning, two miles to get home on lunch to walk my dogs and get back to work, then another mile walking home at the end of the day. Then bought a 500lb stack lil gym and added weights to my walking regimen. Followed the Atkins diet for awhile, and the pounds dropped so quickly I was down to 110lbs and down to a size 4. Never in my life had I been a size 4!!

With that self esteem kicking in, left the bad relationship and moved out. Since I couldn't take my gym with me, moved on to working out at home with DVD's such as Taebo to help me maintain. Then I became sick, dizzy, fainting all the time, with none of the docs understanding what was wrong with me. Now during my mid 20's my body could not tolerate the heat here in NYC (and to this day still can't at 34 yo), so during the summer's with no air-conditioning, stopped working out, and the fainting spells became worse. Turns out it's some sort of neurological problem, that hasn't been pinpointed yet. I have low blood pressure and am anemic. My cholesterol had skyrocketed with being on the Atkins diet and still not eating clean even though I had been exercising like a madman!


So because I had stopped exercising due to medical conditions, never stopped my eating habits, eating the wonderful Greek food that my husband's family always made, my weight went back up again to 163lbs. Once we got engaged, the journey was on to lose the weight for the wedding. I wound up losing 20lbs dropping to 143lbs, but after the wedding, with work and family from Greece still here for a while, plus the holidays that came right after the wedding in October 2006, 15lbs came right back again, and I weighed in at 158lbs.


So saw an infomercial for P90X and said why not. Especially since have not been back to the gym since Sept 2006. So in April signed up with MDB and have been progressing slowly towards my goal. Have changed most of my eating habits, and now exercise 6 days a week in the morning. If I wait till when I come home from work, I'm so pooped, and I know myself, I won't do it.

Before our cruise, I switched programs from P90X to Slim in 6. P90X bulked me out and that's where the scales started going higher and I went up to 163lbs. Muscle was being built back up again!! With Slim in 6, for me that's when the inches started to fall right off. Lost so far total of 6.5" inches. Am now fitting into clothes that are size 10/12.


Now that I'm back, the transformation will be an ongoing process. I'm starting Slim in 6 again in the morning and working in Hip Hop Abs/TurboJam/P90X Kenpo at night.


I also know that I have to drink more than 8 glasses of water daily as my body is so dehydrated. Plus take my iron supplements along with my Activit multivitamin so I don't fall back into the fainting spells again. And since we're going to be having children, I'm now taking my Folic Acid before we even start trying.

My goal is to get back down to 120lbs, as when I was 110lbs I did look a bit sickly. Once there, maintaining it and going for the gusto with back to back sessions of P90X to get those muscle definitions and cutwork.


*9-29-07* UPDATE: Alright, this is a tough one. I have slipped but am beginning to get back on track. Have been working 12 hour shifts everyday since August until two weeks ago. I was still exercising but not with the same intensity as have been exhausted and working on minimal sleep. Plus with the long hours at work, eating habits were all over the place. Eating late into the night then sleeping right away. Not to mention my dizzy spells have started again. Still no known cause for them, so I'm chalking it up to stress, lack of sleep, poor eating habits and not enough exercise. Doing that, the weight has crept back on again. Had put on an additional 10 pounds which put me at 173.

Now these last two weeks have been back to my regular shifts. Have corrected my eating habits and no longer eat after 8pm EST. I'm getting my regular hours of sleep I need, so my intensity levels for my workouts have increased to where they should be! With POWER and STRENGTH! YEAH! Have switched programs to Power 90 and boy does Tony kick some BUTT! Will be posting my stats soon, they'll still be a bit off from when I originally started, but the key thing is that they're coming back down again!

In two weeks I"ll be back doing 12 hour shifts again, but I've realized my mistakes of letting the stress get to me, and won't be making those same mistakes this second time around. We all get second chances right? And thirds and fourths lol

Well, we all get lost in our everyday lives (like I just did) but it's realizing that you've gone off track and making the decision to get back on that horse again to stay fit and healthy.

Life does throw you some curve balls, but it's how we handle them and what we do to correct it, plus getting back on track with that motivation and support from the whole community here at Million Dollar Body that counts.

UPDATE 1-2-2010: WOW. I have alot of work to do. In 2008 we had a baby girl who's doing great now at 18 months old. So I actually put on weight from the pregnancy. Pre-pregnancy I was 176 and gained 25 pounds. After giving birth, two months later dropped down to 184. Have stayed that way since August 2008. Then in October 2009 was diagnosed with suspicious for thyroid cancer and in November 2009 had surgery to remove my entire thyroid. Results came in, and it was thyroid cancer (papillary carcinoma with follicar variant) BUT stage 1. Blood results have come in and all the cancer was removed and I don't have to do therapy or treatment. Now it's 2 months since the surgery and it's back to pushing play. I have been given the green light from the surgeon to exercise again. So, now I'm starting out with Tony Horton's 10 Minute Trainer doing at least 2 segments as the lil one doesn't give me too much time on my own. I have to change my diet once again, especially with the ending of the holidays and feeling miserable that had cancer. Why me? etc etc. Well that's enough, time to move forward, think positive and push play!!

Tune in to see new additions to my transformation story!