Making the decision to get healthy is the first step!

When I drank my champagne toast to the beginning of 2014 on New Year's Eve, I made the decision that this year my New Year's Resolution would not be to lose weight...(which happened to be the exact New Year's Resolution I had made for the past 10 years)....This year, I was resolving to take care of myself and get healthy.  I know it sounds like it categorically could be one in the same, but it is not....I assure you.  This slight change in my resolution made the biggest change in my life! 



Grace as flower girl

On January 4th, my two year old daughter was the Flower Girl in my sister's Step-daughter's wedding.  She was absolutely precious in every way.  I have a ton of pictures of her from that day, but I have NO pictures of her and I together.  You see, I refused to buy myself anything new to wear to the wedding, because I refused to buy myself that next size (18).  I needed the next size, but I could not bring myself to spend money on anything with a size 18 on the label.  So, I wore some stupid old dress I had hanging in the closet that I was not especially happy with, but I could get it on and I did not have to buy it.  As far as the wedding goes, it was beautiful.  I only wish I had photos of Grace and I during this special day.    

Almost four years ago, I lost my mother to Cancer.  She was a smoker for most of her life, and decided to quit about 10 years before her death.  Obviously, the damage had already been done and by the time the doctors found the cancer, she was Stage 4, and the lung cancer had metastasized throughout her entire body, including her brain.  She survived about 6 months after the diagnosis, but it was a very difficult period for all of us.  She was in a ton of pain and became quite ill from the treatments she was receiving.  She never met our Grace and she also never met my sister's

My mom after 2 months of chemotherapy, with my son,
Gavin at his Kindergarten graduation!

youngest child, Dean.  She would have loved them both so much.  My point in bringing this up is that although my mom made the decision to quit smoking, the damage was already done.  Maybe she made that decision too late.  But then again, maybe she made it just in time.  Maybe if she hadn't of quit smoking when she did, we would not have had her with us for as long as we did. Anyway, I realized from my mom that it's never too late to make the decision to get healthy and to change your life.  I do not smoke, I never have, but I did have a very unhealthy addiction to food.  I would say that mom's brave decision to quit smoking and her far too early departure from this earth and our family, was a key motivational factor in this decision to change my New Year's Resolution.  I want to be healthy so I can be here longer to be with my children and their children, as long as possible. That is what is important to me.


So, I began searching for help.  I have tried all of the diet trends in the past, including the counting points, buying the pre-packaged meal plans, using the magic sprinkle dust you put on your food...and so on...I even purchased the total home gym last year, thinking it would get me to workout.   Nothing worked for me, so I knew I needed to start somewhere else.  I noticed a post on Facebook one day that talked about 'Clean Eating' and how you eat was 80% of the secret to losing weight.  This is how I began with 'cleaning up my diet'.  I quickly started researching what it meant to eat clean.  I read blogs, websites, and even purchased some magazines.  Then, thanks again to Facebook, I  noticed someone posting about a 5 day clean eating challenge, which was free to join and try.  I jumped on this opportunity.  I was given a complete menu and shopping list for 5 days.  I followed it exactly.  By the end of the week, I felt amazing!  While I didn't love everything I made throughout the week, this challenge group got me thinking about new ideas and foods that I have never tasted or experienced before. For example, I never used Quinoa before.  And, prior to this I would have said, "what the heck is Flax Seed?"  But, with some essential concepts under my belt, I planned a menu for the following week, did my shopping, and did all of my own cooking for the following week too.   And, I'm happy to say, that I have not looked back since.  My family and I all have adopted the clean eating diet.  We feel so great and I have the added comfort in knowing that I am not feeding my family any unnatural, processed foods.  Everything we eat is fresh, homemade, and all natural.  Of course, it is a bit more expensive at the grocery store now, but we do save money by  not eating out as much and packing our own snacks and lunches each day, rather than buying them. 


Of course, how you eat is considered to be a significant part of your weight loss journey, but I knew that I still needed to integrate some form of exercise each day in order to achieve the type of results I needed.  Once again, I began searching for a solution.  I absolutely HATED exercise.  I cannot run.  I never could.  It hurts my shins too bad.  I HATED walking because it was so boring to me.  I get so bored that I can't stand it.  I have a gym membership, but I never have time to go to the gym without my kids.  They have to go to daycare after school every day while my husband and I work, so I hate to take them to the gym daycare just so I can workout.  I knew I had to do something at home.  My other excuse was time.  By the time I got home from work at night, got the kids fed, homework done, dinner cleaned up, baths/showers, then I'm exhausted and I want to go to bed. This does not even take

in to consideration the 4 to 5 days a week that my kids have activities after school.  (My boys play hockey and football).  I might as well say, that I found my solution on Facebook.  My friend, now personal Beachbody Coach, KellyAnn Hawking, posted something about contacting her about more information about getting healthy.  At our next 'playdate' with our girls' I asked her about this post.  She told me that she was a Beachbody Coach and that she can help me find a fitness program that would work for me.  I told her that it would have to be something fast, because I cannot workout for an hour every day.  I just did not have the time.  I also told her that it could not be hard because I was so incredibly out of shape, I knew I cannot keep up with the 'Insanity' athletes.  And, I told her
that it had to be affordable, because I just did not have the extra money to spare on more junk that I just know would not work.   That's when she told me about Focus T25.  I bought the Focus T25 Challenge pack because it was on sale that month.  It came with a month's supply of Shakeology too. 


I began the T25 program, drank my Shakeology and continued my clean eating diet.....10 weeks later I am a whole new me!  I have lost 25.4 pounds, and 10.5 inches in my waist.  I lost 4 inches in each of my thighs, and 1.5 inches in each arm.  My chest is down 3 inches and my hips are down too!  I can't believe the amazing results I have been able to achieve.  I did not quit.  I put in the 25 minutes a day.  That is all it took.  I know anyone can find 25 minutes in their day.  Hell, you know most of you sit and play Candy Crush for 25 minutes a day.  I know that's true because I did it myself.  Why not DVR your favorite evening TV show and watch it after you go to bed for the night, and fast forward the commercials.  That can save you 25 minutes a day! 

Drag yourself out of bed 25 minutes earlier each day, if you must.  Just give yourself the chance to reshape your life. Do it now while you can!  Focus T25 has saved my life......it can save yours as well!  Contact me today to take that first step!  TAKE THE FIRST STEP