And so it begins....

While Blogging isn't something that's completely new to me, creating a blog like this is. I'm not usually afraid of putting myself out there (believe me, I've done some pretty crazy things), but this is a little different. This is me sharing something I'm pretty self-conscious about. Heck, I hardly know a single woman out there who isn't!  But I'm going to share about my fitness journey as a 30 yr old.

It's been said that once you hit 30, your body stops responding to things you do in the same way it did before 30. While it makes sense, it also kinda sucks. While 30 isn't old, it's more than a little frustrating to know that anything that I do from here on out is going to be that much harder. The silver lining is that it makes it that much more important that I do it.

Before I get too deep into this, let me start by saying I'm not starting at the beginning of my journey.

Let me give you all the info from the beginning:

This is me summer 2014:

I was 28 yrs old and tipped the scales at a whopping 246 lbs. I may be 5'10", but that's still very overweight!! And my kids at that time were 6 and 3. I had no excuses. I could blame it on "baby weight" all I wanted, but the truth of the matter was I was all kinds of unhealthy.

By the end of the summer, I had an event occur in my life involving a person that I considered a friend (the details don't matter. It was a time of great personal development for me, so I have left it at that), and when this person decided that she was going to start a fitness journey of her own, I was determined to get there first. Hell hath no fury, right? I had already planned on working on my weight issue before this, but my competitive nature took over and it fuelled me for quite some time. I started a diet that basically had me cutting my calories to 1500 a day (well below my basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories my body needs to simply function) and while I did lose 17lbs, I was a very unhappy person. I had almost no energy, I was cranky all the time and when it asked me to work out 3 days a week, I could barely get through the 2nd day of working out and the 3rd day was barely half-hearted. I was pleased with my results, but a family wedding threw me out of my schedule.

Bridesmaid in my brother's wedding. I was 229 lbs.

My brother's wedding was in Nashville, Illinois on Nov 15th, 2014. I was not only the oldest at 29, but the fattest bridesmaid there. And one of them was pregnant. I wasn't the only mum in the group either. I was proud that I had bought my dress at a 22 and it was taken in to between a 20 and an 18, but still.  But by the time we returned from the wedding I was tired and stressed and then it was the holidays. It was far too easy to slip back into the older habits. And while I did manage to keep the weight off, I still wasn't happy with where I was currently sitting.

In February, a woman I had never heard of advertised for a free Fit Club. I knew I needed something to get my arse off the couch, and who can say no to free?! The Fit Club started up and well....I thought I was going to die.

The first Monday morning of the Fit Club was torture. If you are not familiar with what lunges are, they are how to turn your legs to jello when you do them for 30 ft and you've not done exercise for a loooooooooong time. That was our warm up. Then she was like, "Hey! We're going to go for a 1km run!" I thought she was out of her darned mind!!! I could barely walk, how the bloody hell was I supposed to run!?!?

Well, I did survive to tell the tale. Did it in 4:34 min. I was pretty proud. I not only ran, which I loathed doing, but I did it in what I considered to be a decent time. Just as I was ready to die, our coach announced that we were going to do pushups, sit ups and squats. My pushups were pathetic. I did decently well on my sit ups (believe it or not, I did have abs, they were just really really well insulated) and I literally fell over while trying to do the squats. I could barely walk when I got home and then was so sore for the next 3 days that I cried everytime I had to do stairs or sit on a toilet. And I'm not talking some mild whimpering. I'm talking big, huge tears just streaming down my face.

Rocking my new shirt with pride

 But apparently I'm a glutton for punishment, so I went back the following Thursday and over the next 4 weeks I pushed myself and was encouraged by the others in the group and by my coach. When the end of the first 4 weeks was finished, we were down to a core few and I was one of them. I shaved 35 seconds off my run time and did more of each of the other exercises than I had the first time. I won a shirt for most improved and proudly rocked it! The scale only showed a 1 lb loss, but I felt amazing! I'd just done things I'd never thought were possible!

During this time, I had become interested in these fantastic products my coach was into called Herbalife. I'd never heard about it before, but the Peach Mango Beverage Mix my coach brought with her and let us have at the end of every Fit Club tasted soooooo good! If I remember correctly, the Bev Mix was all I'd had so far, but it was yummy, so I was interested in trying more.

My coach started opening up her house on Wednesday afternoons for a Nutrition Open House.  I made the time to go and got my very first taste of an Herbalife shake. It was so delicious! I'd tasted shakes before and every one of them had that gross chalky taste to them. This one tasted fabulous! I decided right then and there that I needed to have them in my life. I left her house that day with the Cafe Latte flavour. I also got some Chocolate Protein Drink Mix because I have a milk allergy and needed a protein replacement. With the PDM I could mix my shake with water.

From then on, on weekdays I had a shake for breakfast. I will have to say, it made life a whole lot easier. Slowly, the numbers on the scale started going down! I was thrilled!! A couple of weeks in, my coach asked me if I was interested in really taking my results up a notch and invited me to do a 5 day Eat Clean Challenge. During the challenge I learned how to eat every 2.5-3 hrs, how to up my water intake, and how to fuel my body instead of simply feeding it. After the 5dECC, a fellow challenger and I opted to remain in a group which continued to keep me accountable for what I was putting into my body. The cleaner I ate and the more regularly I drank my shakes the better I felt! I had no idea that I could feel this great!!

A few weeks later, my coach shared with me her vision for our area and the business opportunity with Herbalife. Just for signing up, I would get to order my product for myself at a discount and by helping a few people feel as amazing as I did, I could get all my product paid for through my profits! Worked for me!

I can already hear all of your objections. But that's all I'm going to say on this topic. Lots of people have an opinion about Network Marketing businesses. And chances are I've already heard your objections. Heck, chances are I've had your objections! But my hubby and I had been burned by a network marketing business before and knowing our own experience in this industry, I made the decision that was right for me. If you have any questions, feel free to message me and I'll be glad to share further.

From 228lbs to 200lbs!

Ok. Back to my story.

I'm not going to lie to you, my weight didn't just fall off in a snap. It's been a big commitment to this lifestyle change. But it has been coming off steadily! Plus, the best part about being on my Herbalife nutrition program is that I get to eat all the time! I eat 6 times a day and instead of being tired and cranky all the time, I have tons of energy and wear out my 2 kids! Plus I feel better than I ever have in my entire life!!

When I started my program, I had a goal of being 200lbs by my 30th Birthday.  I am going to proudly say that I crushed that goal in August, well ahead of schedule! I was super excited to see that 198! I hadn't seen that number since I was pregnant with my oldest at 23.

Over the past couple months, I have lost another 10 lbs, and I currently sit at 188lbs. That's loss of 41 lbs on my Herbalife nutrition program and a total loss of 58 lbs! That's only 6 lbs less than my 7 yr old! The best thing about my results is that not only do I get to live in them everyday, but I have a group of fantastic people who celebrate my successes with me!

Do you want to know the best part about my more recent loss? 7 of those 10lbs were lost just on my nutrition program. The formula we believe in as Herbalifers is 80% nutrition, 20% fitness and 100% mindset. So as long as you are putting the proper nutrition into your body and you stay committed to your nutrition program, you don't even have to go to the gym to lose weight. Which has been fabulous for me! See, soon after I became a coach with Herbalife, I also became a co-coach at our Fit Club (I've actually acquired the nickname "Bad Cop".) But I was working out so intensely and pushing my body so hard that I tore a muscle in my knee because I wasn't careful. So I've been unable to do most of the Fit Club exercises and have simply been playing more of a supporting role by checking form (so no one else gets hurt) and encouragement. But by just sticking to my plan, I've still been able to lose weight, proving the saying, "Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym."

And that's my story to date! It's not glamorous by any means, but it is mine. And I'm proud of it! I did a lot in the last year of my 20's!

Here's the moment of truth. Tomorrow I turn the big 3-0. I am already currently halfway through my last day of my 20's. I can honestly say that today I am in the best shape of my life! And I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do from here on out.

So here is my commitment to you: I will post a picture in my sports bra and workout capri's every Monday. If I'm lucky, I'll have my hubby home to take it. If not, I'll do it myself to the best of my ability. I will also post my measurements. We do a weekly weigh in every Wednesday at the open house, so I will post my weight as well. The ups, the downs, the plateaus... everything! And I commit to being 100% honest with you. I'm not perfect. And I'm going to make choices that likely aren't on my nutrition program. But I will post them here. It's easy to share all the happy results. But that other side is just as important.

Please know that at anytime if you want more information on anything I post, you are always welcome to contact me. I love making new friends and answering questions, so please feel free to be forthcoming with those if you have them!

Seeings as tomorrow is Tuesday and my actual birthday, I will post a weekly pic tomorrow. This way we can track together my entire journey from 30 on!

So here goes! I'm off to enjoy my last day of my 20's! See you tomorrow!