Cheers,
Wendy & Matt
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Background..I never had to "work out" and was thin most of my teens and 20's. Back then, the teenage metabolism, smoking, and a high stress job kept the weight off. Then came the eating disorder ..didn't do it on purpose just didn't eat enough. (that's another rant we've had). Thin was the most important thing..I always thought "thin=healthy" no matter how you got there...oh how terribly wrong I was!!!
Fast forward, I got married to the love of my life in 1999 and had the luxury of becoming a stay at home mom and stay at home I did. And ate.. A lot.. without even realizing it.
Anyway. The "before" picture is from our family vacation in March of 2009. When I looked at and the others from that trip, it hit me...I was fat. I had completely let myself go..there is no sugar coating it or excuses. I will never forget thinking ..omg that's me? About a week after I got the nerve up to weigh myself and seeing 1..7..8. (Hence, I don't think a scale is really bad if you are using it for the right reasons and not obsessing!)
I spent most of the next summer feeling overwhelmed, sorry for myself, whaaa whaaaing about it. I did begin walking a little and jogging to "prepare" for the Bix 7 (7 mile all hills run) at the end of July. I felt pretty awful before, during and after but I finished. It was a feeling of accomplishment. The entire family finished. I felt "part of something" ...I spent the rest of the summer with it in the back of my mind. I wanted to change but didn't want to do something everyone else was doing.
Wandering the mall one day I came across a phone number for "Tae Cardio Kickboxing Classes". I carried the number around for a week before I got up the nerve to call. I found out there were indeed classes ...and they were in the next town and not at the mall 30+ miles away! What luck! lol. AND there was a class that night! I was scared to death. I sucked it up with giving myself the now or never speech and showed up. How ironic that the instructor that evening was Kelly Morrison (the owner) and no one else showed up that night. She made me feel right at home and treated me as a friend from the very first moment. It was awkward and hard and I thought I was going to die.. I will never forget that she said " do you want to keep going when the hour was up and something made me still say "YES!" So we did. Walking to my car, I cried. I was drenched in sweat ...sore as hell and couldn't wait to go back the next morning. I still love it that much! I owe Kelly more than ever for being so kind and welcoming that night.I was so scared walking in...she gave me skills and killer workouts that helped me get "me" back. I love her for that!!! I lost about 30lbs and now hover around 140-144...I don't use the scale often anymore. Inches are still coming off because I am still going down in jean sizes. But trust me Strong is the new skinny for me. I walked in wanting to lose weight...I come back now because somewhere down the line the "weight" came off yes, but more important I feel strong. Physically AND mentally.
So! now I'm running and walking too. I found ISFP when there were what? 400 people? Wendy and Matt got me interested in the RNR VEGAS 1/2 in December. I started the self doubting and they quickly said "you can do it...you know you can!" Well, that was all it took. So now I am super super excited to not only finish another goal but meet these terrific people in person! Running my first 5k of the season next Saturday..ISFP will be the first place I check in after... If I can do this ...you can too!
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