Major Changes!

The Situation

I have worked out on an on and off, good for 2 weeks, not so good for a month then good for 2 days type situation since Olivia was about a year old. While pregnant with Grayson I did pretty good about not over eating and did my pregnancy workout videos pretty consistently. It only took me about 6 months or so to get my pregnancy weight off after having Grayson, but I still had those last 10-15 pounds hanging around from college!

On January 1st of this year I started doing Jillian Michael's 30 day shred video. I worked out 6 days a week for 3 months straight. I really started to tone up but had not lost 1 pound. I told myself, it's probably just all this muscle I'm gaining...

Then, when Michael and I were on our weekend getaway in March we watched a seminar on TV given by Jillian Michaels. She was teaching about processed foods and most of the food we eat is so far away from it's natural state that our body doesn't really know what to do with it so it slows down our metabolism. The same goes for additives, preservatives and pesticides.

Now let me back up.. we already ate pretty healthy anyway. I outlawed white bread and white pasta when Olivia was an infant. I rarely fried anything and thought we did pretty good. I told Michael, let's try to eat this way for a month and see how we feel. So we did. And let me tell you, we are NEVER going back!

The Plan

At least 80% of the time we eat only lean, unprocessed meat with fresh veggies and fruits on the side. We eat lots of fish such as Tiliapia, shrimp and salmon. ABSOLUTELY NO HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP will be found in my pantry. If you want to know why, just a do a little research. The same goes for added hormones to meat. We avoid preservatives as much as possible, they just aren't natural. We've had our first garden this year which has produced tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, bell peppers, cantalopes and now okra. We hope to do an even bigger garden next year. I eat whenever I'm hungry but instead of snacking on a bag of chips, I eat a bowl of sliced cumbers or fresh strawberries instead.

The Results

I dropped 15lbs in 6 weeks. Still kept my work out routine. In May, I decided I had been doing cardio for a while so I thought I'd try my hand at running and see how far I could go. I used to LOATHE running and running a 5K has always been on my bucket list. I just wanted to accomplish this because I knew it would be challenging for me. The first time I ran in May I was able to run almost 2 miles with only stopping for a few short breaks. I decided to sign up for a 5k and trained 3 days a week. 2 days before my race I got sick with a cold but decided I was going to try it anyway. My goal was to finish in 34 minutes and I finished in 32! I learned a huge lesson, no more running 5Ks in the Oklahoma summer. It was wayyy to hot and I was sick to my stomach most of the day. I feel great and now actually enjoy getting up at 5:00 AM to run. Weird!

Michael, the meat and potatoes and anything fried type-of-guy, has done great and hasn't complained about missing his comfort food too much. We try and keep the menu fresh and exciting (can be challenging) so that we don't get bored with our food. I say that we do this 80% of the time because sometimes, you just have to grab chick-fil-a for dinner because we only have 15 minutes and I'm not a miracle worker. We also want to indulge in birthday cake or party food when presented to us.

With all that said, I think we've made a change that is here to stay. I love feeling great about what my family is putting into their bodies and feel good setting an example of an active lifestyle for my kids. I'm contemplating a 10K this fall but not making any commitments just yet.

This is my great friend Liz. I asked her to run with me a week before the race. She did amazing for only running a few times before the race. I may have quit without her! And that's us promoting our new Campus at our church. More to come about this later...BIG THINGS ARE HAPPENING!