Tonia Haight Walker. Losing Weight Like a Bear

  The last 13 months I have been in survivor mode. With my Aunt’s decline of her health and then death, and then switching jobs to a high stress job working over 60 hours most weeks for the first few month, life has been crazy.  I started my journey at 375 and got down to 201. Now I am back up to 250. It is time to get things going back the right way.  Now before anyone asks, I have stayed Keto the whole time, but with my Aunt, we were trying to cook foods that she wouldn’t turn her nose up at and getting her to eat a salad based meal even twice a week was hard. Plus she didn’t like some of our favorite meals. She could not tolerate any heat (black pepper) and she didn’t like some of the meat that we liked. So finding meals that she AND my children would eat was a full time hassle. Then with all the hours I have been working since she died, there hasn’t been a lot of prep time for meals.  So now it is time to say enough excuses. It is time to start putting a little b...

  With a husband and four boys who all enjoy their food, food prep time has always been an issue.  Before I started this journey, I would always sit while chopping, dicing, or anything that I could.  Standing was too painful and it always took too much time that my feet couldn't handle it.  I have always been told that it takes less time if you stand while you prep the food.  Now I find myself standing more and more as I prep the food for my family.  It does take less time, it does take less strength, and it is easier.  I no longer have to worry about my back hurting 10 minutes into the prep time.  I no longer have to worry about my ankles and feet swelling up because I am standing too long.  It is very freeing to know that I CAN stand and work in my kitchen for hours at a time if I need too.  

  https://youtu.be/rrX8kalBCPM I hadn’t quit woke up yet when we did this video. 😂 Daniel was about to walk out the door, so it was now or never. Lol. It does have a bit of a dark chocolate bitter after flavor that Daniel loved. I ended up adding just a touch of Monk fruit to sweeten it before finishing it, but it was fantastic! Sorry the video isn’t quit in focus. I really wasn’t awake yet; however, we both were alert all day and never did feel tired.  There was no crash at the end of the day like our normal days.  https://www.tranont.com/toniawalker   Info on it  There is only 1 carb and 18 or 19 calories (depending on where I look at the info.) COFFEE ☕️ & CHOCOLATE 🍫 POWDER MOJO!    Vitality Blend Ingredients + Benefits:   1 – Brazilian Coffee or Cocoa Beans • Tranont Coffee and Chocolate are formulated with sustainably-sourced beans, promoting responsible farming and trading practices with growers and distributors in other countries. ...

Three years ago I didn’t think that I would ever be able to walk 2 miles in a day ever again. My feet would swell up just going to the store or walking a block. I had to sit with my feet propped up for hours on end to get the swelling to go back down. There was no way whatsoever that I could walk with any speed.  I remember walking to the store once with my two older boys and a cousin's daughter thinking it was just a few blocks when it turned out to be a couple of miles. (We were in a city that we were unfamiliar with.) The kids had to stop and wait on me to catch up to them so many times; I was in tears from pain and shame both.  We paid for a taxi ride back to our room because there was no way that I could make the trip fast enough that the food wouldn’t spoil   Last year, I was able to walk 2 miles at a time and not have to worry about my feet. That was a huge NSV. (Non Scale Victory)  This year I volunteered to March with the High School Band for the homecoming ...

  Here is a video of me showing off my new supplements from Tranont.   https://youtu.be/E4p99Dj0VWU Here is a link to the website if you would like to check it out for yourself. https://www.tranont.com/toniawalker

This weekend,  Daniel and I went to Branson to have a short getaway to celebrate our 25th Anniversary.  While we were there, we did a little shopping. I found this red, white, and blue shirt on clearance for $5. They only had smalls left on the rack. I thought that I might be getting close to it and by next summer it would more than likely fit, so for $5 I was willing and to “risk” it. I was floored when I put it on this morning and it actually fit. (My 9 year old picked the picture.) Then we went to Walmart and we were looking at shoes for Daniel. He suggested that we see if they have anything in my size since their store is larger than our small town store. 21 years ago I had to go from a size 10 ladies shoes to a size 12 while I was pregnant with my oldest boy. I haven’t been able to shop at Walmart for shoes since. Today, I found 2 pair of shoes that were a size 10 and THEY FIT!!! I’m a happy camper.  

  I’ve been thinking about this post for a while, but life has been crazy busy for the last 2 months.  As people lose weight, it is a side effect that we end up with “bat wings” and hanging skin. I have now lost almost 175 pounds and I do have a bit of a bat wing on both of my arms. Both my 9 year old and my 11 year old at different times have “played” with my bat wings. I asked both of them separately, “Why are you doing that?” Both of them responded with almost the exact same wording. “Mom, I gotta play with it now before it disappears.”   I replied with,”oh really?”  To this question my 9 year old shook his head yes, but my 11 year old said “It already disappeared on that part of your arm” (my forearm)  Now how do you respond to that?  I’m going to tell you one more story.  My 17 year old noticed one day that my neck was looking more wrinkled than before and he was concerned that I was starting to age. I informed him that I was alright with that sin...

 I’m officially no longer obese, just over weight!  I started at 375 pounds on August 13, 2019 My goal is to get below 174 (no longer over weight)

  You would think that as I lose weight, I would get used to seeing the new me. However, there are still times that when I walk by the mirror, it surprises me at who I see. I still feel like I should see the same morbidly obese frame of a person where I was trapped in my own skin. Instead, I see a person who is starting to show an hour glass figure. I still have a ways to go, but I am getting much closer to my goal. 

I had fun with this today! The purple shirt used to fit me and it was my paint shirt. I may have stretched it a little bit, but I don’t think that I did. Then I needed some bottoms to go with it while I was painting. I found my son’s paint pants in the same drawer. Yes, my 17 year old who is 6’4” and I thought I wonder.  After I took the knot out of the draw string, they slid right on. 😮😦I just about couldn’t believe it. I asked my son what he thought of my paint pants, he said “I think that I have worn those.” 🤣😂

  I don’t post about my husband very often, but I had to brag on him a little bit. He has lost 100 pounds since he joined me with this WOE. A few years ago, we went to his sister’s wedding and the black suit was very tight on him. He almost couldn’t button it. That was not his heaviest weight either. Now, look at all the room that he has in it.  The other suit has been hanging in the closet for more than 10 years. It was bought about 20 years ago and he had thought that he was going to have to pass it down to one of our boys. Today, it fits like a glove. I’m so happy for him. He is seeing more NSVs now and I am excited to see what will happen in the future for him. Before "Eat Like A Bear"

As I type this, August 13, 2021, it is my 2 year mark since I started this journey.  The first year, I lost over 100 pounds. To be specific, I lost 110 pounds. The second year, the weight loss has slowed down. Earlier this week I had to go get my yearly physical done for my job. When I looked up what I weighed a year ago, it shocked me. I have lost 59 pounds in my second year. All that I could remember was that I had only lost 19 pounds since November. That isn’t very much. However 59 is still a good number for a year. Don’t get me wrong, 19 isn’t bad, but I would have loved to do better in a 9 month period.  I know going forward the number will probably be smaller this next year, but I plan to stay the course and stay focused.  One thing that I thought was exciting about my two physicals was a note that the two different doctors wrote.  Last year, the doctor wrote that I needed to have a consultation about my weight.  This year, even after I told the doctor tha...

       Daniel and I took the three boys on a vacation this last week. In the past we would typically go out to eat once a day, maybe see a show or two, and then go to the pool  a few times, and hang around the room the rest of the time. This year was completely different.       This trip our days were planned around an event that we would go do.  The first day always includes shopping because you have to have groceries. (This day also happened to be my birthday. I have always asked for ice cream on my birthday, even as a kid. I would ask for ice cream instead of gifts. I found Rebel ice cream for the first time ever.  I was in Heaven that day. Thus the grocery store picture has me holding ice cream. No, I didn’t eat them all in one day either.) The second day was Sunday so we went to church and saw some wonderful friends. The third day, we had company come spend the day with us.  Up to this point all normal things for our vacat...

I am starting to see the jealousy and envy in people's eyes.  Hearing words like, "I don't have the will power" or "I wish that would work for me". I know that in order for me to give up the Dr. Pepper, I had to get to a place where my health was more important to me than the Dr. Pepper.  I remember sitting in the Dr. office and telling him that I only drink one a day.  That was right most days, but it was 44 Oz. (no ice) of Dr. Pepper.  Then if my boss wanted to give us a treat, she would buy another one for me.  If I went somewhere and there was nothing else to drink, I would have another one.  I had to believe that giving up Dr. Pepper, pancakes, and waffles was something that I needed to do to lower my sugar in take.  I was to the point that I knew I would be in a wheelchair if I didn't change something soon.  After taking care of my Aunt and doing things for her that she couldn't do for herself any more, I realized that I didn't want my boys...

     I forgot to post this yesterday, so yesterday was the day. I have officially lost 167 pounds which means that I have lost the same amount of weight that my 6’4”, 17 year old weighs. I can’t believe that I was actually able to hold him off the ground for a moment long enough to take the picture of him on my back. I also can’t believe that I used to carry that much extra weight on my body every single day.  Just 40 more pounds to go to be out of the over weight category. I am very excited!

 I have talked about this before when I talked about my husband, but it never hurts to drive it home again.  From April 10th to May 15th I had some extremely stressful days and several emotional days. One of them, I actually went to the kitchen and ate way more calories than I should have. I stuck with keto friendly foods, but not salad. According to the scale, I gained 7 pounds over the course of a week of stress and then I lost 5 of them. So no process according to the scale. Then on May 15th, my husband helped me measure with a measuring tape. Between my arm, bust, bra line, waist, hips and thigh, I lost a total of 6.25 inches with 2 of them coming off my hips.  So how do you measure success? Well, my stressful weeks don’t look like success and the scale didn’t either, but the measuring tape sure says that a lot of progress was made.  Don’t get me wrong, I do want the scale to move again and soon, after all, I am almost in “ONEderland”.  However, never let yo...

I was having a bad day today and I remembered that I saw this shirt in the sewing pile yesterday. It is a medium size shirt. I couldn’t believe that it fit. It is a long way from a 5x at Catherine’s. Yes I won’t wear it in public yet, but I was so excited that I had to share. (Original post was April 26, 2021)

So I had fun today! New look. I, only a few weeks ago, allowed my husband to lighten my hair and alter my hair color for the first time EVER. So today I went another huge step, we bleached it and then added some purple and blue! I LOVE it! (One natural color hair photo) My hair stylist says that I am blossoming into a me that was hidden for all those years from the person who wants to hid to the person who says “Look at me!” She may be right. (Original post was April 3, 2021)  

  This actually happened seven weeks ago, but I have been busy with track and soccer.  I still didn’t want to forget about it.  Three months ago, I made a deal with Daniel (my husband) that when he had hit the 100 pound mark for weight loss, we would take a trip, just the two of us, to the Tulsa area. There we would spend the night in a hotel and then both of us would have a 90 minute massage at Acqua Viva Oasis.  This motivated Daniel more than anything else. He hit his goal and we were able to enjoy a fabulous 24 hour get away without the kids. After our rest Friday night, Monica did an amazing job working on every muscle in our bodies for three hours (90 minutes each).  Muscles that I had begun to think would never stretch again, did in fact stretch. It was wonderful.  I’m not just saying that because she is my sister...check out her Google reviews or visit her website at    https://acquavivaoasis.com/ Rewards for achievements can be so much fu...

 Lately I have been asked several times about what kind of exercise I do?  To be honest, other than going on a walk 5 or 6 times over the course of the last 18 months, and riding my stationary bike twice, I haven’t done any exercising at all.  All I have done so far is change my eating habits. I have become more physically active around the house and my new job requires more mobility than my last job.  When I started at 375, I couldn’t walk around the block without severe pain and swelling. Now at 219, I can walk 2 miles in a day and only suffer a little bit of with pain or swelling on occasion.  I have been wanting to start exercising, but my blood pressure has been so low lately that I have been too tired to do it. Hopefully now with the doctor’s help eliminating another medication will take care of that. As my blood pressure begins to stabilize and with Spring around the corner, I am planning some outings with my family and we will get moving together.  ...