2 years, a giant set back and finally done Body Revolution!

I was quite hesitant to post a success story since I still see it as having so far to go still to where I want to be, and on top of that I plan on still working hard one all my goals are met, but I figured if my story so far can help anyone else on their way it's worth it. I also think that sometimes taking time to be proud of what you've achieved can really make it sink in.



This picture was taken 2 years ago during a camping trip that was shortly after my daughter's 2nd birthday. I was living in a land of denial that my body was the best it would ever be able to get with stress, two kids and a stomach riddled with stretch marks. After seeing this, and knowing that even my biggest pieces of clothing were feeling tight I just snapped. I decided to at least try and at the very least quit smoking and get into the middle of a healthy range of weight (I wasn't too far off for my height but it was all....pudge). I joined MFP a couple days after coming back from that trip.

Within a couple months I had finished 2 rounds of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and had started insanity. All of a sudden I started feeling like crap and was insanely fatigued. The day before my 25th birthday we found out we were expecting a very big surprise, I was pregnant again. I was so upset for a week about all I would lose in the way of progress. I wont get into the messy details on it but my body hates being pregnant, and a mix between our oldest starting kindergarten, our 2 year old , well being 2 and a very intense difficult pregnancy I fell off the wagon big time.

2013 was a very difficult year, with a premature baby, a death in the family, a move to a new town and needing a pretty radical dietary change my weight really didn't change much after having our 3rd little one, we were eating healthy home made foods most of the time but between comfort eating too much and no extra exercise I was definitely putting more into my body than I needed. In February 2014 our youngest started sleeping through the night FINALLY and I actually felt I had the energy to start adding working out regularly. Out came the 30DS dvd again and when that was over I moved on to Jillian Michaels Body revolution.

These "results" pictures are kind of odd compared to most. Like a lot of people, this time around I did not take any before pictures, I think after what happened the time before I was scared to hit another road block. So the first of three is from that camping trip early summer 2012, the middle is from late summer 2012 after finishing 30DS the first time, my results were almost identical this time around too, the final is from June 30th 2014 after finishing all 3 phases of Body Revolution.







Here is the best I could find for a full body clothed comparison from when I started BR to finished.



A one year face difference, the day my youngest was born to his first birthday.



In no way am I affiliated with any weight loss company or am paid to claim to have used certain products or programs to get as far as I have. I simply find that having videos to schedule in makes it easier to be accountable, as well as we live in a small town with no gym and being busy stay at home mom I don't have time to travel a couple hours to work out. I bought the 30DS on a whim at walmart and after liking how Jillian Michaels put together her programs and the lengths of them I decided to try another. On top of sticking with the schedules as best as possible I usually added 30-60 minutes of FitnessBlender.com's HIIT or strength videos, they are an amazing resource for anyone who wants to be healthy and their videos are completely free.

I ate anywhere between 1200 - 2000 calories a day, some people would call that cycling but for me I find it really hard to force myself to eat when I'm not hungry, and sometimes I find a treat too good to pass up even if I'm full. I rarely went over my calories for the day that MFP calculated plus exercise. I cook 99% of our meals at home or eat a lot of fresh fruits and veggies. MFP's recipe maker is an invaluable tool I probably would have given up if it wasn't available. I do not eat breakfast very often, maybe once every couple of months, some people would call that intermittent fasting, I call it not wanting to eat in the morning, give me coffee. A year ago, almost to the day I went gluten free for a variety of HEALTH related things, thankfully it really helped. I do believe it helped me understand food better and what I was putting into my mouth but gluten free itself is not simply a weight loss tool and I didn't lose much weight when I first changed my intake.

My results overall in the past year:
165lbs to 141lbs - 24lb loss
29 to 27.5 inches on waist - 1.5 inch loss
40 to 37 inches on widest part of hips - 3 inch loss
31 to 29 inches on underbust - 2 inch loss
23 to 20.5 inches on thighs - 2.5 inch loss each
12.5 to 11.5 inches on upper arm - 1 inch loss each (one of my trouble areas)

My results achieved from Body Revolution:
152lbs to 141lbs - 11lb loss
29 to 27.5 inches on waist - 1.5 inch loss
38 to 37 inches on widest part of hips - 1 inch loss
31 to 29 inches on underbust - 2 inch loss
22 to 20.5 inches on thighs - 1.5 inches each
12.5 to 11.5 inches on upper arm - 1 inch loss

As you can see I started dropping the weight earlier but much more of the inches started coming off during BR and when adding extra HIIT and lifting to my routine. It also was when I started seeing a difference in my skin, kind of catching up a tiny bit.

A lot of the time I have trouble seeing the changes my body has gone through, despite going down in clothing sizes and fitting all of my goal clothes already (some already are too big). I guess it takes a lot longer for the brain to catch up to the body when so much change has happened. I can however tell that I am stronger, more active, have more stamina and feel over all way more healthy and alive. This is my proof I have done something right and all the motivation I need to keep going.

As of now I will be trying T25 and adding lifting 4-5 times a week, probably still with FitnessBlender and working on improving my upper body strength, where I struggle the most. I plan on continuing eating gluten free to stay symptom free, and I still enjoy more than ever creating new recipes and finding new healthy ways to enjoy old favourites (right now we're celebrating with home made oven baked gluten free onion rings, say that 5 times fast). I don't think I'll ever feel comfortable going out in a bikini or be happy with how my body looks naked, but I'm becoming satisfied with looking great in clothes I love, and being able to see glimpses of muscles popping through. Family life couldn't be better, and my lovely man is now joining me on the get fit band wagon. I can keep up with my kids and play and run around just as long as they can, they couldn't be more happy about it. I am happy, and I plan on staying that way.

If I have to pieces of wisdom to share it would be. If not now, WHEN? Excuses are invalid. As well as, make it fun and sustainable, health isn't 90 day program and maintaining any weight loss isn't either. Find something that works for you that in the end you WANT to do.

AND THEN



PARTY. Life is too short to not have fun.

P.S. Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians.