My Wellness Journey-Part4

I am so excited to finish this series with you guys! I love that I was able to really share my heart and my wellness journey with you. I think it helped me just as much as you! I honestly didn't even realize the obstacles I have overcome until I had to write it all out. I have really enjoyed it, and I hope you have as well! Below I am going to tell you about my transition to paleo and my final weight loss transformation after Silas! Thanks for following!

The final part of my wellness journey is mostly about nutrition. I honestly had no idea what was good for my body and what was bad. I really based all my food choices off of calorie content, not nutritional content. I think I just didn't care because I was achieving my weight loss goals, so what I was doing was working on some level. I was fit, but I wasn't healthy if that makes sense. I was a good size, and I looked good on the outside but my body was struggling. I struggled with chronic stomach aches, nausea, heartburn, and other digestive issues. I didn't even realize that I could control these symptoms with my diet. I just thought it was something I had to live with.

Then I learned about Paleo eating, or primal eating. Hayden came home one day and said the guys at work were talking about eating paleo. I said what the heck is that? He explained that it is basically going back to how the caveman used to eat. Eating foods in their natural state, and basically eating meat, vegetables, fruit and....here is where he lost me....no bread. I said, "shut your mouth I am not doing that." End of story. Mind you, my diet was cereal in the morning, sandwiches for lunch, and lean cuisines or rice something for dinner. So I blew him off, but when my husband gets something in his mind he does it. So he bought me "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson. I still said I didn't have any interest at all, but I started reading it.

The first few pages, debunked everything I thought I knew about food, exercise, and meal habits. For the sake of time, I am going to shorten this up to make it simple.

EAT.REAL.FOOD.

Fat is good for you, grains are not. I wanted to throw the book out right there. I can't be thin and eat bacon and eggs. I can't be thin and eat steak. Sure you can, and you will be healthier for it. Fat is fuel. It promotes a healthy metabolism, stabilizes energy levels, and helps you control your weight. I used to eat egg whites because I thought eggs were to high in cholesterol. Turns out eggs have little correlation to heart disease or cholesterol. An egg is one of natures most perfect food. High five to God because eggs are such an amazing food with so many health benefits. I was on board with the fat and protein portion of this thing, but no grains. What would I eat and aren't they supposed to be healthy for you? I mean we have been told our whole lives that whole grains is where its at. Turns out, that is a big fat lie!

"Worst mistake in the history of the human race" (UCLA evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond) [Grains] drives exce3ss insulin production, fat storage, and heart disease. Allergenic, immune-suppressing, nutritional value inferior to plants and animals. Whole grains possibly worse due to offensive pro-inflammatory, immune and digestive system disturbing agents-especially fiber. The Primal Blueprint

So this was about how my day would go. Eat cereal, get hungry 1 hour later, eat a rice cake, get hungry, eat a sandwich or wrap, get hungry eat some peanut butter and crackers, get hungry...you see where I am going with this. Constant spiking of my insulin levels and eating foods that were not naturally occurring. Grains were causing me major digestive issues, and once I stopped eating them they have completely disappeared.

I did not go all out paleo at first. It was small changes that led to a major change in lifestyle. It started with cutting out bread, which was so hard. Then I cut out oatmeal, cereal, any type of cracker. Now that I am two years in, I have completely changed the way I eat. I don't take in many grains at all, maybe once a week on a date and I try to make those good choices. Like gluten-free pizza. Over time I have seen that I have a major reaction to sugar, so I stay away from that as much as possible. I get headaches when I eat sugar, so I use things like honey, maple syrup and stevia. I used to think being bloated was normal but it isn't! That is your bodies way of saying, you are eating something I don't like. Something I can't digest.

I cannot digest grains, I get immediate bloat and stomach pain. Like I said, at first I didn't make huge change. Even now I am pretty much 80/20. I eat dairy, and the occasional treat or cheat meal, but now that I know how those foods make me feel, sometimes the indulgence isn't worth it.

Now that I start my day with healthy fats like eggs and other protein, I am energized and the leanest I have ever been. I don't eat 6 times a day. I eat 3 times a day with maybe a small snack somewhere in there before a workout. I fuel my body with healthy fats, protein, and vegetables. I honestly credit paleo to changing the way I viewed food. I am not afraid of food and calories. I am not afraid of what "fats" will do to my body. I welcome the calories and the energy food now provides me. My body has completely changed since going paleo. I weigh pretty much the same but the distribution is different. I am leaner. I am healthier, and most importantly I am happier. I don't count calories very often, and I don't obsess on every single bite. Paleo creates a healthy mindset. It is not a fad. Paleo eating will not fade into the background. I can give you countless success stories, including my own, of people who have cured themselves of ailments with proper diet. Almost every famous paleo blogger and cookbook author started because their health was in the trash and doctors couldn't fix it. Check out Against All Grain by Danielle Walker. Her story is on her website. Seriously wonderful stuff!

Below I shared some photos of my last weight loss transformation after Silas. I did this with exercise and paleo eating. No starving myself, no crazy fads. Just proper nutrition, and exercise. After I had Silas, I had post partum depression. I will expand on that later, but I didn't really get to start my weight loss journey until Silas was 9 months. I am goal oriented so I signed up for an 8 week challenge with a trainer named Ashley Nordman. Check her out! She changed my body with this program! I have found my stride with paleo and weight lifting with minimal cardio.

November 8, 2014 was a defining moment for me! I decided I was done with the baby weight, and I needed help! I did it on my own with Judah but I couldn't get the weight off with Silas. I asked for help and I am so glad I did! November 8, 2014 on the left and April 16, 2015 on the right. 3-5 days a week of working out most weeks, and 80/20 paleo.

Look at my face...obviously not happy!

Saying goodbye to that mom butt for good! Pretty excited about my results on the back side!

These pictures are 6 months apart. 15 pound difference. Tons of inches lost, and muscle built. I am happy with my body. I am proud of it. I worked very hard and it did not happen overnight. I put in the work and continue to do it. I hated it at first, but I love to exercise now. I love pushing my body mentally and physically. There are no quick fixes. There are no short cuts. I worked my butt off to be where I am. I want you to know that this is my life. I am not going to stop. I don't have an end goal. I do it because I love feeding my body the best I can, and training it the best I can. I believe that is what God wants for all of us. To feel our best, so we can serve him fully! I could go on and on about how being physically fit has changed every aspect of my life but this blog post is long enough! I now see exercise as a form of worship. I am worshipping God while I workout. I am training His temple!

If you need help with your wellness journey, I would love to talk to you! Email me today! Don't waste another minute!

My Wellness Journey-Part 1

Sit back with a nice cool drink and your feet up because this is a long one! Maybe a nice glass of Greens or an It Works! Energy? Sorry, had to throw that out there!

I want all of you to really understand my journey. I want you to know all I have faced, conquered, and failed at. I want you to know me, and my heart. My journey did not start where it is today. I wasn't always fit. I didn't always eat "healthy". I didn't always walk around with my head up. I struggled, failed, and got back up more times than I can count. This is a journey, and here is mine!

I have been involved in sports one way or another since I was 5 years old. I started out playing basketball, and then when I got to middle school, I fell in love with volleyball. I mean shorty shorts, and cute socks, what's not to love? In high school, I got pretty serious and started playing in travel leagues during off season. I pretty much lived in spandex, sweaty socks, and a stinky gym but I loved it. Every single second of it. Ok maybe not every single second, the times I had to run because I couldn't keep my mouth shut weren't very fun, but I was obsessed with the game and I thrived in a competitive environment.

When you are in a team sport, you have constant support through your team. Someone to push you harder and hold you accountable. You have your best friends with you 24/7, which is amazing, but the sad part is one day it is over. One day, you graduate and you go from being a hot shot volleyball player that everyone praised daily, to a lonely freshman with no friends and no praise. I know that is a little dramatic but that is how I felt!

Anyway, my point is, my worth was tied up in the sport and how successful I was at it. I didn't get a scholarship because it fell through last minute. I had no where to go to school, and it was February. I picked Angelo State because it was the only college I had been to. I ended up walking on to the volleyball team for like a hot minute, but it didn't work out. So there I was, end of my freshman year completely lost. If I am not playing volleyball and a successful athlete, who am I? What do I do now? I had spent the last 8 years of my life surrounded by my closest friends, playing a sport I loved, and being forced to workout. Sports are so wonderful, and I am so thankful my parents supported my passion, but I think what happens is we lose sight of everything else around us. I traveled constantly, practiced multiple times a week, and did not have time for much else. Where your time and money is most spent, that is where your heart is. My heart wasn't with Jesus. My heart was this sport. I missed the part about BALANCE.

My wellness journey had come to a complete halt. Without a volleyball team to push me, how was I even going to go to the gym? I hadn't worked out alone in almost a decade! I will tell you what happened. I was lost. Completely and totally lost. Physically, mentally, and most important spiritually. Also, I will point out my diet up to this point consisted of Sonic milk shakes, Chick-fil-a, Dr. Pepper, and my personal favorite, a 4 express tender basket with mashed potatoes, French fries, and a large sweet tea from Chicken Express. Oh and don't forget the gravy. I had to have something to dip my fries in! I had no idea how to eat, but because I worked out hours a day, it didn't matter. Or so I thought. I can't even begin to think about how much better of an athlete I would have been if I had actually fueled my body correctly! 

Now, you are probably getting a good idea of what happened over the next 2.5 years. I not only gained tons of weight, lost a total sense of identity, but I also completely withdrew from God. There was no one to make me go to church, so I didn't go. I didn't want to face another room full of strangers. I went occasionally, and visited our Baptist Student Ministry a few times, but never consistently went to church anywhere for four years. It was a dark time spiritually. One I am sure I will expand on at a later date.

My sophomore year I started working at Buffalo Wild Wings 4 days a week. Which meant I was eating hot wings and cheese fries covered in ranch like it was my job. Then there I was shocked by the end of that year by my weight gain. Hot wings won't make me gain weight, right? Let's be honest it probably wasn't the hot wings, it was the complete and total lack of knowledge or support. I had no one around me to work out with, and no one telling me ranch doesn't make your love handles smaller. This continued through my junior and senior year of college. I wasn't going to church, I was gaining weight, and my boyfriend was my life along with some wonderful roommates. This may sound like college was terrible, it wasn't. I had a great time! But I always struggled internally. I was never confident in myself. I was just so insecure, and so far from God.

Okay, here is where this kind of sad story takes a turn. While, registering for my last semester of classes, I realized I had no physical education credit. So what did I do? Walking. Yes, you read that right. Walking. I could have done swimming, running, probably something way more fun but I chose walking. This was a defining moment in my life. You have moment in your life where things started shifting. This was it for me. A walking class in my last semester of college. Go figure.

I started my walking class that January, and after class it just so happened that I didn't have another class until that night. Hours of free time and nothing to do. I would like to think this was because of my excellent class scheduling skills, but it wasn't. This was straight up God. He did it. He opened up my day every Monday, Wednesday, Friday. He gave me that time, so that I could make no excuses. He opened the door, and I just had to walk through it. The door to getting my body back to a healthy place had just been opened and I walked through it. See what I did there?

Next big step, going to the gym that I had been paying for for 3 years and never walked into. The biggest Gold's Gym in Texas had just been built in San Angelo. So this wasn't a rinky dink hole in the wall gym This was a beautiful, huge, and full of fit people gym. Want to know what I did? I found the Women's section in the back of the gym, that had its own private room. I couldn't bring myself to work out with everyone else. All those skinny perfect people. I was over weight, intimated, and flat out insecure, but I went. Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday I went to that little section in the back and I worked my butt off. I did what I knew. I ran for 30-45 minutes and I lifted weights for 30 minutes on a circuit.

I started changing my eating habits too. And by my eating habits I mean, I cut out the hot wings, French fries, and ranch and took up Lean Cuisines, fat-free and sugar-free anything, and started making smoothies every morning for breakfast. I made small changes. I chose fat-free Italian instead of ranch. I chose the fruit cup instead of French fries. I chose water instead of coke. Those small changes started to add up, and I blossomed. I shed about 10 pounds from January to March. Ten pounds may not sound like much but it was life changing for me. I blossomed. I felt confident for the first time in years. I have what you would call an addictive personality. When I start something, I don't do it halfway. I am ALL IN. I will not stop until I am where I want to be. So I didn't stop. By May I had lost 15 pounds and was in such a good place mentally. I was just so happy that I did it. That I accomplished something I set my mind too. I proved to myself that I was enough. That I was worth the effort, that me being confident in my own skin was worth the sacrifice of making time for the gym.

I graduated college a confident woman. I can honeslty sit here and say loosing that weight gave me confidence. Confidence to hold my head up when I entered a room. Confidence to start a new job and live alone for the first time in my entire life. Those small changes added up to something so much bigger. We can sit here all day long and debate how your weight shouldn't change how you feel about yourself, but the reality is, it does. Being proud of how you look, and content in that is important. Should you walk around staring at yourself in the mirror all day? Should you obsess about every roll and lose spot? No. Absolutely, not. That is idol worship. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying is this, being our best self means there are no closed doors. There is no limit to what we can do for our families, ourselves, and Christ. When you physically change your outside, and are proud of that change, you change on the inside. You blossom. You thrive. There are no limits to what you can accomplish.

15 pounds did that for me. 15 pounds made me see myself in a new light. My journey has had many ups and downs since then. A marriage and two babies changes things. They change you as a person physically and mentally. They change your goals. My husband and kids have changed everything, but for the better. I don't even recognize that insecure 21 year old girl anymore. It all started with a walking class. What is your "walking class?"

Take the step. Maybe that step is getting a gym membership, or throwing out all the junk food. Maybe it is getting rid of a toxic relationship. I can tell you if you haven't already, your first step needs to be running to Christ. Ask Him to show your worth. Ask Him to give you the motivation to take the first step towards a healthier you. He will be there, and He will answer.

 

Welcome to Whitney Slack Wellness + Lifestyle!

Welcome to Whitney Slack Wellness + Lifestyle! Thank you for visiting my website, and I hope you enjoy the experience! Whitney Slack Wellness + Lifestyle has been a dream of mine for a very long time, and I am so excited about the future. I have so much passion for health, fitness, food, and family. It has been an evolving journey to get where I am today, and I am sure my story will continue to change, but I feel that I am at a place where I can truly help others on their path to wellness.

Who is Whitney Slack? Well, I am 27 years old and I have been married for 5 years to my high school sweetheart, cute right? Yes, it is and he is pretty fantastic! I have a 3.5 year old little boy named Judah, and a 14 month old baby boy named Silas. I will probably call him a baby until he is 2! Why do they grow up so fast? They are wonderful, handsome, and crazy! Two boys keep me busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! They have taught me a very valuable lesson, and it’s that it is not all about me! Kids have a way of doing that! I am a believer in God, and my prayer is that you see Him in all I do!

What is Wellness? Wellness is defined as a state or condition of being in good mental and physical health. Being “well” or healthy is not just about a six pack, even though those are great, or so I hear! I think being confident in our appearance is such a wonderful thing. I think it helps push us to do things we wouldn’t normally do, but it is not all that matters. We have to love our bodies at every stage because the reality is one day our bodies will change beyond our control. We must first focus on the fact that we are beautifully and wonderfully made by God. God gave you this one life. This one body. This one temple. I believe God wants us to treat that temple with love and respect. To feed it the best we can. To train it the best we can. He wants us to nurture this temple He gave us. To me that is Wellness. Serving God, by nurturing my body and mind properly.

I hope to offer you a place where you can come and get excited about your wellness journey. My desire is to meet and reach as many people as I can! I think becoming our best self takes support. I know I do better at the gym when I have a workout partner, and my food choices are healthier when my husband is on board with my vision for our family. Accountability and encouragement are so important! I want to provide you with a community that will do just that, which is why I am a member of It Works! a health and wellness company. It Works! provides many tools to help anyone achieve physical wellness, and that is why I am so excited to be working with this wonderful company. That is not even the best part about It Works! The best part is they have given me a platform to reach more people, and for that I am so grateful! You will see an It Works! section on my website, and I will be sharing successes, progress, giveaways and of course their amazing products there!

I will also be sharing my life with you all, and I hope you will share yours with me!