My Health and Fitness Journey

I have always struggled with my weight, up until last year when one of my BFF's told me about a program she was doing called Beachbody (most people have heard of P90X, this is the entire program which includes various workout programs). It came up because I saw her picture on Facebook and she looked amazing after just having had twins! It wasn’t only that she had lost the weight so quickly, she had muscles and was actually glowing. (Note, I am not someone who really notices things like that unless it’s drastic, and it was.) She explained it - it sounded complicated – and you had to pay for stuff so I ignored it. But as I continued to try and do it on my own without results, it kept poking at me, how did she do it so quickly?

I've been overweight for most of my life, with some “thin periods” sprinkled in between. Then I got pregnant and had my son in 2013, and weighed 176 lbs at my heaviest (I am 5′ tall.) To top it off I had PICA during the last month or so of my pregnancy:"

"Pica is the practice of craving substances with little or no nutritional value. Most pregnancy and pica related cravings involve non-food substances such as dirt or chalk. The word pica is Latin for magpie which is a bird notorious for eating almost anything." -http://americanpregnancy.org .

I craved dirt, wood, sawdust - but luckily (other than chewing on a stick once) I only ate the ice and rice. Unfortunately for my weight though, due to the PICA I literally stood at the rice pot and sucked down cups of jasmine rice, something I didn't even eat much of before! Then I gained even more AFTER I had him, having had a c-section I was bloated for weeks, definitely had untreated postpartum depression, was eating at odd times of the day...and time went on.

Almost 4 years later, I was turning 40, and was asked to be a bridesmaid and I finally just said, okay BFF, tell me again, how do I do this? I am desperate to feel better, nothing fits, I wear the same thing everyday and I have no confidence. I am exhausted all the time, I don’t even enjoy the food that I AM eating and feel like I am in a vicious cycle. But honestly, the worst part was my terrible acne. IT. WAS. AWFUL. I had mild acne as a teenager, and it was on and off until recently, when I decided it was time to take control of myself and my health. I was in denial for a really long time.

I started the program in Feb 2017. I signed up for Beachbody on Demand (the workouts), for Shakeology (the protein shake) and the food containers (portion control). Since I was paying for it, I took it more seriously than I would have otherwise. I was still confused about everything, but I just got started. The first two weeks were pretty much hell, I started with the 21 Day Fix program (which I still believe is the best one of out all the workouts), which is 21 days of 30 minute work outs (varied from cardio, to legs, arms, core etc…) What I learned? I had completely forgot that I actually enjoy working out! Especially now, with a family and stress, it is so important to take a minute to better yourself and get those endorphins going!

I kept at it, but honestly I didn’t follow the meal plan exactly (it’s pretty strict and the portions are small) BUT, I did only keep to eating ONLY the foods listed on the plan. During that time I ate a lot of fish and veggie, tacos, veggie eggs, oatmeal, fruit, almond butter, and nuts. It was really hard not to eat at night, but got easier over time (I still struggle with this sometimes). The Shakeology really helped - I liked the Chocolate but not the Vegan chocolate, though most people prefer that one I think. It really felt like it was replenishing my body with nutrients. I woke up with night sweats thinking I was going through early menopause or something, but it was actually my metabolism burning all the fat while I slept!

My body - and my mood - began to change, and that motivated me to do more. I was enjoying eating fruits and vegetables again and experimenting with new, and much more simple, recipes. The bad part was my skin got worse, the cystic acne was horrible and so painful around my chin and around my nose/cheek areas. It was embarrassing and hard to face people during that time, but I kept at it because it was working otherwise. What I didn’t realize was is my skin got worse before it got better, it like my pores just purged themselves of everything down to the root! (It is important to note that also contacted my doctor who prescribed a topical med and Retin-A creme) which along with diet and exercise was the cure for me. After a couple of months I noticed less acne and haven’t had a breakout in over 6 months!

...I crack up at this before picture!

One of the best and most helpful parts of this particular program is my coach, and the Facebook groups and challenges she manages. I didn't think I was the type of person to post my "daily accountability" and progress updates to a group of strangers, but I learned that it truly helps! For some reason just making yourself responsible and recording what you do helps you make the right decision, most of the time anyways! I plan to use this blog for my accountability posts as well, I am not comfortable with putting myself out there (I didn't even like being the center of attention at my wedding!) so posting these pictures and information is difficult, but I know for a fact it helps keep me in line!

Fast forward, with all of these tools I lost a significant amount of weight after about three months of starting and have been maintaining what I believe is my ideal weight ever since. More importantly I am amazed by some of the physical things I can do now, and how much easier every day tasks are too! I felt great as a first time bridesmaid, I wore a long, sleeveless dress (something I’ve never worn in in my life!) and am continuing on my journey with all it's ups and downs. Life is throwing some lemons at me right now, but also giving me the opportunity to regroup and refocus on what is important, and concentrating on my health is most certainly at the top of my list.

~A~A~G~