This was me...until NOW

2009. My best and worst memories...

April 2009 with my husband, Wes.

I had just graduated from Indiana University, took the trip of a lifetime with my best college friends, and traveled to Argentina to work on my Spanish fluency. Those are the best memories of that year.

I had also realized early in the year that I was at the heaviest weight of my life. 252 pounds. Ugh. Worst memory. That may be the first time I have publicly shared my weight history in numbers. Feels kind of good, actually. I weighed myself for the first time since probably high school when I returned from the Cruise with my besties. I remember wanting to know and figure out a plan of action since I hated being the fattest friend of our group.

My habits/lifestyle were something of this nature: didn’t really work out but perhaps the occasional trail walk that made me feel good for about 1 day, didn’t really monitor what or how much I was eating, felt sorry for myself every day, felt like crying every time I got dressed in the morning, and I absolutely did NOT feel good enough for my husband which hindered our relationship on several levels.

Sad story? Yep. Happy ending? YEP! Keep reading :)

The summer of 2009, I made a promise to my younger brother, Landon. He signed up for the Navy and headed off to boot camp. You see, we are pretty tight. Not having him around was going to change things for me. Knowing that he was going to be getting physically fit for 8 weeks and coming back to see his family again, but changed, I wanted to show him that I could change too. I promised him that I would start running and getting more active and lose weight by the time he returned. I wanted him to be proud of me and my choices, just as he wanted me to be proud of his. So, for the next 8 weeks, I decided to do the Couch to 5k Plan from Hal Higdon. (www.halhigdon.com) 

I literally remember being able to run for about 60 seconds, then having to walk. But I came back to the road every day. In September of 2009, I ran my first 5k in 41 minutes at the Hoosiers Outrun Cancer 5k event. 

1 Week after race ~ Breast Cancer Walk with

my girls from David's Bridal.

2010. Getting pregnant and letting go again...

After losing 42 pounds from the previous summer, my husband and I were successful at getting pregnant. Losing the weight helped with my fertility. However, being new to the prego thing and being afraid that I would lose the baby, I stopped running or working out at all. With that decision came letting go slowly of my better eating habits. I was 210 when I got pregnant and gained 37 pounds with the pregnancy. Great. Back up to 247. I had my first son in December. After he was born, I spent a few months recovering from a hard delivery and going back to work. "Not much time in my schedule" for anything else but work, baby and chores. I used quotes to emphasize what I now see as an excuse. 

Me at 5 months along...

2011. One pound at a time...

During the summer, I was finally off from teaching my first year. I was offered the Varsity Girls Basketball Coach position and took it in a heartbeat. This was my sport, all the way. I knew I had to change again, and this time get more serious than a 5k. If I wanted to keep up with these girls in practice, I had to bring it on!

So then came P90X. I did about 70% of this program and felt pretty great. I could have felt even better if I did 100% of the workouts, but it was my first real attempt at a high-intensity program coming from no previous commitments. 

As far as eating, my mother-in-law had started documenting everything she was eating in a fitness journal that she purchased from GNC and shared her thoughts with me. I went the GNC the next day, bought one ($14.95) and started counting calories. Yes, yes, yes I know! Ugh, right? Counting calories sucks! It takes too much time, and it's exhausting to look up everything that you eat. I will say that it was hard at first, but after a few days, I really enjoyed being able to see what I was eating and putting into my body. That journal was my own little accountability partner. Once a week, I weighed in on the same scale. One pound at a time, I was really seeing results! This came from pushing play everyday on the DVD player to do my P90X workout and eating different, healthy choices. Since I was seeing results, I kept on doing it because it was WORKING!

July 2011 - Virginia Beach

That fall basketball started. After P90X, I had lost my baby weight, but still wanted more off! Basketball was going good, but I needed to commit to something more. As I pondered and talked to my best friend, Naomi, the window of new beginnings opened. She had been running pretty consistently for a while and had ran her first Half-Marathon. She was training at the time for the Louisville Half-Marathon, which was in November 2011. I knew I couldn't train at her level, so I decided to train on my own schedule and run the same day she did, just not in the actual race. (My team had a game scheduled that day, so I would have to run early!) I was going to run my first 13.1 distance! And, after running holes in my shoes, I did it! On that day in November, she was running in Louisville, and I ran 13.1 on the treadmill at my gym. I stopped 3 times for 1 minute a pop because I felt like dying, but I finished! It took me 2 hrs, 21 minutes. Like I said, this window of new beginnings remained open...

2012. The best my body had seen so far. In and out.

That summer I promised my bestie that I would run the Indianapolis Monumental Half-Marathon with her in November. Before I still could train at her speed, I needed to amp it up. I borrowed a new workout program from my dad to look into. I had to DECIDE to COMMIT to it 100%, no matter how hard it was, or how little time I had. So, I brought it home and stared at the box. My dad had written several quotes about Motivation all over the cardboard. I read each and every one of them. After reading this one, I CHOSE to COMMIT..."Do not worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition" by Abraham Lincoln. I was ready for more changes to my lifestyle, and I really wanted to inspire those around me. Everyone in my life knew where I had been. Emotionally. Physically. Now, they were seeing me differently and encouraging me every step of the way. And so came...INSANITY with Shawn T.

Last day of INSANITY...161 pounds.

I wouldn't be true to this part of the blog if I didn't admit that the change in my eating habits played 50% of the role of losing weight and getting fit. I will post again with my recommendations for eating healthier and enjoying the benefits of NOT eating at McDonalds. :)

Later that fall, my bestie Naomi inspired me again! 13.1 miles in November unleashed some sort of inner beast within me that I didn't know existed. I was officially addicted to being fit and eating healthy. Round 2 of basketball season started and I was outlasting the high school girls. Hoo-rah!

Finished 13.1 in 2hrs 8 minutes!

2013. Knocked up again...Oh well!

So...pregnant again with boy #2. I signed up for my 2nd Half-Marathon with Naomi, 3rd time overall, before I learned the news of my pregnancy. Oh well! I decided that I was going to run in the race anyway! It was in April and I would be a week shy of 6 months along, so I kept running. My doctors assured me that since I had been doing it for some time now, my body was used to it, and it would be fine! Sure enough, I did it!

The back of my shirt said, 

"6 months pregnant, and I'm ahead of you!"

I continued running through the summer until I was 8 months along. At this point, my pelvis started hurting after only 1 mile into my run. I decided to hang my hat until after the baby was here.

Sept. 1, 2013 ~ Due date

*Notice my husband? Look back at my first picture. 

He jumped on the fitness train too! We are one fit couple now!

10 days after Kristian was born, I ran for the first time in 3 months. I went 2 miles. It hurt like the dickens, but felt so good mentally! I went out again the next day...and the next...and NOW...

After 1 month of him being born, I ran in the Hoosiers Outrun Cancer 5k with my oldest son, Cohen. This marked my 4th 5k race, and it was great to run in the same race that got this all started in the first place. I trained by pushing my new little one in the jogger! I am also registered for my 3rd Half-Marathon, 4th overall, with Naomi this November. My husband also signed up with me this time, as well as his sister, Jill and his cousin, Josh. How awesome!

Me and Cohen after the race!

Training with Kristian!

So...that is my story...UNTIL NOW! I am currently at 179 and still going! My ultimate goal is to weigh a fabulous 140 by the end of next summer (2014). Since that's a lot of weight to go, I am setting a short term goal first! My short term goal is to weigh 165 by Christmas. 

Stay tuned for more updates on my journey :)