My fitness journey started back in 2009. I became a runner.
My husband and I were living in Meridian, Mississippi while he was earning his Naval Aviator wings. There wasn't much to do in such a small town except make friends. This was usually done by going to someone's house to eat or going to one of the few restaurants in town. Needless to say, I gained weight. I was at my highest weight (including pregnancy) when we lived here. I weighed 198lbs. When I noticed that staggering number on the scale, I was so ashamed that I immediately started forcing myself to go to the gym, go on walks with our dogs, and watch my calories. With that I lost about 15lbs and started feeling better; so I slowed my rigorous routine until I stopped doing anything altogether. You all know the next part of the story. The pounds started coming back.
Then one day, two of my closest friends started talking about training for a half marathon. Listening to them, I got flashbacks of my Jr. High track days where I was forced into running long distance. I wasn't fast, I couldn't jump, and I couldn't throw that dang ball very far. Believe me, I tried. So I was forced to run 2 miles every day after school in the Texas heat. I asked them, "Why in the world do you want to run a half marathon??" Well, the answer for them was the challenge. You see, they were good runners and enjoyed running. I didn't understand. How do you enjoy running? I thought to myself, "Oh well, y'all are crazy but do what you want and leave me out of it!"
Soon, however, all they were talking about was training and running and I felt so left out of the conversations. It wore on me so much that it got me thinking about giving running another try just so I could join in. One day I joined my husband and dogs on a run around the lake nearby where we lived. Sure enough, I couldn't even make it to the half mile mark before I had to stop and walk. My husband tried to motivate me to keep going but I had already told myself that I couldn't do it. It was too hard. My mind was already made up that I was done.
June 2009 -- One of the few pictures I have of me at one of my heavier weights. It's actually really hard for me to look at this picture. I had started running about a month before this was taken. I think I was around 195. I can't be exactly certain because we didn't have a scale at home at the time.
My friends encouraged me to keep trying and their constant motivation kept me going. Every time I went running after that, I got a little bit farther and my head got a little bit clearer. I soon realized that running is something your body was designed to do. My problem wasn't that my legs were too weak or my breath too short. My problem was all in my head. I didn't believe I could do it. I'm so glad that I had friends that believed in me, even when I didn't.
Running is 90% mental -- I'm sure most people have heard this saying. Those who agree, call themselves runners. Those who think that it's ridiculous, have not gone through the journey of becoming a runner and can't understand. Since 2009, I've run countless 5ks, 10ks, 2 half marathons and every distance in between. I'm proud to call myself a runner and no one can take that away from me.
My first 5k that I ran from start to finish - October 2009
My first 10k and one of my good friends from MS that got me started. March 2010
An 8k and the other one of my good friends from MS that got me started. May 2010
Crossing the finish line at my first 1/2 marathon. September 2010
My running buddies!
Wicked 10k - October 2010
Wicked 10k - October 2010
Turkey Trot 5k - November 2010
Army/Navy 10k - December 2010
In 2010, my diet changed.
My husband deployed that Spring for 7 months, right after we moved to Virginia Beach. I tried to keep myself busy so I ran a lot of races (some pictures above) and worked out at the gym. I also decided to order Nutrisystem. Mainly my reasoning was because I hated cooking for one and going grocery shopping so I thought it was the perfect solution while he was gone. I was surprised by what I learned by being on it. Previously, I was a calorie counter. Nutrisystem made me realize that while calorie intake does matter, eating smaller portioned meals throughout the day kept your metabolism firing. That way of thinking was why I had always struggled with my diet and I think that is why most people fail too.
I ended up losing 30lbs that year, 22 of which was when he was gone. That put me at my lowest weight I could remember! I weighed 160lbs when he came back. I have never felt better!
When he came back, I stopped ordering Nutrisystem but I will always remember how it helped me change my perspective on food and my diet.
Before moving to Virginia - April 2010 - 185lbs
In France, June 2010 - 185lbs
September 2010 -- I weighed around 170 and was a size, almost 2, down from the previous picture in France. This was in Dubai in the middle of my husband's deployment
December 2010 - After losing 30lbs in 2010 - 160lbs
In 2011, I became a mom.
I got pregnant right after my husband came home. We welcomed our son in September of 2011. For the first few months after he was born, I had to figure out how to be a mom. I'm including this as part of my fitness journey because it changes how you live, how you eat, and even how you exercise. I was slowly losing the baby weight by not doing much except eating right and doing all the activities a new baby requires. But by January 2012, I put on my running shoes and loaded him in the jogger and got my running groove back. Running with the jogger definitely takes some getting use to, but it's nice to have your biggest fan with you for the whole run. Anytime I feel like I want to quit, I just looked at him for that second wind. Just 6 months after he was born and 2 months of training, I ran my second half marathon in March 2012.
That brings my fitness journey to the present - my strength training dilemma.
While running has found it's place in my new life, the gym has not. I'm only 10lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight and running alone hasn't been enough to get me there. Something I did regularly when I lost the weight was go to the gym every other day for strength training. It helped me build muscle to increase my running speed and in turn boosted my metabolism. However, I can't just go to the gym whenever I want to anymore. Not only because of my son, but my husband works 12-14 hour days and not always at the same time everyday. I decided that I needed to find a workout program that could give me the same results that I could do at home while my son napped or after he went to bed.
The Beachbody programs seem to be the solution I've been looking for. My hope for this site is that my journey can inspire others to start their own or continue their fitness journey and for you to join me in my journey through the Beachbody products or running.
Please feel free to contact me by phone, email, Facebook or through the blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment