About me and my blog

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I've been meaning to start a blog for some time now. Finally got around to it. I started this blog for a few reasons:
1. Keep friends and family updated on my life.
2. Help people by sharing my experiences with health, fitness, weight loss, and whatever else I end up sharing. I intend to be as open and honest as possible.
3. Share recipes and DIY projects, whether of my own creation or something I've found on Pinterest.
4. And, if all else fails, I at least hope to entertain you a little :)


Basic stuff about me:
I am Michelle. Married to my wonderful husband, Patrick, since October 2008. No kiddos yet... This is us this past Thanksgiving.

 

We are pet parents to a sassy, lovable Dachshund, Oscar. His face will most likely be plastered all over this blog, cuz he's just so cute :)

And a cat, who came with the name Tarah, but we just call her Kitty.













Background on me...
Last year I decided to take steps to live a healthier life. I was overweight and very unhappy with myself. I am proud to say that I have lost 30 lbs since then, and I am down 40 lbs overall from my highest weight about 4.5 years ago when I got married.

I gained what I like to call 'happy relationship weight.' You go out to eat a lot, eat what he eats, sit around watching movies, and before you know it, you've gained 30 lbs. I was not an overweight child or teenager. I was actually a very involved kid, participating in pretty much every sport and activity I could- softball, track, cheerleading, basketball, volleyball...

But as an adult, I never stuck to anything. My husband and I joined a gym. After about 2 months I stopped going. I got 'bored.' We started P90X and didn't even make it through the first month. I also got 'bored' with that too.

I say I got 'bored' but the truth is that I just got lazy and whiny and quit. As soon as I didn't feel like it, or it got hard, I quit. If it didn't come easy to me, then I thought I shouldn't be doing it. This was true with weight loss and everything else in my life.

Somehow I managed to lose about 10 lbs and keep it off without really trying too hard.

The last straw for me was last year when my brother got married. I was in the wedding and had wanted to lose weight beforehand. As a bridesmaid (actually I was a groomsmaid!), I obviously knew I would be in those pictures forever.

The wedding itself was wonderful!!

As soon as the pictures came out though, I was wildly disappointed in myself.

Its not just the physical aspect, either. I was a quitter. I complained about how I looked without actually doing anything about it. And that carried over to other parts of my life. I finally came to the realization that if I wanted my life to be different, I had to be the one to step up and do something about it.

February 2012 my husband and I joined a gym. I took a look at my diet. Typical American diet- lots and lots of carbs and hardly any fruits or vegetables. That was where I started. I just tried to eat more fruits and veggies, and get to the gym about 3 days a week.


At the time I was working a job that stressed me out to no end. I still work for the company-- working with adults with developmental disabilities. The job I had then was Mon-Fri full time PLUS lots of unexpected overtime and being on-call and eventually I just couldn't do it anymore. I stepped down, dropped to part time, and never looked back.






Fast forward to today. Right now I work full time overnight 10-12 hour shifts, BUT 8 of those hours I am paid to be asleep. SO... I have the majority of my days free. I have the time to work out 5-6 days a week. I cook a lot from scratch as well. You won't find many 'meals in a box' in my kitchen.



Last summer I saw a show called Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. I highly recommend the show. The trainer helps individuals for a year at a time- each episode is dedicated to a particular person and their year long journey. There was an episode about a man that inspired me. He wanted to participate in a triathlon. His goal was to do it at the 6 month mark. He still weighed over 300 lbs, I believe, but he still did it and FINISHED it. The best part was the last part of the race- the 10K. He didn't even stop to walk. He kept on and he finished it.

Wow!

I always made the excuse that I can't run. I just can't! I tried cross country in 5th grade and HATED it. In track, the most I did was 400m hurdles, but I didn't like it. This guy inspired me though. If he can do it, I can do it.









Now... I participate in 5Ks.
Turns out, I can do it!
I plan on running more 5Ks and maybe a 10K this year. 
















I'm now at a healthy weight for my height, according to the BMI scale and I am a happier, more productive person.
It took me awhile to get here because I struggled along the way. But instead of giving up, I carried on and pushed through.


And that, my friends, is key.