About Me

Hello 🙂  My name is Heather Masson, and welcome to At Home With Heather.  Thanks for stopping by to learn a bit more about me and what At Home with Heather (AHWH) is all about

AHWH is all about me learning how to eat a healthy, low carb lifestyle that incorporates food, fitness, exercise and life.

I have been a foster parent for 18+ years.  I took a break for a year recently (2016) to re-group and get my own health in order.   I am back to having littles in my home as this is something that I feel strongly about.

I truly believe that being grateful and thankful for everything we have is HUGE. 

Call me a cup half full kind of gal, but I just believe it is a lot better going through life with a sense of joy and grateful anticipation rather than being a Debbie Downer every day!

I have been a foster parent to medically fragile/special needs children for 18+ years.

One of my passions is helping kids that do not have family that are able to manage their daily care.  I love to nurture them, and watch them grow.   It is so important that all kids feel loved and appreciated.   This is challenging, and stressful but also VERY rewarding.

I am a New Grandma.

I didn’t ever think I would get to be a Grandma, it was a complete surprise to me, and I wasn’t ready to be a Grandma when my daughter first told me the news.

My grandson has turned my world upside down, I can’t imagine him NOT in my life, I can’t imagine he and my daughter not being here with me daily and watching him grow and change.  In fact, he is likely the reason that my recent plans of becoming an empty nester have been put on hold for a few years.  My grandson is a huge blessing in my life.

I love to laugh EVERYDAY and I have a bit of a quirky sense of humor!

Two Years ago I was COMPLETELY Unhealthy and Extremely OVERWEIGHT

I started eating a Low Carb High Fat way of eating on August 3, 2015.  At that time, I was overwhelmed with how unhealthy I had become.  I had been diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure.  I couldn’t participate in the basic daily activities of life, and I was stressed to the max every day of the week.

Since that time, I have lost 155 pounds, I have eliminated my diagnosis of diabetes and high blood pressure, I am no longer on medication for either.  I am happy and healthy.

I have about 15 pounds to get to the point where I will literally be HALF of my former self.   I like to think of it as “My Better Half”.

I love sharing my journey to health here on the blog.  It is a difficult journey and one that can be hard to write about, I am ashamed and embarrassed about how I let myself get to the point I was.

If my journey inspires you, that brings me joy.

I recently became a dog owner again.

Miss Molly is a 15-month-old Labradoodle.  She is very loving and good with children, she is also very smart, strong willed and  high energy.  We are still working on minding her manners.  I admit I am no dog expert, and some days she drives me crazy, but we lover her dearly.  I have always believed that children need a dog in their lives and so along came Molly.

I am an Introvert (In a big way).

I think that is one of the reasons that I enjoy working from home so much.  This is my happy place, I feel comfortable, relaxed and completely content, lol!

I am not ready to be an Empty Nester …. Just yet.

In 2015, when I was so unhealthy, my goal was to get the children that I currently had placed happily in their forever home, and retire from fostering.  I thought at that time that I was ready to slip quietly into my own introverted lifestyle and just work silently online in my own living room.

I did take a year off from fostering, to get myself healthy again (both mentally and physically).  During that time, I got to spend as much time as I could with my grandson, I also explored getting my body moving by trying some yoga, I did enjoy a few quiet days of no alarm clock and living life on my schedule.

Turns out – that if a gal loses 155 pounds, she feels a lot better, has a lot more energy, and can manage much more. That said, I was able to really jump back into life not retire from it.  As it turns out, life had other plans for me and I am currently fostering again.  This time my forte is the “littles” as they work well with my grandson.  With the kids I have now I can actually get down on the floor and PLAY!!  I am finding that to be a lot of fun.

Family First and Forever.

I don’t have that kind of “nice normal family” that most people do.  Family to me is those people you love, and who love you and are there for you through good and bad.  As a foster parent, my kids come from many different walks of life.  I am a “mom to many” and that will not change.  Now I also get to re-invent myself as Gramma to my littles.

I am a caregiver by nature.

The problem is that as a caregiver (and maybe you can relate) I end up taking care of everyone BUT me!   I know that this is a real problem for me if I let it get out of hand, and so must keep ME front and center!  If I take care of me first, I have the energy to take care of the others around me.

So to sum it up, my main focus now is answering the question:

Redefining me as “My Better Half”, and FINALLY loving the gal that I always was. 

This blog will reflect exactly that.  I will be sharing:

• The journey that I am on to becoming my BETTER HALF, and what that really is all about.
• My healthy weight loss journey and what I am doing now to stay healthy.
• Being a Grandma to my grandson and all the other littles that are in my home that need to be loved.
• Trying to stay active through movement, exercise and my dog Miss Molly
• All of the things that go along with approaching 50 years old (and being a little bit nervous that I am not prepared for it).

If any of this resonates with you, please take time to hit me up on social media. 

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I look forward to sharing growth and adventure with you!

Talk soon,

P.S. – Please take a minute to connect with me: Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest  | Twitter | LinkedIn

Disclosure:  As part of At Home with Heather I will be talking about and recommending products and services that I use myself and/or  that I think will be of benefit to my audience.  The content here may or may not contain affiliate links, which means that I am paid for referrals to certain sites or products.  Regardless of whether I’m compensated or not, I will never promote or recommend a product that I wouldn’t use myself.

Heather Masson is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.