I was always active growing up - I studied dance my entire life and dabbled in gymnastics in my teens. Even in college, I managed to stay moderately active with walking and biking around campus, using the campus rec center and my "Buns of Steel" workout videos (remember those?). Once I graduated from college, I found myself sitting at a desk all day and not making the healthiest eating choices. I started to gain a little weight. After the Hubs and I got married, I settled into an even more dormant lifestyle - get up, go to work, come home, eat dinner and watch TV with the hubby. As you can imagine, my weight began to creep up even more.
A year later, I found myself about 30 pounds overweight. When I was finally ready, I joined an at work Weight Watcher's program with a couple of co-workers. I'll never forget how proud I was to get that 5 pound weight loss ribbon! I also started walking on a treadmill at the gym at work and picked up cardio kickboxing. I managed to lose over 30 pounds with Weight Watchers and kept it off until I had my daughter 4 years later. Since having kids, I have lost weight through Weight Watchers, but could never seem to get back to my original goal weight. I had pretty much decided that 142 was my new 130. Then, with the help of a nutritionist (two actually), I made it back to my goal weight this year! Through these nutritionists, I have learned how to eat properly and how to fuel my workouts...this has been especially helpful with marathon and triathlon training. I have also developed a love of clean eating and have cut out almost all of the processed foods I used to eat. Sure, I still like the occasional indulgence - chocolate being my favorite - but I know that chocolate won't sustain my energy level on a long run!
I love trying new workouts and mixing things up After suffering from a hip injury in early 2012, I learned the importance of strength training. So now, I try to find a good balance between cardio and strength using TRX, Beachbody's P90X, Insanity and the Brazil Butt Lift. You can also find me in spin classes, TRX or in a body works class. I am also working on obtaining my personal training certification, so I can be more knowledgeable in creating my own workouts. And, I recently earned my RRCA Running Coach certification, so I can be more knowledgable about coaching runners and creating training plans!
I have two awesome kids - the Kiddo who is 11 and the Munchkin who is 7. I also have an awesome, supportive husband who has been my biggest cheerleader in my running and triathlon journey. We are native Texans and live in a suburb of Houston. We both train with local running and triathlon clubs, and love to swim, bike and run. We hope that our love of fitness and nutrition will set a good example for our kids and they will also grow up being active and healthy. Finally, we also have a furry member of the family – our German Shorthair Pointer pup, Brady.
This blog is all about trying to balance the duties wife, mommy and carrier with swimming, biking, and running (with the P90X and Insanity sprinkled in). And, I am working on that mid to back of the pack thing! My hope is that that reading my blog will help others jump on the fitness and nutrition bandwagon with me . I know we are all busy, but I believe that we can all make time to be more healthy!
