And so here it is….
My last blog before Christmas. I’m so happy to say that “I did it!”!  My 90 Day Wellness Journey is completed and here are the final results:

30.5 lbs have been liberated (yaahhooooo and good riddance!) and a total of 104.5 cms (that’s 41 inches!) off of 14 standard measurements.  So hard to believe in just three short months!  –But the best news is that I am feeling GREAT! — so great, in fact, that I will be starting a second 90 Day Wellness Journey in early January (or as I like to call it – “three 30 day journeys back-to-back!!!  Ha!)!  Until then, my goal (a realistic one I think!) is to maintain my results throughout the holidays.  I am after all, spending Christmas with family who love to cook (!!!) and so I am allowing myself some leeway where holiday meals are concerned as with a few festive libations I’m sure!

The past 90 days truly have been a journey — a few challenges along the way but not as difficult as I thought it might be! — and the results make it all worth while!  My goals were to improve health.  How?  Through healthy eating (and moderation), exercise and nutritional cleansing.  I got a great plan in place, the support I needed, some elbow grease and — voila!  My goals were realistic and I made sure to make choices consciously!  I did have some splurges in there including a rather large piece of birthday cake, a fully loaded baked potato, a few glasses of vino with friends and an all-you-can-eat sushi bar —  twice!!!  I did this all guilt-free but made sure that I made these choices consciously instead of on a whim or a craving, and with a strict game plan in place of returning to my structured plan and not looking back!!

After our Wallis For Wellness seminar on Mindfulness, I also have been drawing on some of the tools I acquired and have found this to be helpful during my journey (a new course to be taught in the new year — info to be found on our website!).

Also, our Registered Dietician Aimee Hayes is a great resource, as is our team of wellness coaches here at Wallis For Wellness.

With all this help, encouragement and support I look forward to continuing my journey in the new year and invite you to join me on my quest for improved health and wellness!

You can join us on-line  or simply call our clinic at 905 840-3486.

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!
Lisa Blanden BSc (KIN), RMT, CIMI

PS My inspirational story for this instalment:
Last week, I ran into Lynne who I hadn’t seen for some time.  It took me a moment to register who in fact I was speaking with!  She has always been a positive and beautiful person, but over the past year or so, she has been on her own wellness journey and her results have been truly remarkable and inspirational.  Here is Lynne’s story (and her before and after pictures) in her own words…

December 2014

Hello,

My name is Lynne and I’m 48 years old.

Approximately 18 months ago, I finally decided to take control of my own destiny where my health and wellness were concerned and I haven’t looked back since, o.k., except maybe to see how far I’ve come!  (See pictures attached).

After focusing on my family and career for so many years, it was time to focus on myself.  I suddenly realized that I’m the only one who can do anything about where I want to be.  My family and friends can be there for support and encouragement, but I’m the one that has to do the work.

Various diets over the years had worked on a temporary basis, but as is often the case, I gained back the weight I lost and more, so this time I truly wanted to understand what it was I should be doing to maintain the weight loss, as well as improve my overall health.

I sought out an experienced (not to mention committed and passionate) personal trainer who had me embark on a very vigorous exercise routine 3 times a week, in addition to having me record a daily food journal.  At first I thought this would be too daunting to continue with.  How was I ever going to make the time to get to training sessions 3 days a week and then record everything I was eating?   However, I was pleasantly surprised by my determination and commitment to this new regime.  I had taken the commitment I had for my family and career for so many years and now applied it to my training sessions and food journaling.

I started training in August of 2013 and by Christmas of that year I had lost close to 30 lbs, my nutrition had changed completely, as had my body composition, and I was learning to enjoy cooking and looking forward to physical activity of any kind.

By April of 2014 I had lost a total of 60 lbs and was in the best physical shape of my life, so I ran my first 10K at the end of April, just because I could and came in under an hour with my committed trainer running beside me!

The past 18 months have been some of the most rewarding and positive times of my life, not only in the physical sense, but also mentally and emotionally.   I remain committed to my new lifestyle and have developed a passion to inspire and assist others to seek their goals.  It’s a great place to be!