The Road to Fitness

Today I made a decision to document my fitness journey! I have NEVER done something like this before. I mean sure, I've had a blog where I've shared daily happenings and adventures going on in my life. However, that fizzled out and it was just so much easier to do quick posts on Facebook instead of writing it all down. This time though, I've made a life decision. To change my health and body from the inside out. I thought that in itself deserved it's own blog! Lol. (I need to express my ups and downs and document this whole process.) 

Ok...so, here's my "Road to Fitness" story.  (A bit nervous about posting some of these pics. Lol) ...When I was a kid I never really had to worry about my weight, until my Dad passed away when I was 10. I fluctuated up and down throughout high school and always had such low self-confidence. When I got to college I decided that I wanted to get healthy and I totally changed the way I ate, which in turn helped me to go down 4 sizes. I stayed this way for a while and then got married to my wonderful husband and 9 months later we had our 1st son. Losing weight after baby #1 was easy peasy. I did some p90x and breast fed and the weight just fell off. Then I had baby #2 three years later and I noticed my body changing. It was a little harder to lose the weight, but eventually I did and afterwards I stopped working out and just watched what I ate. Then 4 years ago I had baby boy #3 I noticed that with each baby I seemed to be going up a pant size. After baby #3 I became somewhat indifferent to working out. I was too consumed with motherhood and teaching that I felt like I had little to no time to take care of myself. Life was just too busy. I also had a really challenging teaching year after having my third baby, which really took a toll on my physical and mental health. I was NOT a happy teacher, wifey, and mommy. My PMS would go through the roof and I would just break down in tears for no good reason other than feeling completely overwhelmed with life. That led me to deciding that I needed to just STOP and breathe and take a break from working for a bit. I feel so blessed that I have been able to take these past 2 years off and just focus on improving myself inside and out! 

Last year we were blessed with the news that we were expecting baby boy #4!! I told myself that I would have a fit pregnancy, but then cravings for chili cheese fries kicked in and I was so exhausted from running after my other 3 boys. I gained 45 lbs. with my last pregnancy and by the end I just felt so yucky! As soon as I was cleared to exercise I started working out every day and meal prepping. It was HARD and there were MANY times I wanted to just throw in the towel. Thanks to my hubby’s motivation and encouragement I pushed through and ended up losing the 45 lbs. I had gained! Now this road to losing the 45 lbs. was NOT easy! I started working out 2 months after the baby was born (October). My goal here was ONLY to lose the weight and that's really all I cared about. I just wanted to fit into my darn pants and not feel like a giant mushroom shaped mommy. I went up and down on the scale and I got discouraged constantly. I needed constant pep talks from my hubby to keep me going. Sometimes I think he got annoyed by my whinning that things were happening SO slowly. But honestly, if it wasn't for his continuous encouragement I probably would have given up. 

Now he also told me that losing weight was really 80% what you eat and 20% exercise!! WHAT!!!!!! I was busting my booty and that only accounts for 20%! NO FAIR! So after pouting about that I went onto pinterest and found all these awesome healthy meal prep idease. I realized that if I was really going to get somewhere faster I totally needed a food makeover! THIS really really expedited my weight loss! I also started to vary my workouts instead of doing the same old p90x video over and over to the point that I could put it on mute and my 4 year old could tell you what was coming up next! Haahaaa..

A few weeks ago I also joined a 21 day challenge group and the main reason I joined was because I had plateaued. I really feel so blessed to have been a part of this group. They  motivated me to push myself even harder! I’m seeing improvements and some more definition. I lost another 5 lbs! 
More importantly though than losing all that weight, is how I feel inside! I feel SO great now and I have gotten to the point where if I don't work out my body seems to be like, "Hey you! Get your booty into you workout clothes and BRING IT!" 

So, in a long nutshell that is my ROAD to today. A mommy of 4 who is constantly on the move with my kiddos but learning to prioritize my own health and take care of myself. Something I NEVER really felt I had time for. I feel like I have reclaimed my old self! Yipee!!! 

Here's a before and after collage of my progress. We're still working on it daily, but I think I've come so far! To all of you who feel like it's impossible...it's NOT! You are SO worth taking care of!!! <3