Saturday, January 30, 2016

My extended fitness journey

Let me start by saying my weight has almost always been an issue. Now, I also know that weight isn't everything and who you are as a person truly matters, but I want my body to be the best version it can to be there for my son and husband. I want it to function at an optimal level, so that I don't feel restricted in my life.


I cannot remember a time when I wasn't at least somewhat overweight. When I was younger, this didn't really matter to me but now it has become something I have to care about. 
I was fairly active in high school with dance and musical theatre. I didn't care too much about what I ate, but tried to make good choices. I drank lots of water due to choir and my other activities. I usually ate whatever my mom prepared and she always kept healthy food in the house. I wasn't obsessed with my weight, because my teenage body did okay. 

I became more aware the year I graduated high school. I look back at my graduation pictures and cringe because of how chubby my face looks. I decided I wanted a change. I wasn't that overweight and was actually fairly in shape at that point, but I wanted to do more. I started a plan with a local office in Huntersville that helps educate about health and fitness. I was taught to choose more nutrient dense foods, move my body, record what I ate and so on. I had lost about 10 pounds when I left for college in Idaho.


I really flourished in college as far as my personal health and fitness. My roommate and I would go to the gym regularly. I walked everywhere, mostly uphill, in the cold. I drank lots of water, I ate lean protein and tons of veggies, I took care of myself. I didn't have a scale at school, but I knew that I had lost weight based on my clothing and looking at pictures. I was happy and healthy.


After a year at college, I came back home to North Carolina and started work. I still did pretty well with what I ate, but my schedule was consumed by work. I also met David very shortly after I moved home. While David and I dated I tried to continue making good choices, but oftentimes that was overshadowed by wanting to have fun and go out to eat. I was still pretty healthy when we got married in June. I was in love and didn't really care about anything else.


Our first year of marriage I started a new job as an office manager. I was sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day and spending 2+ hours in the car commuting. I also had to work at night when I got home, so I didn't really have the time to work out. We ate whatever I had time to throw together and a lot of times just ate pizza or Cook Out, which was right across the street. That Christmas David got the recumbent bike for me as I told him I wanted to be more active and lose weight. I wasn't very committed and would try to find little moments to exercise. We bought a scale at some point and I was shocked by the number.

We moved right before our 1st anniversary and life continued to be crazy busy. David was in school full-time and working as well. We continued to eat pizza. At this point I weighed about 190 pounds. I decided around September or so that I wanted to try losing weight again as we were talking about starting a family. I assumed it would take a few months to get pregnant and that I could lose weight in the meantime. I had stopped birth control and then 4 weeks later held a positive pregnancy test in my hands. I was disappointed that I wouldn't be in the best condition to carry my baby, but decided to make the most of my situation. I ate fairly well during my pregnancy and did my best to be active, but I was still at the same job sitting on my rear all day and being pregnant is exhausting. I didn't have any motivation to workout.

I gained 50 pounds during my pregnancy and couldn't wait to start trying to lose the weight again. I had a c-section which meant I was pumped full of IV fluids and had some swelling. Everett was 8lbs, 9oz at birth, so I figured I would have lost at least 10 pounds by the time I got home from the hospital. Out of curiosity, I stepped on the scale when we got home to find I weighed the EXACT same as I did before he was born.

Then, the swelling when down and I dropped 30 pounds overnight. I was excited, but knew I had a long road ahead of me. I went back to work at 4 weeks postpartum and tried to fit some fitness into my busy schedule. This time I was on my feet for 8+ hours a day and could tell that I was out of shape.

I breastfed for 4 months, which I know contributed greatly to my weight loss. I was more conscious about what I was eating and started using MyFitnessPal again. I stopped nursing when I started working full-time and kept losing weight. I used the 21 Day Fix from Beachbody and got control of my portions and fitness routine. I was feeling strong.

I had gotten to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time my baby was 3 months old. 
Life was still crazy, but somehow we made in through while I worked full-time, David went to school and took CPA classes AND watched Everett during the day. I kept on this course for the rest of the summer until I quit my job to stay at home full-time when David started his job. 
Being at home full-time was a welcome change and I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my baby. I wanted to relax and not worry about working out. At this point, my weight had plateaued at 172 pounds and I was okay with that at the time.

Life continued to carry on and we moved into a house. I was focused on getting our home set up and spending time with Everett. Then the holidays arrived and I just wanted to spend time with my family and not worry about what I could and couldn't eat and take time away from being present with them. I had a doctors appointment on Christmas Eve and found out I was now above my pre-pregnancy weight. I couldn't believe I had failed my body so much again.

I decided enough was enough and I was going to do everything in my power to change. I wasn't going to flake out again. I wanted to be 1000% committed to being as strong as possible and be my absolute best self. I made some very serious promises to myself and have my wonderful husband to motivate and help me in my journey.

I'm hoping that by sharing my story I will be able to inspire others to start their journey, to motivate themselves to be better. 
If you were able to hang in this long, I'm impressed! 
I will be posting my January progress very soon so keep an eye out for that. 

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope you know that you are beautiful. I too have struggled with my weight, in particular since having my oldest. I recently have started a journey of more mindfulness and not just hoping it will go away on its own. Thank you for your example.

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  2. Thank you Janett! It is definitely much harder when you become a mama, but the trade off is totally worth it. I've had to get in the mindset that the choices I'm making are FOR Everett. It is the best motivation.

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