3.21.2012

.I am in love.

Friends, I am here again with a full heart. 

For the past year I have been dedicated to improving my health: My spiritual, mental, and physical health. Thus beginning a new journey.

This journey was between me and God. This journey's purpose was to treat my body as a temple, the way my Heavenly Father created it to be. This journey required steadfast prayer, commitment, faith, hope, and bravery. My journey?--To lose weight.

Almost a year ago I shared my heart on this blog. It was scary but I did it. I felt the Lord tugging at me to do so to reach people I may never get the chance to meet in person. I wrote about a very hard, depressing, embarrassing, and low time in my life: Heartache resulting in an eating disorder.

The past year I have faced my greatest fears. Fear is something different for everyone and for me, it involved doctors, specialists, MRI machines, appointments, results, and so on. My body needed to lose weight but more importantly, it needed to function properly. By this I mean to have a body that did not suffer from headaches, debilitating migraines, and ovarian cysts. For those of you not familiar with the pain, agony, and depression that coincide with these ailments, let me tell you: THEY ARE BRUTAL TO YOUR BODY. Brutal to your physical body, mental body, and spiritual body.

I have attended more doctors and specialists in the past year than I would have hoped to see in my life. I did it. I went through with the waiting period, the horrible exam period, and the most feared: the result period. God gave me strength, He provided me with a desire to go to these appointments, He gave me the ability to laugh after fainting at a few of these appointments, He gave me a heart filled with joy, and He gave me the most loving and attentive husband.

What I was not expecting were answers and though I did not receive an answer for everything, I did find two answers: My severe intolerance to Wheat/Gluten and my need for eye glasses. 

My chiropractor was the first to introduce me to the wheat-migraine relationship and my skepticism was put to rest after reading this blog. I felt the Lord provided me with these two completely different paths in order for me to do further testing to understand my body. I had expensive, in depth blood work completed to find food intolerances and was given my first answer to healing: Cut out gluten from your diet!

It seemed too easy that simply changing your diet would improve your physical health and not just in the weight loss department, but how your body functions as a whole. Going gluten-free was intimidating and stressful in the beginning but little by little God proved I could do it, and do it well. I have been gluten-free 5 months now and feel encouraged in every aspect of the word.

I have officially lost and kept off 30lbs since May 2011.
I have made a lifestyle change. My diet is 100% gluten-free and I plan to continue. The best part is not the weight loss, it's how my body feels and how it is functioning. My migraines have improved to what feels like 85% and keep getting better. The only time I feel a strong headache or migraine is around my monthly cycle which is caused by the changes in my hormone levels. You know what?--I'll take it! I gladly accept one bad headache a month that lasts 2 days compared to two week long migraines and waking up every single morning with a headache.

Friends, I am thrilled.

I used to ask Adam to rub my head close to every night and would even wake him at times to help me get medicine, an icepack, or to simply rub again. The other night I felt a slight discomfort in my head so I asked him to rub it and he paused, smiled, and said, "Woah Katie. Your gluten thing really is working, I haven't had to rub your head in months!" Hearing him say this made my heart just about burst! God was blessing Adam through my healing for everything he has done for me. Our marriage is strengthening because of my health and how I feel. Praise Jesus!

My body is still producing cysts but I am able to detect when and where this is happening and learning what my body needs. God is comforting me with familiar pain and allowing my body and brain to fully communicate. It is an amazing thing. I am hopeful healing will come regarding the cysts and to be frank, hopeful a pregnancy will assist in preventing the cysts as well as regulating my body's cycle.

I also had intensive eye examinations completed and had a scare for glaucoma but after further testing, the results came back negative! The eye doctor did find my need for glasses and I was not surprised. When I am driving and on the computer I feel my eyes ache resulting in a pressure headache. My blogging has slowed down a lot in the last few months and this is because I went through a time period when I simply could not be on the computer, it caused too much pain. Well, another simple answer as glasses has fixed this!

As the title says, "I am in love." Do you know what I am talking about?--My body! I am in love with my body for being created by God's masterful hands. I have not always treated it as I should but now, now I am striving to view myself as a temple..the temple it was created to be. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."

I am working each day to give my body what it needs. Little things like exercise, eating healthy whole foods, and a good night's rest. I am continuing to have regular check ups at my gynecologist and keeping a journal of when my body produces cysts and headaches. I am remembering to praise God for answered prayer. I am smiling more, laughing more, enjoying my house, job, and husband more.

Life is good friends.

To celebrate my current weight loss and health, I bought myself another dress and this time, a little black dress. Now I simply need lessons on how to "pose" to show off an outfit. I got rather shy and ended the mini photoshoot short.  Glad the hubs got a candid at the end, it's actually my favorite!
Happy Living--Happy Health
and remember
--Little Things Bring Smiles--

25 comments:

  1. You look great!! Congrats on the weight loss! I also am 21 pounds lighter and feel great.

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  2. Wow! Amazing girl. I'm so happy for you that your migraines have subsided, what a blessing. And you look absolutely fabulous!

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  3. congrats katie! what a great accomplishment (that i cant seem to master haha) I am so happy for you, and your new dress is adorable!

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  4. Awesome girl! So glad that your headaches are improving that's awful! Good luck that takes real dedication. How amazing you are!

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  5. Katie you look amazing!! Love you!!

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  6. You look wonderful!!! That is so incredible. I loved reading this post.

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  7. You look great, Katie (although I always thought you did), but what's better is that you FEEL great. :) Way to go! I'm so glad the GF lifestyle has been working wonders in your life. Sometimes I'm tempted to follow along and do it with you! ;)

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  8. That is so awesome! Congrats! You look fabulous and love the new dress!

    http://fitcraftystylishandhappy.blogspot.com/

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  9. I'm glad things are working out in the migraine department...such a frustrating illness!

    Look at you in your snazzy dress!! Looking good, lady!

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  10. congrats!!! that is a huge accomplishment, and you look great!

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  11. You look AMAZING!!! Congratulations! Praise God for giving you answers and strength through a tough year. Keep leaning into Him! Thanks for such an awesome post to read~

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  12. Congratulations! I'm so happy that you have some answers - truly truly a blessing! You look SO happy!
    Jo-Anna

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  13. you're beautiful! you were beautiful then, 30 lbs heavier, and you're beautiful now! i admire you for being able to live this way, it must be so difficult to completely change everything you eat! also, i must admit i am a tad jealous of your weight loss photos. you're getting so tiny, while my belly is just busy expanding haha.. but i suppose it's for good reason, so i guess i can let go of the jealous part and just be happy for you : ).

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  14. My husband was diagnosed with Crohns 8 years ago, and just went gluten free 3 years ago. It was the best thing he has done for his body! :)

    I am also trying to lose 30 lbs! But I am very unsuccessful! 9 weeks in and I gained 1.6 lbs! :( yikes!

    beautiful post!

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  15. Good for you! I get horrible migraines that I've neber been able to figure out. Maybe I'll have to look into the gluten connection.

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  16. amazing! i feel better when i don't eat gluten as well!
    al

    afterhissmile.com

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  17. I had a baby 6 months ago and the last 15-20 pounds just wouldn't budge! My sister went gluten free for cyst reasons as well and lost a lot of weight too. I said I would NEVER give up my bread. But when reality set in that I didn't want yo settle for being overweight, I took the plunge into a gluten and dairy free diet. Tomorrow will be my 3 week mark and I have lost 12 pounds! It is a hard decision to make, but works! Now that I see results, it isn't hard to stick with it. Thanks for posting about this today!

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  18. katie-

    i am so moved, and humbled that my little blog started you on this journey. i've shared your post tonight at creative juice, because i hope more hear your story.

    this made my week. thank you.

    {also sharing at pinterest}

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  19. Congratulations! I recently (1 month) went gluten-free and I feel a lot better, which is what life is all about (plus the weight loss is pretty awesome too!). Thanks for sharing your authentic story.

    Jessica
    stayathomeista.com

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  20. This is amazing, Katie! Congrats! You're totally inspiring! : )

    -Mel the Crafty Scientist

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  21. Katie, you are amazing. I just read your story today and you are totally inspiring me to get back that strength and go for what I already know it will be good for me. I went gluten free, trying out, a few years ago. Then life happened/changed. I got married and a new happy beginning started. I moved to a different country with all the changes it brings, and so much more and it kinda messed up the balance I once had. I've struggled with my health for quite a while now. After a miscarriage it got worse. I do have cysts in my ovaries (with all the problems it brings), and gained a lot of weight. I'm also been sick too many times and for long periods, the past few months.
    I've been starting going back to gluten free about a month ago, but I feel like TODAY is my first. I'm setting up the bar higher and with more confidence. Thank you for your example. May I ask some suggestion, how did you do it, what did you read, follow. I'm always eager for more information and learn more. Thank you!! Cheers Naomi :)

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  22. Hi my name is Anna, and I was wondering if I could use your before and after pictures for a speech i'm doing about how wheat is so bad for you...I currently eat a gluten free and have been for 5 years, and I think that you look fabulous, and I'm sure you feel even better! :)

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