u/EquivalentSpecial929

My daughter is 2.5, and we’re pretty positive she will be diagnosed with autism tomorrow after her psych and pediatric evaluation last week. If you could go back in time and talk to yourself after receiving the diagnosis, what advice would you give/what would you say? My husband and I are scared, a little relieved, and have gone through the whole grieving process. We know she’ll still be our smart, beautiful, kind, funny little girl she always was, but it just feels so official. Would love to hear from parents who have been through it what you would tell yourself.

Hi everyone.

I'm 36F, 5'9" and 187 pounds. I work full time (wfh so pretty sedentary), have two kids that are 1 and 2.5, a husband who also works full time and is in school full time. I gave birth back to back, and being a year post partum I'm ready to get healthy again. I honestly don't even care if I look "snatched", I just want to be around to see my kids life.

What really started this was a few weeks ago I was waking up gasping for air. I woke up the next day with horrible chest pain. Made an appt. to see my primary immediately. Did blood work and came back as high cholesterol and triglycerides. I also got a referral for a sleep study that I'm going to next week. The nurse e-mailed me today and is starting me on statins for lower my cholesterol. This made me really sad.

I've made some really boring but sustainable changes. 3 weeks ago I switched my breakfast to Greek yogurt, granola, drizzle of honey and raspberries, and my lunch to a chickpea Mediterranean salad. I eat those every day, then a "healthy-ish" dinner and have lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks. Haven't been working out, but we do go on walks and in the evenings I'm much more active with the kids.

Should I be trying to lower my carbs more? Should I be pairing my carbs with something else? Should I lower my caffeine intake? I was also VERY active as a kid/teen/20s (competitive dancer, weighed 115-145 pounds most of my life), so I've never really given much thought to my diet. Should I be doing more strenuous exercising? My son is not sleeping well at night, so I'm just very tired all the time. Any advice is greatly appreciated :)