Fresh Start February

So on the surface I think I often give off the airs of having it all together. If you see me on social media what you probably most often see is me posting about my workouts and food, being all annoyingly perky at god awful hours of the morning, and posting about these monthly groups I run. What’s that all about though? I’ll tell you, it’s way more than just selfies.

I started out 2 years ago with my first challenge group. I was a mom of three little kids who was looking to lose the baby weight and find some way to carve out a little time for myself that didn’t seem to exist in my day. I had no idea how I would make it work or even if the group would work for me but I figured I had to try.

I knew how to workout – I was a former high school & college athlete so that whole workout thing I kinda got. What I hadn’t been able to figure out was how to translate those formerly 2 hour trips to the gym pre-kids into a routine that worked for me post-kids when I was juggling time and financial constraints. I mean who has the time with 3 kids under 3 and a full time job to get to the gym every day? Not me! Workouts aside, I knew I wasn’t eating right but I was stuck in that dieting mentality - it was all I knew. I mean, it’s healthy if you’re drinking Diet Coke and eating Skinnypop, wheat bread, and low fat/low cal everything, right?

I knew I needed to workout and figure out how to eat healthier all the time, but I was tired and running myself ragged and I just couldn’t find a rhythm that I could sustain. So I started and stopped, started and stopped and it was exhausting and demoralizing. Every time I saw some gains, I lost them just as quickly.

So it was in that place that I took a leap of faith and joined this random woman’s challenge group. I’d stumbled on her blog one night and figured I had nothing to lose by trying.

Well, I definitely got more than I bargained for. Over the course of 6 months, I lost weight and inches, but I gained so much more than that. After 3 challenge groups, I had finally found my groove. 

• My coach taught me how to eat clean and follow the 80/20 rule. Instead of dieting and blindly following those low cal. labels, I learned how to create a balance of healthy eating habits where I build in allowances for pizza or ice cream each week.  
• This girl who loves to bake learned how to make healthier swaps, find recipes that still tasted good but that were also healthy for me. Plus I learned tips and tricks to get my family eating healthier too since there was no way I had the time or energy to play short-order cook!
• Committing to a home workout program and having a plan laid out for me by someone else helped me to get into a routine that worked for me. No more gym and no more 2 hour workouts! Instead, what I learned was that 30 minutes was more than enough and when I worked out in my house, I was done and in the shower in a matter of minutes.
• I discovered that having to check in with a group each day gave me the support and accountability I clearly needed. It was so much easier to let myself off the hook when I ate badly if no one knew I was trying. The problem with going it alone though was that when I was trying to be good and the scale didn’t move, or when I was feeling frustrated and beating myself up in my head, there was no one to talk to about it. I was alone. In the group, I had a coach and a group of people who got it, who were going through similar challenges with juggling work, family, time, lack of sleep, food cravings, etc. You name it and we all had it. Being in it with others was not only comforting but also motivating. When someone posted about getting home from a business trip and pushing play on their workout, we cheered them on. When someone else shared that they were struggling with late night food cravings, we helped brainstorm ideas for healthier alternatives. There was something so powerful about no longer going it alone.

Over the course of the group, I found a way to make a lifestyle change that was sustainable, that left me feeling better, stronger, more energetic, less tired, and that helped me learn to appreciate my strengths and my effort. It helped me to see that I wasn’t alone and that I could do this. 

It was because of this that I ultimately decided to become a coach so I could continue on this journey and hopefully help my friends and family along the way.

Now, after 2 years, 3+ challenge groups as a challenger and now a year + of running these groups as a coach, I've become a person who I'm proud of. 

• I'm physically stronger than my college rowing self. 
• I have more energy than ever before. 
• I eat healthier, have learned to like vegetables, have managed to maintain my love of cooking while also cooking healthy foods that my family and I love, and I’m no longer “dieting” all the time. 
• I’ve lost inches, built muscle, and made friends.
• I’ve learned how to LOVE working out, something I NEVER thought was possible.
• I’ve made friends with all of these people through coaching and challenge groups who I never would have otherwise.
• I’ve become that person who sits back and watches and listens less often than she used to, and who instead more often will speak up and let herself be seen.

More than all of that, I’ve learned how to feel GOOD about myself after many years of feeling uncomfortable in my skin, of worrying about how my stomach or legs or butt looked, of hiding in the back of pictures, of worrying that after having 3 babies in 3 years that I’d never feel confident.

Yes, I still struggle. I still have days and weeks when I don’t want to motivate, when I make the decision to eat crappy food for a day or a weekend or a week, when I let the schedule get the best of me. I may be a coach now but I’m not perfect and I don’t profess to be. 

What makes me most proud of myself is that even when I struggle, I get back up and get back in there. 

When, after a week of eh eating, of missed workouts, of less sleep than I should be getting, and of being less present than I like to be for myself, that I can stand here before you and say that I’m still here and am still in it. No, I don’t have 6-pack abs but I have some pretty rockin’ biceps, a heck of a lot of mental strength & determination, and a stubborn streak like none-other. And most importantly, even when those things fail me, I have a family who loves me, and some pretty amazing friends, coaches and challengers who support and motivate me to get back in the game. Thank you to my support system for keeping me going this week and in the weeks ahead. To my current challengers and those to come, you're doing amazing things - keep at it!

Want more info on what a challenge group is all about or are you interested in the idea of running one yourself? Fill out the info request below and let's chat!

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