This morning, I felt like I was walking to my sentencing.

Part 1
Part 2
The first 30 days doing the "Shake it Off Challenge" with Kelsie were easy.  I lost 13.4 lbs. taking the Orchard and Garden Blend capsules and drinking 2 shakes a day.

I had a veggie filled lunch everyday as well as healthy snacks in-between meals.  I was averaging 10-13 fruits and vegetables a day not counting the Juice Plus capsules.  I was CRAVING fruits and veggies and drinking things like KALE in GREEN SMOOTHIES!  I'd go to the Farmers' Market and be assaulted by all the amazing smells of all the produce.  It was like my palate had been cleansed of all the refined and processed foods and I could appreciate God's bounty more fully.

I avoided gluten and dairy.  I also avoided any processed foods and salt and sugar.

I drank half my weight in ounces of water a day.  I was flushing out all the toxins.

I slept 7-8 hours every night.  I felt so rested and amazing.

2 1/2 weeks into the challenge I started going to the gym.  It gave me MORE energy.  I had always told myself I didn't have time to workout.  I have 8 kids who I homeschool.  Where would I possibly find the time?  I found the time early in the morning before they wake up.  I was wide awake.  Getting enough fruits and veggies and enough sleep switched me over to being a morning person.

My body wakes up every morning at 5:15 unless I set the alarm for 5 am.

The "Shake it Off Challenge" was a good thing for me.  I didn't have to commit to it for 3 or 4 months.
Just one month.
That was bite-size enough for me to handle.
I didn't have any illusions of dropping an absurd amount of weight in that time.
I hoped it would help me set some good healthy habits.  It definitely did that.

I jumped straight into another month of the same healthy habits.  About a week into it, I started to get discouraged when the scale wasn't budging.

I second guessed my ability to turn my fat-storing diabetes-bound body into a healthy fat-burning body.

I let these doubts poison my thinking.

I felt like failure was creeping up on me because the scale wasn't going down.

I was desperate.

And then one morning, my skirt fell off.  I was losing inches.  I WAS MAJORLY LOSING INCHES!  Of course!  I wasn't losing weight because I was building muscle.  And muscle is heavy.  And I WANT that muscle to help me burn more fat.  Yes, yes, YES!

I was doing everything right.  What could I possibly do more?  I was making reasonable and healthy choices for my health.

Positive affirmations.  Positive self-talk.  That's what I could do.  So I started to journal my feelings on my progress.

The scale wasn't the only thing to show progress.  I was a size 22 skirt in November.  My size 20 jeans were too tight to button.  I could only button them if I laid down on my bed and held my breath.  Now I am a size 16.  I have a whole bunch of clothing that fit me that had been banished to the shelf in the closet for many moons.

I can ride a bike.
I can swim.
I can take my kids on a hike and not gasp for air.
I'm not using any allergy medication anymore.
The only time I used my inhaler in over two months was Sunday, and that was because there were lilies in the primary room.  And I have a life-threatening allergy to lilies.
I had one migraine since mid-January.  This is unheard of for me.
I'm not drained and exhausted every afternoon.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and she discussed with me my test results from mid-November.  She was ecstatic that I took her advice to exercise and eat right and had lost over 30 lbs.

My test results from November showed I was a little low in Vitamin D.  Another test, that checked my A1C, was high indicating an increased risk of becoming diabetic.  It should've been followed up with another test.  But it wasn't because somehow the note to follow up wasn't there.

Now, 4 months after that November testing, and 33 1/2 pounds lighter, she's retesting again.  I fasted after dinner last night until my labs this morning.

This morning, I felt like I was walking to my sentencing.  Would it come back elevated?  Would my birthday present be a verdict of prediabetic?

Would it make a difference?  Would I still continue my path to health?  What would change?

to be continued...