LIFE LATELY {11.03.2016}

It feels like life just seems to be going by faster and faster. Is it just me, or does anyone else find it hard to believe we are already in November? Well, Chapter 11 of 12 has officially started and I'm already thinking about what to do next. A lot of big things are coming up for 2017! I can't give away too much detail yet, but I can tell you it's going to be amazing!

Currently, I am a stay at home mom, but I am also preoccupied with college courses. I decided back in June that I wasn't going to keep making excuses, I was finally ready and determined to get my degree. Funny thing, my first college class, since 2010, took place during my final trimester, and I literally took my final exam two days before delivering JMWR. But you know what? I passed! So now, I am taking two college classes, English and Geography. I have a long way to go, but I know that it will go by fast, and if I focus more on today rather than trying to rush, I will actually get to walk across the stage.

Aside from college, I am eager to get back into the gym. Funny thing, back in August 2015 when we went on our last cruise, I managed to get down to my goal of 160lbs. Throughout my entire pregnancy, I didn't gain a single pound until the very tail end about two weeks before delivering, but even then I had only gained 5lbs. Since delivery, I have returned back to 160lbs. And although I am truly thankful for being back where I was, I'm not where I want to be, yet. My hope is that I can work hard over the next year and by next November, I want to reach my real goal of being about 125lbs. Too be honest, the number isn't so much my focus as just being toned and healthy. Just last night, I was scrolling through old Facebook photos and came across this photo. 

On the left is me in November of 2013 and on the right was October 2016.

My hope is that I will also be able to encourage my husband to join me in losing weight again. He hasn't gained a whole lot, but I know he isn't where he wants to be either and I love working with him to make him a better man, after all, that's what a wife is supposed to do.

There are some other exciting things coming up, but as I mentioned at the beginning, I can't really talk about it yet, but stay tuned because it's going to be BIG!

 

THE PLATEAU {08.06.2015}

 

{PLATEAU}

to reach a state of little or no change after a time of activity or progress

 

When E and I started on this fitness journey, we had no idea where we would go but we knew that we would be better than we were. I remember back in 2013, I had just started fertility treatment, we were eating horrible fast foods every night (just about), and sodas were the number one in our house. I don't think we even thought about water.

I remember stepping on the scale and seeing that digital scale read "198."

 

At the time, I didn't think I was that bad. I kept telling myself things like, "you're taking fertility supplements you're going to gain a few pounds," "you don't look that bad," "who cares? I'm married, I'm not trying to look good for anyone but E." And while it really didn't matter if I looked good for others because E would love me no matter what, it wasn't about fitting into size six Miss Me Jeans, it was about health. I remember when E stepped on the scale in 2013 and his mouth dropped when it said "299." For about a year, we pretended it wasn't important. Always using the excuse that "we didn't need to look good," and I think a lot of people think that gaining weight is okay because we're married. The bottom line is, it's not about looking sexy for others, its about health for each other. Towards the end of 2013, I decided to stop drinking sodas. I figured it was a start and was bound to take me somewhere, I just never expected to be where I am today.

After six months of completely cutting out sodas, I managed to encourage E to stop as well. It was at this time that we started talking about the possibility of losing weight. By November 2014, after our trip to Florida, we looked at photos of ourselves and decided right then and there that we would work together to get back to our fit bodies. After all, I had always been fit from Cheerleading, Volleyball, Track, and Swimming and E was always fit from Football. December 2014 we hit the gym hard. But we didn't really make huge changes to our eating. We thought as long as we were putting the work in at the gym, that would be good enough. Granted, we did lose 10 pounds by the end of 2014 just from working out and cutting out sodas, but it wasn't good enough.

 

January 2015 we decided we were going to get in the gym and make huge changes to our diet. We both formulated a healthy eating plan for ourselves and went on about our business in the gym. By March 2015, we had managed to drop 25 pounds each! Still we knew we needed to push harder. We hadn't completely cut out fast food and would eat it on several occasions. So, we set out to find another way to get ourselves to cut out fast food entirely. We found several eating plans that required you to eat certain amounts of food for weeks at a time. This made a big difference in the way we started looking at food. By July 2015, we both lost a grand total of 30 pounds each. We were just pounds away from our goal but needed something to get us there. We were stuck in a plateau. E was stuck at 260-265 and I was stuck at 165-170.

 

At this point, we thought about looking outside for meal planning assistance. That's when we walked into My Fit Foods.  That, by far, has been the best decision we ever made. In addition to eating My Fit Foods, we also started doing more than just cardio and the occasional lifting. We set out to find a new and improved/strict workout plan. We found this amazing plan on BodyBuilding.com. Was it hard? YES! But, it was rewarding.

 

Currently, we have been on a My Fit Foods diet for about a month and have also been using the BodyBuilding.com plan in conjunction with the diet. We do allow ourselves two "cheat" days on Saturday and Sunday but this doesn't mean go out and eat hamburgers and french fries, this means making smart decisions because we know that those hamburgers and french fries will eventually come back and haunt us.

  

Today, I can officially say that I have left my plateau behind me. I am now at 163! Which is a major accomplishment. Keep in mind that I was stuck at 165 for about 2 months! This morning I weighed in at 163.0. What a wonderful and overwhelming feeling to finally be less than 20 pounds away from my final goal. E and I always say we aren't done yet, we aren't where we want to be but we are so much further away from where we used to be and we are never going back.

 

I hope that you can find the motivation inside of you to not get fit to look good for others, but to be healthy for your loved ones. It's so important to stay healthy for each other. I couldn't imagine life without E and a lot of times I blame myself for just sitting back and allowing us to get the way we did. There are so many things that could have happened just from being overweight; heart attacks, diabetes, the list is long. No matter what you decide, just remember that you can do anything you put your mind to. Will it be easy? NO. Will working out be fun? NO. Will it be rewarding? ABSOLUTELY!

 

 *see our workout plan here*

 

 

OVER THE WEEKEND {06.15.2015}

Quite a few things "went down" this weekend. Let's start with Saturday, E had to work, again, which let me alone to conquer the day on my own. I woke up at 8am, enjoyed my breakfast got dressed and sprinted out the door around 8:45am to head to my Cycling class. It was such a fun class too!! It definitely kept me sweating the whole time but totally worth it. I also decided that my EC (Erin Condren) planner need some weight-loss inspirational stuff so I made this adorable weight-loss tracker! I love it, and it was so easy to make. The only thing missing is the rhinestones to symbolize the pounds. I plan on making a trip to Hob-Lob this weekend for those.

 

After cycling class, I headed to the grocery store and spent some time gathering all the products that I would need for us to begin our 14 day fix. I was pretty pleased with the fact that I was able to get 6-meals a day, for seven days, for two people at only $108! That is amazing! (More on how I got that price later). I left the store feeling super proud and ready to take on the meal prepping. Although, it is so much easier with two people, I managed to make it through just fine. Saturday ended quite well, E got home and we enjoyed another shopping excursion to grab a few remaining things. We plopped on the sofa to watch The D.U.F.F. and enjoyed our last "unhealthy" meal which included individual containers of ice-cream. And no, I will not disclose how many ounces of ice-cream were in those containers, but I will say it was DELICIOUS and the best was to commemorate all the unhealthy days that will now be put behind us as we focus on losing weight and getting healthy.

 

Sunday started out a little rocky. I woke up to our bathroom, hallway, and laundry room flooded in blue sticky laundry detergent. First of all, I thought we were running out of laundry detergent but apparently there was enough to cover the whole floor. Secondly, cleaning up that mess was...well, a mess! We had to use at least 7 towels and then we had to use the spray hose from the kitchen and spray the floor to get it wet so that the stickiness would not stay. So frustrating and hilarious at the same time. Would have been nice to be Vlogging at that time. By the afternoon, I was hitting the gym with E. It's always nice being able to share that time with him even though we don't talk. Later afternoon rolled around and I went to get my hair done. It was so relaxing! We stopped by E's parents house to say hi and I helped cut some celery.

 

Sunday was actually day one of our 14 Day Fix and we did great! It was so filling and easy to stay on track. Tonight, we have to pay off our cruise and wait for Tropical Storm Bill (I guess that's going to be the name...possibly) to either hit or stay. Blackjack much? Ahh Vegas, it's on my mind y'all!

 

Well, that's a wrap! I'm pretty excited to post the update on the 14 Day Fix on Sunday!!! Let me know how you're doing and how you feel so far.

 

21 DAY FIX {06.05.2015}

Happy Friday!!!

 

Recently, E and I decided to take a little (but still healthy) break from the gym. Although we both miss it very much, life has just been too busy for us right now. Our plan is to start back June 28. Well, I guess really, we will be still be going to the gym but not on a strict schedule. That "strict schedule" is what will begin on June 28 when we partake in the 21 day fix!

 

I first heard about the 21 day fix while at the gym! It was on one of the TVs and I couldn't help but think "what a scam!" I guess that's typical for anything you see on TV where they try to sell you something...right? Well, a few weeks went by and then I heard again about the 21 day fix but this time it was from a friend. I couldn't help but start my research and found some pretty amazing results. I started thinking to myself, how hard can a 21 day fix be? It's not a diet? It's not a crazy, super intense workout plan? What the heck is it??? Well, it's basically a portion control eating program paired with 30-minute workouts a day to give you weight loss results. Some people loose up to 15-20 pounds after 1 round!

Why not give it a try? Well, that's exactly what we are doing! You're probably wondering "why are they waiting until June 28? Why not start now?" Great question! Reason for starting June 28 is simple, we want a few weeks to prep. Make sure that we have our meal ideas and grocery lists, basically everything, in order before we just jump into it. I think that's the reason so many people fail. I think it takes time to prepare for things and that's what we are doing. May sound silly, but we want to be able to stick with it and make sure we don't get burnt out.

 

So far, I have my menu ready and my workout plan ready but we are still trying to get E's stuff in order. I'm really excited about this new plan. Right now, my goal is to loose at least 10 pounds. I do want to take daily photos to see my progress.

 

T-minus 22 days until we start!!! More posts and updates on our 21 day fix journey to come.

 

 

*I do not work for the 21 Day Fix company nor am I affiliated with any company similar to this program. I am just another participant looking for results*

Another journey worth taking {04.02.2013}

Ever since 2010, I would unintentionally encourage myself to gain weight by telling myself that "it is okay to gain weight, it is okay to not eat healthy every once in awhile- everyone does it!" Over the course of 3 years, I went from a size 8 to a size 16, and the problem of gaining weight and eating unhealthy consumed my life! I was gaining weight left and right, not trying to make it better. I would eat out more than 3 times a week and it would either be McDonalds or Wings N More! I started to feel and see major changes with my body and I hated it! I dont even enjoy clothes shopping anymore because the cute clothes aren't in my sizes! I'm not huge by any means, but I have many flaws, and those flaws have now lead me to this decision today. I heard about the Paleo diet a few months ago, and after countless frustrations with clothes not fitting, I have decided to set a short term goal for myself. I want to try to reach my goal weight by the end of the journey on this diet. So, here are my stats today, where I would like to see myself, and what my goal competition date is...

-Current weight: 175
-Goal weight: 150
-Goal competitions date: 06.01.2013

Basically, I plan to get serious and strict about my health, weight, and body. I plan to workout 3 times a week by running around my apartment complex for 30 minutes, pushing myself even if it burns! I will also devise a food schedule that I will strictly follow over the course of the next 8 weeks. I plan on starting this journey, April 8, 2013 so I have time to get the schedule written, buy the foods, and mentally prepare myself for this. I have never dieted in my life! I have always been a very fit person {thanks to cheerleading) so to push myself will take discipline, force, and trust to know that at the end of the 8 weeks I will have bettered myself in the end. Even after the completition date, I plan to continue eating healthy. If I don't reach my goal weight by June 1, I will continue to work to get there. I will NOT stop until I've reached this goal! I have 20 lbs. to lose {that means I'll have to lose 2.5 lbs. a week to reach my goal} and will need all the support I get. Please pray for strength and discipline for me so that I can reach my goal.

If you have tried Paleo, or a similar diet, how did your journey end? Was it successful? Are you still keeping the weight off?

If you are just now starting a journey, keep in mind that there are thousands of women, like you and me, working towards a better, healthier lifestyle!

Best of luck ladies!

God Bless

Megan