big fat fast food mom

Along with millions of married working moms around the world, Brenda went through a process of rethinking work, looking at new directions, re-assessing her priorities and striving for a more balanced and authentic life when she realized that her health and that of her husband and children was being seriously compromised by her inability to successfully juggle a job, a home and motherhood. To put it bluntly, they were all seriously overweight.

"I know it sounds horrible, but the only vegetables we ate were french fries, and the only fruit we ate came in pies!"

"And if that wasn't bad enough," confesses Brenda, "we watched television for recreation rather than going out and doing something. It was a whole lot easier to do nothing than plan family outings. I felt like a big, fat lousy mother!"

"It was obvious that I had to take control of the family's health by giving it priority over everything else."

"As soon as Cory found a job I really got down to business," laughs Brenda. "By then I knew exactly what we needed to live on. Cory was earning just a little bit more than our budget, and that really pleased me."

"I worked for a month more, just to make sure that Cory’s job was safe, and then I resigned my job!" laughs Brenda.

"I’m home cooking decent budget meals for the family and planning cheap, action-packed family weekend outings. I’m weaning my family off junk food and television and getting everyone involved in a healthy lifestyle  It’s great fun and it’s working! We're losing weight, looking good and feeling great!"

Brenda believes that the solution to most problems inevitably involves getting back to basics and making simplicity a new lifestyle.

"I know that a lot of people think that simplicity means eating mung beans and living in poverty but it's not like that for us," says Brenda. "It means no more fast food, no more endless hours watching mindless television. It means getting back to basics and taking charge of our lives, living authentically as honest to goodness, simple-living and independent human beings who would rather do without worldly trappings than become a prisoner of a workplace and a lifestyle that destroys what really matters in life - a healthy and happy family."

"Because I’m now home full-time, taking care of everything," says Brenda, "Cory can cope a lot better with his job. At times he feels like the walls are closing in on him, but when he comes home at night there’s a nutritious low-fat meal waiting for him and a happy and loving family to relax with."

"It took us ages to get where we are today," explains Brenda, "and we put a lot of planning into it, but it can be done. You can resign your job, lose weight, get healthy and enjoy life again. We’ve cut our expenses in half and we’re not missing anything that we once thought we enjoyed."

"I’m particularly losing weight fast because I’m not tied to an office desk all day long," says Brenda, "and Cory and the kids are getting there. I can’t begin to tell you how much of a relief it was to quit that job."

"Another great outcome of simplifying my life is that I can now spend time with my girlfriends," enthuses Brenda. "I always used to envy them being stay-at-home-moms and now I’m one myself! We take turns getting together at each other’s houses after we drop the kids at school and we just hang out, share recipes, count calories, brainstorm new ideas to keep our families healthy and, of course, compare budgets. I’m thinking of starting a Mrs. Thin Miser of the Month competition between us to see who can squeeze in belt notch and stretch a dollar the most," laughs Brenda. "I'll win hands down every month!" 

Read more of Brenda's story:

a joyless, toxic job