Chanelle: Raising 5 Kids And Finding Serenity

Wearing smaller-sized jeans is kind of a big deal! But the biggest deal of all for me is knowing that I’m not going to gain the weight back!

I have struggled since I was young, with a really bad body image. I was never extremely overweight, but I always worried about it, to the point where I had what I called “disordered eating.” Depending on your definition, you may even call it an eating disorder.

When I was in high school and early college, there was very little I wouldn’t have done to be skinny. It was pretty much my lifelong dream. That sounds a little ridiculous to me now being on the other side, but then, feeling bad about myself affected every aspect of my life: what I wore, where I went, who I spent time with, and of course, what I ate. I went to all kinds of extremes when I was younger to try to get my body to look how I wanted it to look.

When I got older, I realized that I wasn’t doing myself any favors with dieting, and I became an Internet research extraordinaire. If there was a webinar, a book, a class, or an article about weight loss, I would read it, follow it, and learn from it. I studied more about nutrition than I ever studied in college! I started to learn some basic principles of nutrition. Probably the biggest one that came up over and over was to eat real food and cut out the processed food. This helped me (both mentally and physically) but I would still fluctuate with my weight and emotions about my body.

When I was 37 years old, I got pregnant with my 5th baby. I had been able to lose my baby weight with my previous 4 pregnancies, but not without effort, and of course, I was younger then! (Our 4th baby was born 7 years before his baby brother.) During my pregnancy, I started to really focus on SANE eating. I wanted a healthy pregnancy and easier weight loss after having my baby.

When I went SANE I ate so many non-starchy vegetables, proteins, whole food fats, and low fructose fruits that I wasn’t hungry for much else. And amazingly, even though I still gained weight during my pregnancy, it came off easily, without conscious effort, and quickly! Within a month, I was wearing my pre-pregnancy jeans. Within 3 months, I was down a size. By about 6 months, I was wearing the size I used to have to diet really hard to get to!

Wearing smaller sized jeans is kind of a big deal. But the biggest deal of all for me is to know that I am not going to gain the weight back. This is my life now. This is truly a lifestyle change! From the start of this journey until now, it’s only gotten easier. I’m not trying; there isn’t a lot of effort to live a SANE life. To me, that is the biggest success of all because it tells me that if I just keep enjoying life, and doing the SANE things that I’m doing, my health will be taken care of.

Do you have any secrets/tips to SANE Success?
Think in terms of what you are adding, not what you are taking away. If I’m really hungry for something that isn’t really SANE, I first eat healthy foods. If I still want it after that, then I eat it, no guilt! I’m not willing to commit to a life with no treats. But the longer I’ve been SANE, the less I want them!

What does a typical SANE day look like for you?
Every day I do yoga and walking, and try to get outside in the morning. I go to bed early and get up early (baby alarm clock ☺).
I eat 4 meals a day. I nurse my baby, so I probably need the extra meal because of that. Maybe that will go down to 3 meals a day when he is weaned.

Breakfast: Greek yogurt and usually a green smoothie
Lunch: Salad with protein (hard boiled eggs, tuna, grilled chicken) OR a salmon burger and cauliflower (my two favorite meals)
Snack: Varies, but I sometimes have another green smoothie and hard boiled eggs, or leftover vegetables
Dinner: Varies a lot. My family eats together and I generally serve 2-3 vegetables as side dishes and a protein. Examples would be a Soufflé with green beans and roasted mixed vegetables, Chicken sausages with broccoli, carrots, and dip.

Jeffrey Holland said it best:
“Don’t give up. Don’t you quit! You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead…You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”

Life after going SANE means peace of mind and peace around food. Nutritional serenity, good digestion, energy, and less stress. ☺

Chanelle’s interview of SANE Founder & CEO, Jonathan Bailor, on her podcast

“Moms Who Know”