That sounds silly. I guess its been longer than that...
See I used to be an athlete, I was a cheerleader, played rugby, did a few years enlisted in the Navy worked out regularly and then started running with my husband a few years back and have completed several half marathons. I considered myself healthy, in shape and strong. And then I got pregnant with my second child. My body broke down on me. Everything hurt and I could not figure out why. After he was born I was tired all the time and the pain just kept getting worse. I thought I was depressed, or suffering from post partum or something. I felt awful but no matter what doctors they sent me to (and we are talking about a lot of different doctors, tests, physical therapy here...you name it we tried it) nothing was getting to the root of the problem. I felt crazy. Seriously crazy. How could I hurt so much that I could barely pull the milk out of the fridge or fasten my babies diaper and yet there was no reason for it?!? Well, it took awhile but I was finally diagnosed with lupus in July of 2013. I think I should have been a little freaked out by it but honestly at that point I was just glad to know that it was not all in my head! Anywho- I won't bore you with what that all means but it did come with medicine and ideas to help with the pain and magically a few months later I could walk upstairs to bed without help and I could hug my kids and lift them into my lap and all of a sudden the fog rose and I was able to take a look in the mirror. Yikes.
In the time I had been struggling just to get through my days I had gained over 20 pounds, damaged my relationship with my daughter, lost contact with many of my friends and started to feel useless and worthless. Let me tell you- that was a hard picture to take in and all I knew was something needed to change. So I dusted off my gym tag, packed up the kids and tried a spin class for the first time. My joints still could not take the pressure of running or kickboxing which were my go to workouts in the past and my wrists were still so weak that I could not lift hand weights or even bend them into position for a push up or a downward facing dog...I did not have many choices left so even though I really NEVER ride bikes and certainly never saw myself 'spinning' I figured it was worth a shot. After the first class my butt was sore but the endorphins did the trick and I felt more free than I had felt in ages. I felt like there was hope for me yet and that I was strong and capable of anything I set my mind to. I decided right then as I strapped the kids back into the car that I was going to get my body back. What I did not know at the time was that less than a year later I would have my body back but I would have found so much more along the way.
I made the gym my job.
I dropped my daughter off at the bus, and headed to the gym. At first I stuck to spinning alone and lost 5 pounds and met an amazing instructor who also happened to be a personal trainer. I had never paid a trainer before and thought I never would. After all I know how to use nautilus machines and I had always been able to keep my body in shape by myself but life was different now and my body was different. I could not do the things I knew worked for me before so I had to try something different. It was the best thing I ever did. She helped me find things my joints could handle, she pushed me enough that I started building back muscle that had been lost or damaged and pulled me back when I started to get a little overzealous and risked getting hurt and off track. After 6 months with her I reached my weight goal and felt stronger than I had ever felt. (Btw-if anyone in SOMD wants her name contact me and I will be happy to send you her direction!)
But it wasn't just the workouts, I changed the entire way I ate. I started cutting processed food from our cupboards- my husband read that gluten and preservatives can build up in your body and make diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis worse so we figured it could not hurt to try. I started baking our bread, using only whole wheat in baking, making homemade peanut butter and phasing out the snacks replacing them with fruit and greek yogurt and surprisingly the kids followed right along with us! What an eye opener. I am so happy with the progress we have made in our kitchen and I truly believe it has had so many positive impacts on each member of our family, not just me.
Last month we planned a getaway to celebrate our 13th anniversary and I feel like I had so much to celebrate. I was able to run every morning with my husband, wear a bathing suit with confidence and feel like the girl I was when we met. I seriously can not believe the change in me in less than a year. If any part of my story can help inspire you to make changes, set goals for yourself or just to try something different than I will feel like all this happened to me for a reason.
I hope to share food ideas with you (most of them kid approved!) and sprinkle in some fitness info and motivation. My journey is really still just getting started and I can't wait to have you with me along the way!
Oct 2013
Mar 2014
May 2014
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