• Recharge & Reset

    Lazy days are an absolute MUST to recharge your mind, body and soul. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia over 20 years ago and in those years, I have learned to listen to my body and rest when I need to (well, most of the time LOL – it’s a work in progress). One can only…

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  • I love the “success kid!” He is adorable and the expression on his face is a feeling we all strive for in life. The word success, to me, is completely subjective. What I think of as successful another person may scoff at. That being said, my personal definition of success is to achieve a good…

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  • In the Hunt…

    With our impending move 800+ miles up the East Coast, I am actively looking for a job for when we get there. I have many years of accounting experience and it still seems so hard to find something! I am searching indeed and LinkedIn daily and apply to anything I am even remotely qualified for.…

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  • Anytime I hear the word neighbor, I can’t help but think of Mr. Rogers. Back when I was growing up, I lived in a very bad neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. I used to dream of having such a nice neighborhood where you didn’t have to play the game of “is that a gunshot or…

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  • Live Free and Ride

    I could definitely try riding a motorcycle for the first time! We own a camper in Laconia, home of the World’s Oldest Motorcycle Rally. Neither of us know how to ride, but our friends to and we just love the people and the atmosphere at Bike Week. We go every year. Now that we are…

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  • Don’t be an A**hole

    My main defining principle is just don’t be an a$$hole. I try to always be kind, and remember that none of us can know what is going on in someone else’s world. Small acts of kindness can change someone else’s entire day. You never know. The world today is filled with so much hate and…

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  • Changes…

    Two years ago, we packed our whole lives up and moved from Massachusetts to North Carolina. We were scared and nervous to move to such a different place. It was great to be near my dad and my sister (and I will miss my sister terribly – this is the only big downfall to going…

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  • Can I do it?

    The hardest personal goal I have set for myself is to lose 100 pounds. Boy, do I struggle with this! I love food far too much and my chronic illnesses limit my physical activity. My weight has fluctuated all of my adult life and it is a major struggle for me. Toss in my recent…

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  • I love art in all forms, but my favorite artform is music. To me, music is what gets you through the day. A certain band or song can take you back to a place in time and invoke memories. That being said, my favorite artists for music are The Beatles. From their early music in…

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  • Reading is Life

    I have a ton of hobbies, but my favorite one is definitely reading. I usually have an audiobook, a kindle book, and an actual book going all at the same time. It all began as a child. I had a very difficult childhood, so books were always my escape. Hell, I read The Stand by…

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Growing up, I was skinny and tall like a beanpole. It wasn’t until I turned 17 or so and went on the depo provera shot that made me gain about 50 pounds – and fast! Since then, I have struggled with yoyo weight loss.

At 17 I was 105, then 155 after the shot. For the next 4 years I would go up and down about 25-30 pounds, give or take a few. I got pregnant at 22 and I was 177 (Damn, wish I was that now!! LOL). I gained 57 pounds with the pregnancy, but lost all but 10 pounds fairly quickly. Until I turned 30, I fluctuated between 185-220 pounds. At that time, I went through a rough divorce and lost 25 pounds and hovered around 160-170.

I gained all that back and then some, clear up to 250. I again had a rough life situation, lost 20 pounds down to 230 and got a job working at Wendy’s. In the 3 years I worked there I lost almost 80 pounds from my 10-12 hour active days and not eating enough during the course of the day. As a GM at Wendy’s you have no time to eat!

Then, I hurt my back. I ended up leaving the job because I couldn’t handle it physically anymore. I moved in with my now-fiancée and her two boys and you know what they say about love making you fat and happy? Yeah that happened LOL. Also, as I aged, the weight was harder to come off and I started going through perimenopause. I ballooned up to 280 pounds. I couldn’t stand looking at myself in mirrors and in pictures.

In January of this year, I got my shit together and went to see a doctor for the first time in, oh, about 12 years. Needless to say, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides. Talk about wake up call. My doctor told me if I didn’t change my habits I was headed straight for a heart attack and/or a stroke. This is the beginning of my current weight loss journey, so please come along and we can all support each other!

Books, Balance, & Beyond

Where numbers meet narratives

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