I have always been the skinny one. In high school, I was so rail thin, I was so embarrassed by my non-existent boobs. Then marriage came and I gained weight. Perfect. Got the body I want. Then I passed my 40th birthday and the weight kept on climbing.

Online Ventures meant more Food and less Walking (for me)

Four years ago, I decided to leave my regular job and figure out how to earn online. I was so focused on my ventures that I jugged endless coffee with Coffeemate’s Italian Sweet Cream while shoving different chips and carbs in my mouth. I did not notice that I was gaining weight until I tried to wear something other than my PJs.

By then, I did not own a weighing scale. Well, I did not escape finding out my weight. My doctor told me that I weigh 160 lbs. and I am just 10 lbs. overweight. What? I used to weigh around 130 lbs. give or take 5 lbs!

Going Back to Work to Move More

Back at home, I tried to move more and do a bunch of exercises. Bad call, I ate more. Then, a friend of mine told me there is an opening in my previous work place. My first reaction was to reject it. What about my business? But then, it might force me to move more. And wearing clothes other than PJ’s will make me hyper-aware of how my clothes fit.

Bad call. None of my clothes fit. But still, I shopped for tops that camouflage my big belly and got the job. I did move more and ate less at work. But then, after a tiring day, I tended to reward myself by eating out. In the end, my old clothes still did not fit.

IF or Intermittent Fasting

One weekend, I was scanning Amazon Prime movies when I saw a documentary on fasting for health. Well, my mom just passed away because of Alzheimer’s so I was intrigued. I looked for reputable books and I stumbled upon The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting I read it again and again. Cross checked other authors and googled them. In the end, I can only agree that fasting is really a God given way to repair our bodies and even lose weight.

That did it, I started IF on February 25th and even did an extended fast two days ago to stimulate autophagy—-which is just a technical term for letting your self (auto) eat (phagy) your damaged cells to promote regrowth. I was amazed to lose 14.2 lbs in just a month! And yes, I do have a weighing scale now and it connects to my iPhone. It's a Weight Guru Wifi Scale and it automatically feeds its info to my Phone app complete with my muscle, water and fat composition.

So who am I?

I am just a regular mom who wants to stay home with her young adult son with autism. That’s why I call myself @specialmom. I want to stay healthy for my family especially after I saw how my mom deteriorated because of Alzheimer’s. And I want to have multiple streams of income that is not dependent on an employer.

Upvote and follow me @specialmom as I share with you the specifics of my journey back to health and location-free income streams!