Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The First of many...

Hello~and welcome to my random musings about my life.


A little about me. I am a 36 year old stay at home Mom who is married to a wonderfully supportive man, Casey. I run, I workout but first and foremost, I am a mommy~Finding balance can be a challenge but I make it work with a lot of help from hubby and family. That is what this blog is about-balancing family while still finding time to train, meet new goals and continue on this amazing journey!

The background:
Back in the Fall of 2007 I was very overweight and miserable so I decided that it was time to change. I had never been overweight and this body was foreign to me. I had allowed myself to balloon up to about 250lbs and was wearing a size 20/22! I was eating, drinking and smoking too much and moving very little. I had tried several fad diets-from diet pills to skipping meals to exercise DVD's which gathered dust.

But this time was different: I wanted a family, I wanted a happy & healthy life, I wanted to be like that "fit girl" I would see out running. I was so much better than this! So I quit smoking and started exercising as a way to help me stay quit. I started eating a little bit better. I stopped drinking any kind of alcohol so it would not trigger a craving for a cigarette (if you ever smoked then you know that these two evils go hand in hand!!). I will never forget my first day in the gym; I was intimidated. I was scared. and I felt like I was going to DIE! Run? Ha...I could barely walk more than 15 mins on that treadmill. But I stuck with it. It got a bit easier, so I worked harder. I started jogging-for 20 seconds at a time! then 30 seconds...I dreamed of the day I could run a mile without stopping.

In January 2008 we discovered we were pregnant! It was an exciting and scary time but I had lost a bit of weight, learned a little about nutrition and was well on my way to the healthy and happy life I wanted.
I gained a reasonable amount of weight during my pregnancy (about 45 lbs) but I stayed active through out. Lauren was born on Oct. 6th via unscheduled c-section-my biggest fear. I had heard horror stories of long recovery post c-section and I could not wait to get back to working out.

We left the hospital on Thursday and by Sunday I was out walking with my baby girl in the beautiful Au tum weather.

As I adjusted to Mommyhood, I started to increase my workouts. Hubby and my parents got me a BOB Revolution jogger so I could get back to running again. I started doing some workout DVD's at home during the week and would go to the gym on the weekends. I started learning more and more about Eating Clean. Things were falling into place again. I had joy. I had passion. and I was on a mission.





NO ONE and NOTHING would stop me from reaching my goals!

Fast forward to today: 97lbs gone and I have been my my goal weight for a couple months. I have turned my flab into muscle. I no longer run as a means to and end. I run because I love it. It brings me peace and solitude. It centers me and challenges me. I love weight training and my gym sessions.


I have big goals and I have lots of dreams. Some too sacred to even utter out loud right now...but when the time comes, I will share those thoughts, dreams and goals.







7 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey Jennifer -

I really look forward to your blog ... nice start.

Jim

Cris said...

Hi Jennifer,
I'm one of the new girls over on CafeMom, and found your blog through your DailyMile site. What a great story. You must be so proud of all you have accomplished. Looking forward to reading about your journey! I just started a blog also, here's mine:
http://momsruntoo.blogspot.com/

SparkyFox said...

I love it!!!!!! Thanks for sharing with us Jen.

Dwayne Kilbourne said...

Great job! I found this great read and great blog through Daily Mile! You are an inspiration and proof that, with hard work and dedication, anything is achievable! Keep it up...

Dwayne Kilbourne
http://fitness.dwaynekilbourne.com/

Wrigley said...

Jen, I love your story! It is so inspiring! Love your determination. Can't wait to hear about your future goals. Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

Very inspiring! There really is no "easy" way to lose weight, is there? If only losing it were as easy as putting it on. Way to get healthy and fit!

Cara @ EAT. PRAY. RUN. said...

Just found your blog and reading about your journey and wanted to tell you you are an inspiration! You have proven that through determination and will-power you really can do anything you put your mind to! GO GIRL! I'll be following!