Hi friends!! I wanted to sit down and write from the heart tonight. I want all of my fans to know who I am, what I stand for, and how I got here. I follow a fellow blogger who coined herself 'hybridrasta mama'. I love this. I am definitely a hybrid. I take a little of this and a little of that. Through a lot of research, listening to my instinct, and some very key people, I have come to live a lifestyle that works best for my son and me. I want to state for the record that I am not perfect. I do the best that I can. My journey has been full of fun, hard work, tough times, curve balls, losing, winning...you name it. I want to use this blog from now on to motivate and educate. This particular one will tell a little about my personal story.
The Journey:
I started competing in 2008, and took the stage at my first NPC show in the summer of 09. Dieting for a show is tough! But the rewards were worth it! I met so many awesome people and loved every minute of it all! Then I got pregnant in December of 09. During my pregnancy I suffered from depression and gained a lot of weight. That kind of abrupt lifestyle change played tricks on my mind. However, once I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, I knew it had all been worth it, but that I had a lot of work to do to get my body back!! I probably tipped the scale at 215 by the time I gave birth (I have never admitted that until just now), my pre-pregnancy weight was 145. That is a whopping 70lbs! I had decided during my pregnancy that I would definitely nurse my baby, and I think I can attribute a lot of my weight loss to that! However it was very slow in the beginning. I wasn't willing to put the baby in the childcare center at the gym when he was super little, so I did what I could at home as far as working out. But I didn't cut calories for fear of messing up my milk supply. I would say when the baby was about 7 months old I started back at the gym intermittently, but it wasn't until he was around 9 1/2 months that I started making it to the gym regularly. He just turned 10 months and I am at the gym 5 days/week now! I do all my cardio at home while he sleeps still which I love. My current weight is 132!! So I have lost 83lbs. to date! The goal is 129 by August 13, which happens to be my 29th birthday and the Europa super show. I am still nursing my sweet baby (the goal is a year) and I won't have complete control over my body until I am through with that, but he is worth the wait as far as I am concerned :) That is my story to date! I hope any of you momma's out there that might read this find it inspiring! It has not been easy for me, but it has all been worth it!! I have big plans to make it back to the stage and I won't stop til I get there!!
'Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew.' -Saint Francis de Sales
See you soon!! Jen
