You can do it!

One of my best motivational tools is hearing other people's success story. I love when they share their before pictures and how they overcame the discouragement of choosing to eat healthy and exercising. I think the hardest part is making a start-- joining a gym, cutting out soda and fast food or just making a change.

I gained a lot of weight when I was pregnant with my youngest son and by the time I gave birth I weighed 200 lbs. I felt awful about how and looked and my lack of energy. I needed to make some serious changes.

 So I set up some goals.
1.Be able to play and keep up with my boys
2. Run a 5k.
3. Feel confident about my appearance

The change wasn't immediate, taking care of a newborn is tough. First I waited till my son was sleeping through the night. Then I began to cut soda out of my diet and eating smaller portions. The Fitness Pal app was a wonderful tool. It helped me track my calories and workouts based on my goal weight. Then I started the 5k101.com program that really jump started my fitness goals. I was running three times a week and feeling great. My clothes began to feel looser. One of the things I learned was that eating healthy and exercising are the key to weight loss. You must do both to see results. Last June, I ran my first 5k (Komen Race for the Cure). I hadn't finished the 5k101.com  program, but I still finished the race in 42:34 minutes.

Then in the fall, I joined the gym, Fitness 19 in Cary. I worked with a trainer a couple times to help me focus on trouble areas, and then I found my true love--strength training. I forgot how much I enjoyed this ( I used to lift weights in high school and college).

When I joined the gym last September, I weighed 165 lbs and my goal was to loose 30 lbs and wear a bikini by summer time. Since joining, I have been consistently going to the gym three times a week. The kids got hit hard with sickness over the winter, we battled pneumonia, multiple ear infections, croup and most recently the dreaded stomach bug. So there were weeks that I didn't step foot in the gym. That is when the fitness blogs and Pinterest came in handy. I found step-by-step workouts to do at home, so I could keep up my momentum.

The pounds didn't fall off either, it was a gradual process. I weighed myself once a month and the results kept me motivated plus my clothes became looser and looser.

Last week, I weighed myself. I now weigh 140 lbs. It's not my goal weight of 135, but I'm close, and I'm still working on it. I can wear a small size 6. I lost so much weight I had to sell all my summer clothes. I'm training for my third 5k, and most importantly I feel confident about myself. And, yes I've started shopping for a bikini. :)



Before - September 2011

                  After April 2013