Personal HomePage for Ginger
The Reinvention Of Ginger
Hello, and welcome to my new home page. This page is about a person reinventing their entire life. I am here to share my story and hopefully inspire you in some way to make any changes you may have been putting off.
My name is Ginger, and my journey began in Orlando, FL. I was 340 lbs, working the night shift as a Nurse, and sleeping all day. I ate at restaurants all the time, usually stuff like All You Can Eat Ribs, or the local Chinese Buffet. I had been over 300 lbs for a few years, and I was miserable. My knees ached, I had absolutely no stamina, my periods were few and far between, and I was very depressed. I had tried countless times to lose weight, and each time I failed miserably. The final straw was when I joined Oprah's "Live Your Best Life" seminar online. There were two key questions that I absolutely could not answer. The first one was "What gives you joy?", and the second one was "When was the last time you felt joy?". I was devastated that I could not even answer these questions. I knew I had to make a change.
Years before, I had been into vegetarianism, and had even been a vegan at one time. I had loved it. I had also been into herbs, natural healing, and yoga. One day before work I bought a Yoga Journal magazine. (I had a lot of down time at that job). At work that night, I could not put the magazine down. I was so into it! It brought me back to that person I was before two failed marraiges, 3 kids, and getting stuck into a job that stifled my spirit. At that moment I made a decision. I was going to go to California, where the yoga movement was a way of life, and I was going to start my life over.
Before I had a chance to leave, I ended up with two health problems...first, I had a ganglion cyst on my right wrist, that suddenly flared up. I had to stop work, and get it surgically removed. But a couple days after it flared up, I got a scratch on my right cornea! The eye problem dwarfed the cyst, because no matter what I did, the cornea kept getting scratched every single morning. The cornea would not heal, and the flap would dry out and stick to my eyelid, and then tear off every morning when I opened my eyes. No amount of eye ointment in the world would stop this from happening. Finally, I ended up having to wear a contact lens for several months. In the meantime, they removed the cyst, and during the healing time, I developed a small keloid over the scar. I was left no longer being able to work nights, so I could not go back to my job. Also, I was still depressed, and saw no way out, except for the fact that in my dysfunction, I had been a major pack rat and had an over abundance of junk piled all around my house! I had a discussion with my kids, and we decided to make a drastic change.
We had a major garage sale, which lasted over several weekends, and then we haded for California, not knowing what was in store for us. All we knew was that it had to be better than what we had in Florida.
I have been in San Diego, California for a year and three months. As soon as I got here, my car broke down and was irreparable. I sold it to a junk yard, and got bus passes for my family. That is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. At first it was extremely difficult for me to walk up and down all those hills, but I finally got used to it. I have been going to the School of Healing Arts, and am working toward becoming a Zen Touch Practitioner, as well as a Holistic Health Practitioner. I do yoga every morning for 30 minutes when I get up. I walk and use the bus every where I go. And, after much trial and error, hits and misses, and just plain determination, I have become a vegetarian. I have lost 29 pounds, and right now I weigh 306 lbs. This is still obese, and I am still big, but don't think for one moment that this is not a major accomplishment for me.
Through conversations with my sister, I learned about the Raw Foods Lifestyle. I have just recently become interested in pursuing this lifestyle, and purchased my first juicer. Also, I got my Mom to send me a food dehydrator, and I got my first book, the Raw Uncookbook, by Juliano. Amazingly, my two daughters have decided they want to join me in becoming a raw foodist. My son is another story, he is a meat guy, and does not like veggies and fruits. I am going to see what I can do with him in this area.
I am not the person I was when I left Florida. I enjoy my life now. I know what joy feels like, and I can tell people when I felt joy the last several times. When I look back at the person I was in Florida, it is like I am looking at a different person. Someone else, not myself. I feel sorry for that woman. I just want to grab hold of her, and shake her, and make her do something.
If you are someone who is miserable, who has lost who they really are, I know how it feels. I am here to tell you that you can make a radical change, and that you can become a different person. I did it, and so can you.
I am very excited to be embarking on this Raw Foods Journey as I reinvent myself. I will post updates and share how things are going, weight loss and milestones.
Thank you for visiting this page.
Ginger
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