Reset

Do you ever wish you could just push the "reset" button and start the day, the week, the month, the year, the last bunch of years over?  I do:) And you know what? I push that button often ~ let's be honest here.  I have realized you do have to start fresh sometimes, you do need to forgive yourself and try again.  If you had a little too many treats, didn't drink all the water you should have, didn't get exercise in for the day ~ it is okay.  That is the beauty of your life (most of the time) ~ you are in charge of starting over, changing NOW, pressing "reset".  I know I am someone who has a guilty conscience ~ I will eat something that I know I am not supposed to and feel bad while doing it.  When your will power is strong and has been for quite some time then sure it is okay to have your "indulge" day.  But I am talking about when you go a little beyond the indulge day.  After completing the 60 day challenge I proved to myself that I do have the will power to keep it clean.  I had never gone so long without giving in to a temptation here or there.  And you feel so much better than that second of glory eating whatever your weakness is.  It is all about the snowball effect.  It can be negative where you hold off, give in, eat because your stressed, don't exercise because you got "so much" going on.  It never really improves~you just keep cycling~eat bad, feel bad, no exercise, feel guilty so you eat something bad and on and on!  On the other hand, the snowball effect can be a positive one as I experienced during the 60 day challenge.  If you keep it clean for one day ~ try for two.  If two works ~ go for three ~ and so on.  That is my challenge to you (and for myself).  How about we aim for 30 days?  Always remember it takes 3 weeks to make something a habit.  When would you like to start?  Tomorrow looks nice but how about right now?
I don't know what time it is at the moment you are reading this ~ could be mid day, your feeling a little tired, looking to reach for that little pick-me-up (my mid-day devil used to be blended coffee drinks).  Or maybe it is late at night ~ you finally have a little time to yourself to chill and look at your computer and you are a little bored so those brownies that are sitting on the kitchen counter are whispering your name (Honesty time: I had a couple 2 bite brownies last night ~ but I pressed reset before I went to bed and drank a crap load of water then had a healthy eating day today~don't judge me:).  It could be any bazillion situations made up of time, place, stress, worry, relationships, emotion.  Before I full on committed to improving my health and fitness I know I sometimes had that feeling of "oh well, what's one more" or "I will go for a run this weekend".  Or possibly you feel so in a hole that there doesn't appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel.  But I hope you know or soon discover that there is light.  I have for the most part been floating between average to a little heavy my whole life.  What is average?  Well it was a size 10-12 for me.

BELOW IS A PICTURE OF MY "a little heavy" VS. CURRENT

The picture on the left was taken about 4 years ago prior to any pregnancy.  Weighed around 165+/-.

Had muscle obviously that was hidden.  Current picture on the right is following 60 Day Challenge + 4 months of maintaining healthy eating and exercising.  Weight around 139 ~ down to 136 by August.

PLEASE NOTE:   I was ALWAYS a girl with a bum and big thighs & hips…ALWAYS ~ as you will see in the following pictures ~ even when I was leaner and more toned I still could not target that area of my body.  AND I NEVER EVER HAD A SPACE BETWEEN MY THIGHS ~ ever until recently.  And you know what?  I still have a bum and thighs and hips but it's a squatters lower half and it is strong and toned:)   

SUMMARY OF MY JOURNEY SINCE 2006ish

1.  Ate clean and ran with husband a lot ~ goal was to get in wicked shape for wedding

So the picture on the left is about 3 weeks after our wedding ~ probably the first time in my life I was that lean.  Like I mentioned above I couldn't seem to target/change the bum and thighs as much as I have in the last bunch of months!

2.  The picture on the left is taken a year after we married ~ lost the leanest I had achieved for our wedding ~ still not targeting bum and hips!  AND THEN I decided to sign up for 12 WEEKS OF BOOTCAMP.  I ended up getting in the best shape of my life up until that point.  Was super stoked and then the last week of bootcamp I found out I was pregnant!  I think my healthy change really helped me conceive and it helps starting with a healthy foundation so it was all good:) 

3.  Had my daughter Marley (she is a cutie!) ~ picture on left is when Marley was about 6-7 months old.  Picture on right is a few months later ~ I had started going to EXCEL FITNESS (Thank goodness they opened ~ I needed them!) and was making great progress getting back to pre-marley weight.  About 140lbs.  Little did I know I was newly pregnant in the picture on the right ~ Marley was just over 9 months old.

4.  Then CABLAMOO!  Paul and I are obviously good at getting prego because we did it again!  SO I did get to my pre-pregnancy weight and was getting toned and strong ~ then I found out we were expecting again.  I kept going to excel up until about 5 months pregnant as I had a HORRIBLE pelvis left over from Marley's pregnancy and the extra weight and hormonal changes was causing it to flair up to the point I had trouble walking (let alone exercise).  SO I tried to eat healthy and would do as much as I could physically without hurting myself.  END PREGNANCY weight was about 180ish.  I can't believe my stomach was so "out there".  The human body is AMAZING!  Bottom left picture is about 10 weeks post partum (Jean size was 34-36) and I was pretty much that way until I started the 60 Day Challenge on January 6, 2013.  Jonah was 4 and a half months old.  Bottom right was a Easter ~ shortly after finishing the challenge ~ I had never fit into those jeans before (Jean size 28)!  And now I can proudly say "I AM IN THE BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE!" Yay!  

After the birth of my son I was roughly 175lbs and I just found I felt so uncomfortable.  Clothes didn't fit right and it was just frustrating getting dressed everyday.  I was patient with myself as I had just given birth to a beautiful boy 18 months after I had my daughter so I knew my body had been thru a lot and I completely respected my body for  growing, nurturing, delivering and feeding 2 little beings.  On the other hand I wanted to feel comfortable, I wanted to feel strong, I wanted to feel energetic.  Being a parent is tiring and eating crap, not exercising and not taking care of yourself make the job way more incredibly difficult.  I wanted to (and continue to want) be the best mom I can be for Marley and Jonah.  Hence, I decided to commit.  I decided to press reset after a few months of postpartum settled in.  And I am so happy I found somewhere that helped me achieve a healthier me.  Losing weight, eating right, fitting into some smaller clothes, being able to lift weights, running up stairs, etc. ~ focus on what you will ~ the FACT IS YOU ARE HEALTHIER!  Don't focus on losing weight ~ have it as PART of the overall goal of just getting HEALTHIER!  To be honest, things are just easier when you are not carrying around extra weight.  Carrying groceries out to your car, taking that flight of stairs, doing yard work ~ things are just easier.  For me getting dressed is easier because things don't feel uncomfortably tight, don't dig in, you don't need to pull up your pants constantly or pull down your shirt.  And when life is a little easier in some ways I find I deal with other situations better.  So it becomes a win-win.  Get healthy, get your life back.  This isn't a practice round so treat your body good and do something good for it.  It is NEVER too late!  Eat for fuel, exercise, hydrate.  Press reset and give yourself a break:)

The set of pictures at the top are at the start of the challenge and the last day of the challenge.  The bottom 2 pictures I took at the end of September to help document my journey on the 6 month THIS IS LIFE Challenge:)