Hi there!
Hello friend! I’m Jessa. I’m a busy mom of three, who works as a ER/Trauma nurse part-time. The rest of the time I manage the home and work on two blogs, this blog Low Carb Delish, and my other blog Sparkle*, where I write about crafts, non-low carb cooking and lifestyle. The reality of being a busy mom is that you need to take care of yourself in addition to caring for your family. Um yeah, that’s hard. With the kids’ and the Mr’s busy lives it is often hard to take care of yourself, and your diet. I’ll be honest and tell you that the rest of the family doesn’t eat strictly low carb. I often find myself making additional food and treats for the others, but I’m usually pretty good about not having any. Usually.
After my second daughter was born the baby weight didn’t come off as easily as I wanted it too. Sure, I was active, running, hiking up Camelback Mountain and what not, and I learned quickly that my diet was to blame. I’ll confess that I love real fresh croissants and macaroni and cheese. Not exactly foods that are conducive to being slender. So after playing around with diets that either didn’t work or were hard to stick to, I tried the good old Atkins. I loved it! I could have cheese! And it worked. I found that I needed more vegetables than the strict Atkins allowed, so I modified it, pretty much allowing all the greens that I want, not really paying attention to the carbohydrate amounts and it still worked.
Fast forward five years later. Over time, I slipped on the low carb way of eating, and the weight slowly crept back on. Not a ton, but not where I wanted to be. Then baby number three arrived early this year. After the initial weight loss from baby and breastfeeding, I became stuck. I had started running again, walking whenever the big kids had soccer practice, but I still felt fluffy. Once again, my diet was to blame. So a couple weeks ago I decided to make a change. Permanently. On Easter day I allowed myself all the junk food, candy, Cadbury Creme Eggs and rolls that I wanted. The next day I quit sugar and carbs. Cold turkey. I realized very quickly that I am a sugar addict. I felt like crap for a good six days as my body withdrew from all the junk. My brain was in a fog, I woke up with terrible headaches every morning, and I was so cranky. But then that all changed. I started sleeping amazing. I don’t feel the need for a mid-afternoon Starbucks run. My workouts are getting easier. And best of all that extra weight is melting off. Now, I’m still breastfeeding my infant, so I allow myself some grace during this induction period. I’ll add a few fresh strawberries to my protein shakes and munch on a lot of broccoli and cucumbers. It’s funny how when your body gets used to not eating refined sugars that cucumbers start to taste sweet!
So there’s my story. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.