Personal Info
How I Started
I started being fascinated with the body and its ability to transform back when I was a teenager. When I was a tween, my family lived in a rural area, up north in Minnesota. My mother celebrated clean eating, so we often ate from our garden. (Growing up we were only allowed soda on our birthdays). In high school, I was diagnosed with early signs of scoliosis, but I was strong and healthy otherwise. I was very small as a teen. I was often bullied and was timid at that age.
When I turned thirteen, I was a whopping 4'11", and weighed 99 lbs. Soon after, I became a bus girl at a resort lodge. I was lifting so many dishes and ice buckets that my muscles in my arms and shoulders were abnormally developed for my age. I was amazed at what my body could do. At school, I could surprisingly beat some of the big boys in arm wrestling at school and do more pull ups than any of the girls in my grade. I loved the fact that I could eat anything that I wanted and retain muscle, even up into my mid twenties, after two babies.
Jump ahead ten years, I was 23 years old, 5' 2", weighing 117 lbs., and a city girl in Albuquerque, NM.
I was working a 9-7 job in banking, eating rich foods and drinking coffee all day. Little did I know, I was burning my body out.
Soon after, at 26, our youngest child was born. Shortly after that, one of my life mentors died of diabetes. I had already witnessed several unnecessary deaths by then, and that is when I decided that I wanted to be a health leader in community.
However, something happened after I weaned my son. I became fatigued, depressed, and was constantly suffering from migraines and back pain.
For awhile, I worked toward being healthy and strong, but I had struggles with consistency. I loved competition driven activities and doing things with other women, so I started a women's jogging group at our ex Bosque (river trail). At that time, I began sharing all that I knew about health to a very unhealthy group of people.I went through a certification and tried hard to encourage and inform my community to eat healthy and become more active. The problem: I was expecting the others to change their lifestyle and to have my passion for health overnight. Unfortunately, I allowed myself to become discouraged when I realized that most of the group was not interested in a real lifestyle change. I was dealing with a community of people who had embraced an unhealthy lifestyle, and their main bonding was overeating together.
Unfortunately, it didn't take long before I noticed that my husband and I had given into a culture of inactivity and over consumption. Due to this choice, we also stopped being an active family. We started watching Netflix during free time, and sleeping in Saturdays. It was seldom that we would get outdoors for activities . We developed a habit of splurging Sundays by frequenting buffets, and fast foods that we normally wouldn't consider. On top of this, I struggled with the desire to drink wine and rich foods.
One of the reasons that I decided to restart this journey is because I was completely done with the frequent ER/ specialist visits.This lifestyle caused minor health issues to become more prevalent and intense. The more that I gained weight, the more the scoliosis progressed. The more the scoliosis progressed, the more frequent the migraines and female problems were. I was fed up with getting "band-aid remedies" like pain pills, and muscle relaxers. Those chemicals were not working for me because I was becoming weaker. My reliance on muscle relaxers was affecting my energy, relationships, my emotions, and my clarity.
Last year, my doctor discovered that I was born with half of a thyroid. He also noticed that my body scan revealed that the scoliosis had drastically progressed. It was a sobering time for me, and I really didn't know where to begin my change.
Recently, on Facebook, I saw a 40 some year old competitor on BodyBuilding.com. She had underwent a transformation in 12 weeks after she also had problems with her back. When I saw her progress photos and Jaime Eason posts on clean recipes, I found inspiration and hope. I am 35 years old, and I am certain that it is not too late for me to improve my quality of life. I realized that it is up to me to determine to do it. If other women have persevered and done it, then I WILL TOO.
Yes, I have always wanted to coach and lead others is the past, but now I realize that it all starts with me being the example in MY own struggle. I use to tell people they could do it. Now, with my body the way that it is, I finally understand what they faced.
It was easy to tell others what they could do, when I was already there. I really didn't have a clue about the mental struggle of being over weight. I was once very self righteous, but now I understand. Now, I am the one who gave over to the "dark side", ate ice cream and desserts late at night, drank coffee, robbing myself of rest, and neglecting my body with empty calories, and/ or not eating at all. This time around, I am doing this to change MY world, not THE world. (At least not yet!)
Why I Love it
On and off, Yoga, weight training, and salsa dancing , have all kept me from sinking completely into obesity. The limited activity that I have had, still made a difference. Now in my late thirties, I am just getting started back at the gym. I truly love physical activity and challenging my body (especially at this age) because it is definitely medicine to me. When my body is strong, I am a more rooted, loving and gracious person. When Im healthy, my mind clears and my body feels amazing. I love giving my body that extra oxygen and blood flow. When I am not taking care of this body, my mind is cloudy, and my energy is depleted. According to my husband, I become a cranky wife and mother!
One thing that I really love, is the way lifting weights and eating clean makes me feel. It is amazing after I become consistent. I do know that when I am healthy,I do not have the frequently ER visits for migraines, back pain and pain pills that harm my body. I love how all of my many roles in life come into harmony when I make my choice to live a healthy spiritual/ physical life. Health is a treasure, and it I'm s one worth fighting for. It is hard to imagine whats coming up ahead, if I don't fight forward for my own health and wellbeing. So for that reason, I press forward, visualizing my health goals, and appreciating my ability to enjoy the journey.