Former Donut Lover Turned Gym Rat...

I started this journey in October 2013.  After being miserable with myself and my weight for a year or two, I decided something needed to be done.  My husband had gotten back in the gym a few months prior and he was my initial motivation to make a change.  I set my first goal which was to get myself to the gym 5 days a week for the first 2 weeks.  See, getting there was always my problem.  Mr. Coburn took me to the gym and MADE me sign up for the 12 month contract.  I tried to talk him out of it, thinking in my mind there was no way I would make it 1 month, much less 12!  He showed me around to the equipment and I had my first work out in a real gym.  I’ve been working out 5-6 days a week since and to say I’m in love with it would be an understatement.  No part of this has been easy, but it has been the most rewarding experience I’ve ever been through, with the exception of motherhood, of course.  I’m thankful to have shared all of this journey so far with not only my husband, but one of my best friends as well.  Having someone to work out with most of the time has made the biggest difference for me. I love my body now more than I did in my teens and twenties, before children, when there was not a stretch mark or C-sections scar to be seen.  The appreciation I have for this body of mine after all of this hard work is more than I could have ever imagined.

So what about my DIET? I did not go into this planning to change my eating habits.  I have always been a terrible eater; cheeseburgers, french fries, heck fried anything.  I drank a cup of coffee in the morning and anywhere from 3-5 Cokes a day, ZERO WATER.  No, I’m no exaggerating that.   After a couple of weeks of seeing results in the gym I inadvertently started noticing the calories in the items I was choosing.  Wow, that cheeseburger at Wendy’s is worth more calories than I burned in my 4:30 am workout this morning! Before I even realized my eating habits were on the mend and get this, I was CRAVING WATER.  I actually hate using the word diet.  I do not follow a specific diet, as I feel like diets are temporary.  The results I wanted to see required changing the way I view food entirely.  I am finding creative ways to LOVE the food I’m eating, along with being good to my body.

I never anticipated the amazing response from the people that I love and those that I don’t even know.  It’s still so foreign to me to be motivating other people and to be told I’m an inspiration. I want every girl, woman, man, heck EVERYONE to know that they CAN DO IT.  I want to be an example to my kids to grow up with a healthy life; I want to be around for them as long as I possibly can.  If I can make this change, you all can too, trust me.  I’ve received a lot of messages asking about what I’m doing in the gym, what I’m eating and many other questions.  I want to clearly say now that I am NO PROFESSIONAL, but if anything that I am doing can help people, even ONE person, well, here we go.