Fit2BMom Monday (Week #8 and #9)

Two more weeks have come and gone. It has been such a busy couple weeks with my new job, family in town, Hayden's blessing and Easter but I have been staying 100% true to my Fit2BMom Challenge!  I am so excited that I have made it 9 weeks and have seen some real progress. This week I noticed some REAL definition in my arms! This is HUGE for me since I have ALWAYS felt like I have had "Relief Society Arms" (aka flabby arms). Not anymore! I am on my way to more toned and defined muscles. I am excited the weather is warmer so I can start running outside!  I also have plans to try Zumba for the first time on Tuesday. My friend Callie teaches the class at The Legacy Center and it always looks like such an intense but fun workout. I am excited the busy weekends are over so I can focus again on finding and making healthier meals again. I have had to "proportion" lots of meals the last two weeks with the holiday and family in town. My sweet cousin-in-law shared a delicious yummy quinoa recipe that I am dying to try!  I have been hesitant to try quinoa for a long time because I had no idea what it tasted like or how to cook it but Cassidie gave me a quinoa confident boost. 
Today I am excited to feature our second Fit2BMom. Readers, Meet Amy!  Amy and I went to school together in Sacramento and this sweet mama of two adorable little girls has joined us today to share her weight loss journey!  Here is her story:
____________
Weight loss has been a long journey for me. My family belonged to a gym before I was even allowed to be on the floor. But my parents liked me to use the machines that they had in the kids area while I was there. Sports was never my thing...I sang in choir since kindergarten, and while in high school, I took voice lessons. And since I would be missing out on practice once a week, I was told by the coach that I couldn't play in the games. So, I decided that sports were not going to do. Which left me to the only workouts I got done were those in class.

In college, I joined a moms (even though I wasn't one) bootcamp. I was in it for a year, and completed my first triathlon through the bootcamp. I loved being in the bootcamp! The women in the group were amazing, and very inspiring. With that said though, I joined the bootcamp for someone else. I wasn't working out for myself, and so I never stuck with it, and didn't put my all in it. I did learn a lot, which I am thankful for. 

Overtime I have belonged to 3 different gyms. But like I said, working out was never for me. So, it never stuck.

Well, here I am. A mother of 2. I think what got me to start working out again was my daughter (soon to be 3). She would ask me to play, running around outside, or play in her (fold up) tent. When I told her that "Mommy couldn't play in her tent because she couldn't fit and would get stuck", well that kind of caught my attention...that I need to do something about my weight. Not just for me, not just for my husband, but for my kids. God willing, we won't be done after 2 kids. And I wanted to be able to run around outside with them, and to be able to play with them however they wanted. I didn't want to keep telling them that "Mama was too big". And so, I decided to start working out, and watching what I ate. I texted my sisters and some other people to be my support system. A little challenging with them being in CA and me in TX. But we are making it work! After talking to one of my sisters, I started using the 'my fitness pal' app to keep track of food. (By the way, this all started January 2014). After a month or two (once I knew, and kind of proved to my husband that this wasn't just another "I wanna lose weight phase") we decided to use his "good job" work points to buy an elliptical trainer (since that was what I liked using at the gym). It is nice! Just a basic model, but I'm not a runner and never seemed to get into workouts on dvd. And just recently, we were able to get my a heart rate monitor (since I noticed/getting frustrated that the elliptical was saying that I was only burning 100 calories or so in a 30 minute workout)!  I got the polar FT7 and LOVE IT!!!!

And here I am, beginning of April, and have lost (almost) 22 pounds!!! I have a long ways to go to reach my goal. (Ps...in one of my previous phases, my husband bought me a dress that was a size smaller than what I was....needless to say, I have NEVER wore that dress. And its been at least 5 years.) So that dress is my goal...to be able to fit into it! 

Sometimes I am afraid that the weight loss will just stop, and I won't be able to wear that dress, but then I think about losing 22 pounds so far. I have reached the point (I think) that I can seriously believe that I can keep going! I told myself at the beginning that "I can do this" but then it was kind of a far stretch in my mind.  But today, after I weighed myself and seeing the under 200lbs and the -22lbs lost, I really believe that I can do this...I can keep this up!
Here is Amy 1month Post Baby & Again in December 2013.

Here she is this month! 

Way to go Amy! 22lbs lost is so awesome!  Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us. You definitely have some new friends cheering you on.
Amy expressed how she sometimes worries the weight loss will just stop. I also have had that fear that I will just hit a plateau and wont be able to lose ALL of the weight I want to.
What are your suggestions for weight loss plateau?  Please comment below and share! 
Happy Monday Fit2BMoms.