Well, hello there!

Okay, well here goes nothing. I had my 4th and last child about 4 years ago. With my past pregnancies I was almost to my pre-pregnancy weight by the time baby was 6 months old, and by the time baby was a year I was at goal. Well, not this time. I clocked in around 205 lbs. when I delivered my son. (My normal is around 135 lbs.) I would say that after the birth weight came off (baby, placenta, fluids and the first few weeks of breast feeding) I was left at around 175-180 lbs. When my son was  6 months old I was only down to around 165-170 lbs. and then stayed that size for another 2 years. I was miserable, uncomfortable and sad. I was also unmotivated. I had no desire to workout or diet.

Until 2 summers ago...then I actually made a frail attempt to eat healthy and exercise consistently. I tried running, swimming, walking and a Jillian Michaels kettlebell workout DVD. I bought an exercise ball and some resistance bands, and I even used them a few times. I lost a whopping 5 lbs.

Shortly after summer ended I got a job waitressing and lost 5 lbs. during the first 2 weeks and then plateaued.  That was when I heard a co-worker mention she just bought a gym membership. I thought, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I'm gonna do that soon." Still not super motivated but I knew it was something I should do. Then a couple of days later the same person told me she hired a personal trainer and shared some of the things he was having her do. That was it. That flipped my switch. I thought, "I don't want to be left behind." That day after work I bought a gym membership. I hadn't truly worked out consistently since I was in high school...17 years ago at that point. I was intimidated, and to make it worse a very nice looking man (a man that I had seen driving around town for a couple of years and only knew him by the name "Mr. Mercedes") gave me the tour and signed me up. Me in my smelly, dorky work uniform and big puffy, long coat....with sneakers. But the next day I came back. Even after being exhausted from work, I came back and did so for 5 days a week every week. I didn't have the money to hire a personal trainer. My husband was ticked at me for joining the gym because he didn't think I would actually use it or stick with it. But I still did it! I pushed myself hard. I asked lots of questions. I watched YouTube videos. I did some things wrong, and I did some things right. I persevered through bad sports bras and awful panty lines. I got over myself. I lost weight, inches, and some self-doubt and gained strength, confidence and a piece of myself that I had lost in the chaos of motherhood.

It's been about 16 months ago since I became serious about my health. I've lost about 25 lbs in that time. Now I eat better than I ever have, although I ate REALLY bad before and there's still room for much improvement. There's still so much to learn and accomplish still. This blog is mostly for me to remember how far I've come and help me to be accountable to my new fit lifestyle. Hopefully I can encourage or inspire someone along the way.
-Ashley