My Story: Nic

You will notice the blog happens in two voices - myself and one of my best friends, Jen.  She and I have the same health goals right now - quit the sugar addiction and to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2012.

I go through periods of time where I work out, eat healthily, do what I need to do. But I always yo-yo back up to my uncomfortable weight.  I had infertility problems when trying to get pregnant and the fertility medications shot my weight up to an all time high of 180. I had my first baby (E) in 2008. I took until she was 18 months old to really get into caring for myself again. Shortly after a miscarriage in February 2010, I started running. I have always HATED running (I have bad knees!) but had an epiphany one night watching The Biggest Loser. "If that guy who is 400 lbs can run - so can I!"  And I did. I started running like crazy and I joined Weight Watchers. I watched my baby weight (using that term loosely, she was almost 2 years old :-)) melt away!

And then? I found out I was pregnant.  Because of my miscarriage I was afraid to keep running. I kept moving, though, taking E on walks and to the zoo.  The end of my pregnancy found me at 210lbs!! I had A in January 2011. I went back on Weight Watchers as soon as I was approved and went back to running when I was able (which wound up being around May).

I was sitting at 180lbs and couldn't shake it! No wonder - my days and nights were filled with Nutella s'mores, ice cream, cakes and cookies!! I can't eat just ONE cookie, I have to have four. There are days I would eat 20+ points in sugary substances!

July 2011 I ran my first 5K with Jen.  It was a balmy 97 degrees at 8am when we started the race. But we survived, we even THRIVED doing it!

 

Before 

 

Beer After ;-)

The kids make regular training pretty challenging, so I wasn't running regularly throughout the summer (that and most days this summer were over 100 degrees!!).  I started running more in the fall and try to get out for at least one run a week.

In October, Jen and I ran in a 10K. I finished in 1hr, 27min!  I know I'm not breaking any speed records, but I'm beating everyone on the couch :-)

I'm still hanging between 171-173lbs. My first goal is 165, stretch being 150 (DREAM being 145!)  Most recently, I've come to the realization that my body is addicted to sugar. My current plan is to cut out all sugar to wean my body. 

Which brings us to today - day three of my detox.  I'm horribly sick - head cold, my whole body aches, a number of things we won't discuss here....  but I haven't had any sugar since Saturday!! AND I am down 2lbs since then as well!


Jen will be introducing herself in the next few days at well. I will be posting again soon about my experience and plan so far for cutting the sugar.

Jen

Hey! I'm Jen and I'm joining in the journey to kick the sugar addiction and maybe somehow become addicted to running (or exercise in general) instead. Since I'll be chiming in and sharing the up's and down's of my experiences, I guess it would help to know who I am and how I got here.

I'm 26 and busy. I work two jobs, volunteer as a youth leader at our church, work out with a personal trainer a couple of times a week if/when my schedule allows, and attempt to have some semblance of a social life. I'm single, but have an awesome roommate who rents the basement of my house and helps me stay somewhat accountable to eating well and exercising (she's a personal trainer... just not mine). I don't have "baby weight" to lose since I've never been pregnant, but knowing that I one day want to have a family is a huge motivator in wanting to get and stay healthy and active.

I'm an emotional eater and a six year off-and-on relationship had me spending a lot of quality time with Ben & Jerry. So the girl who graduated high school weighing around 115 pounds ended up graduating college at 180. That's when I finally had enough and turned to Weight Watchers. I lost 40 pounds in less than a year. But along came another boy - this one who wanted to hang out when I should have been at the gym, who baked cookies with me and had a freezer full of ice cream for me to raid while we worked on our laptops. And before I knew it, 30 of those pounds were right back on my waistline. So back to Weight Watchers I turned! I'm now less than 10 pounds from my goal weight.

It's been a very slow process, but I am determined to make this the last time. I have a personal trainer who keeps me mixing up my workouts with strength training and cardio. I have finished a 5K, two 10K's, and three half-marathons. I'm a walker much more than a runner though - which is something I want to get better at. For me, this is all about being the best possible version of me. I am happy when I am healthy.

So to avoid a family history of cancer and diseases, to be in good shape to hopefully one day fit into a gorgeous wedding dress, to someday have healthy pregnancies and then be a Mom who is actively running around in the backyard with her kids... for these reasons and so many more, I'm going to break the unhealthy addictions and become the woman I believe I was born to be. As Helen Keller once said "Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

An explanation

I am really bad at coming up with titles for things :-)  "For my tummy" is my daughter's (E, she's three) response to everything - even when it doesn't make sense. "Mommy, we should get a car with sliding doors." "What made you say that?" "My tummy".   "Mommy, we should get a crayon" "For what?" "For my tummy."

HOWEVER, this blog? It really will be about things "for my tummy."  But make no mistake, this isn't a recipe blog. I have one of those (http://spaghettionmywall.blogspot.com/). No, this is going to be about my adventure LOSING my tummy. I'm training for a half marathon. I'm quitting a sugar addiction.  No holds barred, I'm laying it all on the table here!!