My Top 5…What Inspires Me To Be Fit! #5

#5 My Mom

Today is my mom’s birthday, so I thought it the perfect time to start my inspiration series, beginning with her.  Here is my favorite picture of my mom.

Isn’t she beautiful!  She was about 25 years old in this picture.  And I tell you, she is just as beautiful today.  If  I’ve learned one thing it's that true beauty comes from within and my mom has a heart full of love.  And I have always loved her.  Neither one of us are perfect, but love covers over our imperfections.

My mom inspires me to be fit.  All throughout my life I’ve witnessed her honest struggle with her weight.  I’ve watched her loose up to 80 pounds, only to gain it all back and then some.  I’ve watched her hopes rise as she tried a new pill or diet.  I’ve watched her try exercise programs but be unable to stick to them.  As weight and health choices added up over the years, I’ve watched her suffer from serious medical conditions including a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.  But thankfully, the Lord has brought her through it all, and she is still here with us today.

Thinking back over her life, there were a lot of things against her.  She was a single mom and time was not always on her side.  She was so busy working and taking care of everyone else, she put herself last.  She had very little support (which is a key component).  Exercise was never a consistent part of her life, and we lived in the south where fried food and butter were (and still are) glorified.  It happened very innocently actually.  Just being busy, finding comfort in the wrong things, a little here, a little there, and before she knew it, she was overweight and unhealthy. 

And I had the potential to go down that very same road.  You see my mom could follow a diet for a little while, but that’s the thing about diets, they are viewed as a temporary change, not a lifestyle change.  Somehow (through a series of events that I will share throughout my blogs) I learned to live and embrace a healthy lifestyle.  Has it always been easy? NO!  Do I have days where I just want to be lazy?  YES!  Have I always been fit?  NO!  Do I have the same struggles as everyone else?  YES!  A healthy lifestyle is something I learned.  I didn’t get it genetically.  I wasn’t raised by a health-nut.  I’m just a regular person.  I’m my mom’s daughter.  And she has always wanted the best for me, so for her I will be my best.

Here we are today:

She’s still beautiful.  She’s learned a lot, even in the recent years (especially since her heart attack).  And she still has her struggles.  But I love her just the way she is! And she loves me!  And she believes in me, and that gives me more strength than she will ever know.

And she inspires me as a coach.  I want to be that support for others...that support that my mom never had.  And here’s what she doesn’t know…often if I’m doing something in my workout that is very physically demanding I think of her, and I keep going.  I do it for her.  Because she never wants me to go through what she has had to go through.  I do it because at this point in her life she can’t.  In that moment, whether she knows it or not she gives me strength.  Thank you, Mom, for being an inspiration.

Jason's Success Story

I am both excited and filled with pride as I post today’s blog!  It’s my husband, Jason’s, success story!

In January of 2012 Jason bought the ever popular P90X home workout program.  He set a weight loss goal, did the 90 days, and got incredibly fit while reaching his goal. His workouts were long and hard.  He usually did them at night after the kids were in bed.  Still he managed to remain consistent, but it came at the sacrifice of time with me.

 

However, after the 90 days he started relaxing.  Then life set in and he got really busy at work, and started stress eating.  He’s also working on his Masters degree and there were a couple of semesters of really tough classes.  In a matter of months (9 to be exact) he had put back on all the weight he had worked so hard to take off with P90X, plus a few extra pounds.  Then it came time for his yearly physical, and for the first time in his life he received a bad bill of health…high cholesterol.  It was a wake up call.

Right before this I had decided to do a Beachbody Challenge, ChaLEAN Extreme.  It was something I had wanted to do for awhile, so when I get some extra money for Christmas, I finally stopped making excuses and committed.  That was the point that I also decided that if this was going to work for me I needed to get up early, before my children.  It wasn’t easy…definitely an adjustment, but I quickly got used to my new morning routine and actually started looking forward to that time. 

At no point did I nag Jason about what he was doing, I just consistently stuck to my program (and my challenge group was giving me awesome accountability).  It didn’t take long before he started noticing that this new routine was working for me.  He knew he needed to do something, but there was no way he could handle an intense workout like P90X before the sun came up.  Besides he wasn’t even sure if the whole morning workout thing was going to work for him…he is NOT a morning person.

We started researching programs that may fit his needs and he finally decided on Power 90.  The workouts were short, approximately 30 minutes.  The exercises were basic, no major jumping, no crazy pull-ups.  It was doable!  Even early in the morning!  So he set his goal and began.  It didn’t take long for him to adjust and quickly he started feeling better and seeing results.  The morning routine enabled him to get it done with little distractions, and kept his nights free for relaxing, dealing with whatever life threw our way, or simply hanging out with me. :)

Power 90 was 90 days, just like P90X except the workouts are about half the time and not as extreme.  And guess what happened?  He lost MORE weight this time than he did before!  And the best part of all is he has created a new routine that really fits into his life and has become a true lifestyle- not a temporary thing. 

So how did he lose more weight with shorter, easier workouts?  One word…nutrition!  First of all, he started drinking Shakeology everyday for breakfast.  He replaced his snacks with healthier choices, and his meals (lunch and dinner) remained the same.  He also tried to not eat late at night (most nights :) ). 

If you asked him, he’d tell you it wasn’t that hard.  Just one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time.  Add in a little motivation and a lot consistency and there you have it…success!

So here are his results!

Measurements

                                                Before                          After               

Chest                                        38 in.                            37 ½ in.

Upper Rt. Arm                       13 ½ in.                        13 in.

Upper Left Arm                      13 ½ in.                        13 in.

Waists                                      38 in.                            34 ¼ in.

Hips                                         40 in.                            37 ¼ in.

Abductors                                39 in.                            38 in.

Thigh (Rt.)                                22 ½ in.                        22 in.

Thigh (Left)                              22 ½ in.                        22 in.

Body Fat %                              24.4 %                         12.7%

Weight                                     177 lbs.                        162 lbs.

A total of 15 lbs. and 11.7% body fat and 10 inches overall!  I’m so proud of him!  He was gracious enough to allow me to show his before and after pics.

  Day 1

  Day 90

  Day 1

  Day 90

That's my man...I love him!  So what's next for Jason?  I think he may have been bitten by the Insanity bug.  He's been watching me do it, and he's gonna give it a go! :)