When I was pregnant for the first time I gained 50 lbs. Being almost 6 ft tall my Dr. had no issues with me gaining that amount of weight because at that time I was actually under weight for my frame and height (130lbs) after I had my daughter I continued eating the way I had grown accustomed to while being pregnant and my weight ballooned on me! i felt miserable...I hated seeing myself in pictures, I avoided going out into public as best as I could, I became very depressed and had such low self esteem which was a first for me. I used to professionally model when I was in my early 20's and I felt so far from the physique I was used to having naturally. I thought I would be able to drop the baby weight in a snap but it didn't work like that and when it started going in the opposite direction of what I was wanting, I knew I needed to find inner motivation and change it. I started researching online about weight loss and health and exercise and nutrition....I found a lot of information and started trying things out. We all know the basic rules to weight loss: Eat healthy and exercise but I wanted to know more in depth of how and what I needed to do to accomplish that. I became a vegetarian and started running every day 5 days a week at least (some times 6) now for me becoming vegetarian was a personal health choice I made for myself. I have always LOVED veggies and it just happened that during my pregnancy I got really turned off by chicken, I could barely even handle it raw. There were a lot of night when I would get some out to cook for dinner for my husband and I couldn't even handle that! lol and I've never been a big red meat fan as it was anyways so becoming a vegetarian was very easy for me. It took me a good year but I finally dropped the extra weight, got to a healthy weight and started seeing results of my daily runs and healthy eating! I started juicing fresh juice every day several times a day and was averaging 4 miles per run. I even experienced that "runners high" everyone talks about. The best part though was my self confidence was returning, I felt good again, I felt and looked healthy...it wasn't about a number on the scale. Just before my 2nd pregnancy I joined the gym wanting to branch out more with my health and fitness and then a month after joining found out I was going to have another baby. The morning sickness really affected my ability to make it to the gym, I did do my best but eventually had to take a break from working out. Good news though is that I didn't gain as much weight this time around and I'm back into the gym now, even more determined than ever to get myself back into great shape and great health!

I love working out because of the way it leaves me feeling in the end! I love the challenge! I love seeing results! I love pushing myself a little more each time and I love the way it makes me look! I'm not going to lie, looking good makes you feel so good about yourself! I like feeling great on the inside because I'm doing it all right and seeing results from the inside out!