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Friday, March 6, 2015

A Year Ago

Well, here we go... 

Today I share my one year transformation. 

My before picture was taken at the time I had first stepped out of my comfort zone. The week I joined a fabulous fitness studio, MFC. This time a year ago.

I looked in the mirror in January of 2014 & had a talk with myself. I looked in the mirror & knew there was not much of a real smile there. I saw a woman going through her daily motions, there was no fire. She had no goals set. The woman in the mirror was letting life pass her by, she was sitting on the sidelines of life as a spectator because all she really wanted to do was hide. She wasn't active & fueled her body with junk food & unhealthy choices. She wasn't who she was supposed to be. She was lost; buried. She knew she wanted better that day. She wanted to be a better woman, she wanted to be herself again.

It took time to develop a plan, make changes. Nothing ever happens over night. It took almost two months to get the courage to walk into MFC & meet the trainer, Kaitlin. However, I walked in the door & saw women just like me & she greeted me with a hug. 

That was the first step outside of my comfort zone. A step that certainly threw me forward in my success.

I had to get out of that zone, I wanted more. I wanted change. I had goals. 

A year later....
 Yes....I will not lie that one of my favorite things is that I can now see ab definition & definitely really feel them!
No, it has not been easy. Yes, there are times I have wanted to quit. I have had days where pizza and beer won. Workouts & runs that were skipped because I was not in the mood. 

But, every time I fell down, I got back up. Every day I struggled, I told myself all I had to do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

Yes, in the beginning I hated working out. I felt weak. I compared myself to everyone around me.

Then, I realized I was getting stronger. I found that comparison is simply the thief of joy & I was not on this journey for anyone else so why compare myself? I did not need to measure up to anyone else but myself. 

I found that the secret to my success was in my daily habits. Focusing on changing these habits with small daily goals pushed me forward to progress. I realized that I will never be perfect & in this journey perfection is not an option. One small screw up, one missed workout, or 4 pieces of pizza later I was still okay. I did not have to throw in the towel & start again next week, next month. 

My motto has been everything in moderation when it comes to what I eat or drink. I am that person that if you tell me I cannot have something I will want it badly. Dream about it. Crave it. I will attempt to fulfill this craving in other ways & later realize I would have been better off to allow myself what I really wanted in a controlled portion - instead I just probably consumed 800 extra calories! 

This is not my diet. I have not dieted in the past year. I am living a healthy lifestyle. A lifestyle that for me is livable. A lifestyle that makes me feel incredible. A lifestyle that my daughters have picked up on & have learned from. 

I look back to this "before" me & remember how scared I was. How afraid I was of failure. I remember in June when I decided I wanted to try to train for a full marathon, I was so afraid I could not do it that I didn't admit to anyone until after I had run 15 miles because that was my furthest run ever. Why be afraid? Even if I hadn't achieved the goal, I was trying! I was putting myself out there! No longer am I afraid. I definitely may fail at an upcoming race or run, but I will continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other so is it really failing? Or maybe just falling short? 

I know I will have people ask me how much weight I have lost in these pictures & I cannot honestly tell you. Anywhere from 15-20 pounds, but not significant. I had to stop listening to the scale, it was not feedback that was working for me. To be honest, if I still listened to it, it would tell me that my BMI is still considered to be OVERWEIGHT! To me, I do not look in the mirror & see someone who needs to lose weight.

No, I see a woman who is proud of herself. A woman with a fire & a passion. A woman who is living life to the fullest & is not sitting on the sidelines spectating. I see a woman with a true smile. There is a woman who pushes herself daily & is in the best shape of her life. A woman who is getting stronger daily & can see muscle definition. A mom who now looks in the mirror & loves what she sees that she used to hate. A woman who sees a body that changed through pregnancies but finds beauty in each change there & now fully embraces it. 

Yes, there are changes on the outside, but really what happened from the before picture to the current picture is that I learned to love myself again. Is there any better gift out there for myself or for my daughters - a mom who loves herself inside & out?  

Until Next Time~
*krisha*

2 comments:

  1. Hard work really does pay off!! You look amazing and your words speak directly to me. I'm where you were last year and I love to hear and see your progress, giving me hope and inspiration :)

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