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:
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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.

Fit 2 B Mom Monday - Week #3

3 weeks down!  Time flies when your trying to get fit. Things have been going great as I continue to work hard to lose this baby weight and get in shape.  This week I am starting back up with running.  I wanted to get myself used to working out again before I threw myself into running miles in this chilly, dry Utah air. I have always loved to run. I played soccer for 14 years which required lots of running (obviously). There is just something so therapeutic about putting in your headphones, drowning out the world and following the pavement.  I LOVE it. I definitely have more energy and feel like I am getting stronger but not quiet sure I am dropping the weight as quickly as I want. I have changed my eating habits and been exercising more then I have in a long time, but I haven't completely cut out date nights with the hubby or that one cheat day of Dr. Pepper (since my mother of two under two patience needs a reboot every week) so I am thinking a re-evaluation on how to drop the pounds by the end of the month is much needed.  Maybe I will need to give it all up. I'll be anxious to see what I can do in these next 20 days to make sure I hit my first weight goal. Any suggestions as to what has worked for you for quick weight loss? I'd love to hear your ideas! 
This week I am excited to feature our first Fit2BMom. Readers, Meet Carly. We were next door neighbors when Kevin & I first got married and we instantly became friends. She had her second son last fall, and has been working on staying in shape for her two boys!  Here is her story! ----------------

Hi I'm Carly!! I'm a housewife, a Beachbody coach, and a mother of two amazing little boys! 

My kids are only 16 months apart.. I love it but it was not 'supposed' to happen that way :) After I had my first, Luke, in June of 2012 a I really wasn't motivated to work out so I kept putting it off thinking 'oh I'll get around to it'.  Then all of a sudden 7 months went by and I found out I was pregnant again!!  Our little Soren was born in October of last year!  So 2 kiddos in 16 months kinda takes a toll, and my second pregnancy was a lot harder on me than my first.  I know that part of it was the fact that I was insanely out of shape, and I gained 10 more lbs than with my first!!  

Now I was a college athlete, I played volleyball at a D1 school for four years.  And I played sports pretty much from age 4 till I graduated from college.  So needless to say I was always in pretty good shape.  So finding myself with two kids and realizing that I hadn't really worked for a good two years was hard for me to swallow, but even harder for me to see!!  And I knew that I needed to get my behind in gear!  

Luckily during my pregnancy with Soren I started to get the urge to start working out, that never happened with Lukes!  I had some friends, one who is a Beachbody coach, that were posting really motivational things on Facebook and Instagram and that really inspired me to get my act together! I appreciate them so much, and have told them so since then! 

The first day I started my workout was HARD! I barley did anything and it was so difficult!  To be honest I felt so pathetic and was so embarrassed that my husband was witnessing my patheticness..!!  He didn't care at all but I had never struggled that way before and it was frustrating!  After doing lunges, squats, some abs, and few other things I was so sore the next day!  Like how I felt after my first day of college practice, weights and conditioning!  But the sad thing is is that what I did this time was NOTHING near that first day in college.  And I honestly didn't want to do anything ever again!  But my husband was really supportive and kept me going.. well he made me workout the next day.  I am so grateful he did!!  

It was really hard but I'm now on week 6 of working out typically 6 days a week and eating a lot healthier than I did at the end of my pregnancy.. I kind of just accepted the fact that I was going to gain more weight with my second pregnancy so I wasn't as careful with how I ate.  

Something else that really helped was a woman from my stake for church got a healthy living challenge started.  I jumped at the chance to be a part of a group and be held accountable by weighing in and keeping track of the things that I ate more carefully.  We have always eaten pretty healthy but this has really helped me kick eating sweets!  I loved motivating my partner and seeing people make changes through this group.  And so from that group I decided to become a Beachbody coach and to keep inspiring people to live a healthier life style, and get in the best shape of their lives!   

I'm still on my weight loss journey, and getting toned.  And I'm loving the changes that I've seen already!! But more importantly than my own health and getting in shape, I'm excited for how this is going to affect my family. Starting to make healthier eating decisions have already helped my children, and it will continue to do so!  The decisions that I've made in the last few weeks are not only helping me, but its helping to keep my family healthy, and set the tone for the rest of their lives. And for me, knowing that is so priceless!! 

Here is Carly 12 weeks after her son Soren was born.

This is her AMAZING progress just 4 weeks later! 

Isn't Carly looking great? I love how her healthy decisions are keeping her young family healthy!  You are such an inspiration lady!  Thanks for sharing your story with our FordOlogy Readers.
Hope you enjoyed our first Fit2BMom Feature and can see that there are women just like you trying to overcome their own weight loss trials and working hard to reach their goals! 
Happy Monday Readers!