Fit Friday!

YAY!  Friday is here!

I am so excited to announce my new weekly series, Fit Friday!

So, my story.  It’s lengthy, but bare with me because I hope that I can encourage you!

I didn’t grow up fit.  at all.  I LOVED the SUGAR.  I LOVED the SALT.  In fact even more than sugar and salt…mix them together and give me some SWEET AND SALTY!  YUM.

And I have pretty much always dieted.  Diet, working out, gaining weight.  That’s my life.

It wasn’t until my children were born and I’m going to be honest, my marriage was going through some really hard times, that I really really got out of control.  We would fight and I would eat.  I would literally eat chocolate cake when we were fighting and think to myself, “You’re so mean, you’re going to have a FAT wife!!”

Well, it wasn’t until I was well over 200 pounds, and a size 18 that I realized I wasn’t hurting anyone but myself.

I just woke up one morning the week of Halloween. I don’t know why that sticks with me it just does.  Probably because that was the year I stopped eating the kids candy.  I woke up and just said, “I’m done.  No more.”  I was uncomfortable in my skin, I was miserable all the time, I was grumpy, and I was just done.

I really knew nothing about nutrition so I went to the library and checked out a few books.  The book that really grabbed my attention the most was, “The Southbeach Diet”  not because I wanted to lose the weight fast, but, while reading though the book, it really felt healthy.

So I started the plan and I followed it meticulously.  I learned about whole grains, eating veggies, lean meats, etc.  I learned about portion control.  I did not steer from the plan AT ALL.  (OK, on Christmas Eve I ate one sugar cookie.  )

I also started walking.  My kids were little, probably around 2 and 3.  I would put them down for a nap or maybe to watch a cartoon and I would get on the super old treadmill that had been given to me.  The first walk I did I can remember very vividly.  It was a struggle for me to walk 30 minutes on that treadmill.  But I did it.  and I did it every day.  I also got a couple of workout videos, and they were HARD.  I would stop the video in the middle because I just couldn’t finish it.  I remember the day that I made it all the way through!!

In that year I got down to 140.  I lost over 60 lbs.   For the first time in my life I was less than what I had lied about on my drivers license.  I was wearing the kind of clothes I had always wanted.

Flash forward a few years, I did gain back 20 lbs, but never more than that.   Ultimately, I settled in at 150, which felt really good.

I started to run using an app on my phone and I fell in love.

I ran a half marathon and a marathon…

and then I got pregnant with baby #3.  My sweet precious boy.

People.  I gained 70 lbs my pregnancy.  When I first got pregnant I said to myself, “This will be my healthiest pregnancy EVER”  boy was I wrong.  My body wanted nothing to do with anything healthy.  It was like I was possessed.  It was terrible.

I ran the first couple of months of my pregnancy and then it started hurting.

Needless to say, I was very very discouraged and mad at myself.

The day that Jack came home I just felt like I had to get right to it.  Obviously I couldn’t workout right away.  But I did focus on my food, and I started walking slowly after he was 4 weeks.  The second I got clearance at my 6 week check up I was all in.

So, Jack is 5 months old now, and I’ve lost 50 lbs!  YAY!  Here I am at my last 20 and I am going to need some help!  So, fit friday will be my time to share tips, tricks, successes and failures!  I think we’ll have a lot of fun!