Growing up, I was a dancer. A ballerina. Not to be confused with a performer "on the pole". Not that there's anything wrong with that. I actually performed ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical which required me to attend classes or rehearsals almost 40 hours a week by the time I hit high school. I began ballet at age 2 when my mother was looking for a way to socialize me. What can I say - I was terribly shy.
I continued dancing throughout the entirety of my childhood. My high school years consisted of me going to school, going to dance, and going to work. I don't remember most of the stories people talk about from high school, but I can still remember choreography from dances that I performed during that time period. While my school friends were attending parties, I was training. I LOVED it. Every second of it.
Can you say Heaven? I knew you could.
I spent five years in God's country {The University of Alabama, for those of you unaware} and took class after class, spent free time in rehearsals, and put on several performances each semester.
All of that information was actually coming to a point, I promise. During all of this time that I spent in rigorous training, I was able to eat anything and everything that I wanted. It didn't matter if I ate an entire bag of chips with three burgers and a milkshake to wash it down. I wasn't gaining an ounce because I was so active.
Me, in Europe, with a flat belly no matter how much I ate. How I miss those days.
Once college ended, however, things changed. I had sustained several injuries during my years that squashed my hopes of performing with a company. I actually had to get a real job to pay for bills. Being an adult sucks sometimes. I did get several jobs teaching children dance, but anyone with performance experience will tell that it just isn't the same! I was already starting to see the effects of my eating habits, but I was still able to curb my weight a little - or so I thought. It's funny how quietly that monster called "belly fat" creeps in and takes over.
When I got pregnant with Canon all bets were off. I quit teaching dance so that I could have more time with both of my boys. I didn't have any real pregnancy food cravings, but I definitely took advantage of eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. After having Canon, I ate so much ice cream and milk to help with my milk supply that I should have been able to feed an entire orphanage of babies. FYI : it didn't work. I couldn't produce enough milk to sustain my child, but I definitely produced enough fat to warrant a new wardrobe.
Fun fact : trying to find a picture of myself from the time we had Canon until now was extremely difficult. I did find some that were from the bust up or some where I was hiding behind a person or thing. Not the same.
Fast forward to December 2013. You remember when I said a light bulb moment happened to me where I realized that I was completely neglecting myself? Thankfully, one of the areas that I immediately saw health and exercise. I mean, how could I not? I felt absolutely horrible about myself every single time I looked in the mirror. Or wore clothes. Or didn't wear clothes. Basically any time that I was conscious I was utterly self-conscious. Yet until that one moment, I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it.
From that moment, I decided to make a change. There were absolutely no excuses for letting myself go any longer with that feeling of self-loathing. Remember, I had just been laid off from work so I had more time during the day for experimenting with this new-found enlightenment. I began preparing foods that were much healthier. I quit buying pre-cooked-then-frozen meals altogether. Bonus perk was saving money in that respect! I began drinking a lot of water and stopped snacking in bed at night.
And finally in March, I began exercising again. I ran across an ad for DailyBurn while watching streaming tv one night. They offered a free month of service to determine if it was something I was interested in. I figured that I could check it out for free and then ditch when I didn't like it.
Boy, was I wrong. I LOVED it! I started out with the True Beginner series which is for individuals who really want to start out simply and work their way into a more serious routine. Don't get me wrong. I was
Now, let me just say for the record, that at this point I began to hate Craig. You see, he runs. He loves running and it took him about 2.3 hours for the pounds to start shedding. I could actually see it happen as we watched a movie.
Hahahahahaha, who am I kidding?! I don't remember the last movie we watched!
Anyway, I would see him run, then eat the healthy meals that I cooked for dinner, and simply shed the weight. Simple, right?
Wrong. My weight didn't start coming off until I had been exercising heavily for about two months and practically starving myself in the process. Ok so not exactly, but it felt like it since I had been eating so poorly before.
When we moved to Georgia, our lifestyle changed on a family level. We were still exercising individually, but we also began hiking every weekend and swimming in lakes and rivers. Good for body and soul.
I was finally losing some pounds and starting to feel a little better about myself. And then, something happened. I woke up one morning with the most horrific lower back pain. I could barely move at a snail's pace, much less kick butt in cardio.
So I took a break from exercise. And then I started to feel flubbery again. I decided that I had to do something, even if it was minimal movement. So, I decided to try out yoga. It has really helped to loosen my back. The really cool thing? There is also a full yoga track you can follow on DailyBurn that is taught by world renowned yogi Briohny Smyth. She is ridiculous. Just check this out.
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