For “Transformation Tuesday”, I want to give
you a snapshot of my fitness and nutrition story. I am about to show a lot of
pictures I am not at all proud of, and have tried to pretend do not exist, but I
want you to look at these pictures. I want you to see where I came from and how
far I have traveled since. I hope I inspire you to follow me on this journey
and if I can help one person figure out how to have food allergies/IBS/Crohn’s
(or whatever I have) and still be super fit, then I will take my challenges and
make them a success.
I have always seen myself as a fit and sporty
person and you might be thinking…why is she talking about transformations? We
all have times we slip up and don’t look or feel the way we want to, but I want
to tell you… you can change that!
In high school, I swam (close to year-round)
and danced on a hip-hop team. I was 120 lbs. and could wear girls pants size 16
or Jr.s size 0-1. I was thin and muscular all at the same time.
Fall 2005
Prom 2006
Graduation 2006
In college, I stayed fit. My freshman year, my
best guy friend and I had a huge gap in between classes so we went to the gym
to workout and then study there! After that year, things got crazy busy for me
while attending two different colleges hours apart. I did home workouts when I
could, but I stayed so busy running around I honestly could still eat like crap
and not gain weight.
See, not a fitness model, but for not working out and eating like crap, it was pretty good.
Costa Rica 2008
USF graduation weekend, 2009
(I had obviously stepped up some of my workouts)
In 2010, I got married and moved to GA. I
didn’t know anyone so we didn’t get out a ton except to drink downtown or with
my husband’s friends. I got a job interpreting full time at a high school. I just puttered around the apartment and
workdays I sat all day. I am a terrible cook so we ate a ton of processed foods
and meals like Hamburger Helper. I started putting on weight, but it was so gradual, I didn’t think it was
a bid deal!
Spring 2010
Pre-wedding workout at work/on a cruise ship! :)
Honeymoon 2010!
New years 2011 (You can start to see the tiny bit of weight sneaking in)
In Dec 2011, I was in a serious car accident. I
couldn't walk well for like 3 months and everything hurt, so I just sat at work
and then sat when I got home. That definitely worsened my bad habits and increased
my weight gain, but that summer I started P90x and started biking again.
November 2011 This is a really tight shirt in my defense, but definitely slacking in the Abs department...
May 2012 (looking heavy for sure)
July 2012
October 2011
November 2012
I can't believe how much I gained. I say it was gradual, but I noticed. I had never even questioned how a certain outfit looked on me before... but I started really watching what I wore and I started wearing a lot of black to cover my extra weight. I really had no excuse. I was working out, but obviously that wasn't enough. I needed to change my eating habits.
Fall of
2012, I started Insanity and really training for the (170 mile) Cross Florida
bike ride (April 7th 2013). I was training and riding all the time; however,
that December (2012) was also when I started medicine for my acne. I was
training like a beast, but also carb loading to maintain energy to ride my bike
over an hour everyday and like 4+ hours on one of the weekend days. I was
looking rounder than ever before. It was extremely frustrating. I started
feeling really sick and I hate to give you gruesome details, but I was fighting
diarrhea often. The doctors said symptoms should go away when I stop the meds.
I trained through it. I did not change my nutrition at all. Olive Garden salad
pasta and lots of bread sticks were my norm!
Here comes the Meds I was talking about...
April 2013
April 2013
May 2013
Crazy part is this looks less swollen, but same trip in May 2013
May 2013
I seriously hate these pictures! I loved these events, but I can't stand to see myself look like this! My face looks like someone I don't even know.
I realized, I don't even have many pictures of me during this time. I didn't want to see myself this way.
After finishing 6 months of the medicine, I
still didn’t feel better. After months of waiting to improve (health
insurance was gone over that summer), I was talking to my Aunt R one day and she
said, “that sounds like me with dairy, you should try to cut that out.” So I
started eliminating dairy; it helped, but I was still sick. It got progressively worse. Why I didn’t go to the doctor that year, I don’t know,
I guess I just thought food allergies are food allergies and I would figure out
what I can and can’t eat on my own. Plus, like I said, it was progressive, so
it wasn’t like I felt the need to run to the Doctor.
I started an intense round of Insanity and cut out dairy and I can already see the difference!
September 2013
Thanksgiving 2013
I KNOW THIS IS LONG, BUT HANG IN THERE WITH ME
December 2013 I was dairy free, but splurged a
few times and just took lactate pills, but still felt awful! I vividly remember
our trip home for Christmas. We stopped for donuts (one of my old favorites!!!)
at the beginning of the trip and I took my lactate pills. I hurt the entire way
home! I still thought maybe the lactate pills just weren’t enough, but deep
down, I started to think it was more.
December 2013
(Starting to slim thanks to hard workouts, and maybe a little less food allergy symptoms)
January 2014 I decided gluten is a big allergy
for people; why not try that. I love my bread, so I really hoped if I had to
give up ice cream I would love to at least keep bread. Nope, definitely not
eating bread again. Gluten allergy was a check.
By April 2014
I am already looking much smaller and felt stronger again!
I later
added alcohol with gluten and most veggies to the list (which sounds like most
peoples’ dreams come true, but I actually love a lot of veggies and it is so
hard to eat healthy without them!).
Some fruits like watermelon and citrus are on the unapproved list too!
Here is a blog post from May 1, 2014 I had eaten tacos I thought were safe with corn tortillas and veggie cheese,
"Around 1:30am I woke up sick from my food allergies and couldn't fall back asleep! An hour later I got up to take medicine and the dogs and I made so much commotion we woke J. He stayed up with me for a while, but I felt bad keeping him up so he offered to move to couch, but I decided I would since I couldn't sleep anyway. Going downstairs helped me a little because I could sit up more on the couch. I slept a couple of hours total last night so my 6:15 alarm was not a welcomed sound (even JT's song isn't good at that time!). Work is going to suck, but I'm here and dealing with it. Wish me luck!"
I was dealing with this crap all the time. I tried not to write about it all the time on the blog, but I must have been really frustrated that day. I deal with a combination of diarrhea, burping, acid reflux, cramps, and gas when I eat something wrong. I'm sorry, that is not pretty to talk about, but I promise it is worse to experience!
I was starting to thin out a lot though!
I found out that I am super sensitive to gluten, like if someone touches something and then touches my plate, I could get sick. Even my husband's soap that was not gluten free would cause me to get sick after kissing him!
I lost health insurance in 2014 because I am a
private contractor. I could get it through J’s work, but it was going to be
like $500 a month, and I don’t know about you, but as 2 grad students, we can’t
pay that! So I have been figuring this out all on my own.
May 2014
This cruise tried to provide a lot of gluten free foods, plus I brought shakes and stuff from home. They had a gluten free warm chocolate melting cake and I ate that every single night!
It was this trip that I learned I couldn't have chocolate (caffeine) or any alcohol even if it is gluten free.
July 2014 after 2 spin classes back-to-back
August 2014 (After insanity fit test 4)
The point of this very long story is that in
spring of 2014 I decided to take my life back. I was done using work and health issues as an
excuse!
Slumps happen, so do not get discouraged! Our dog, Flik, had a huge knee surgery September 2014. J and I had to take turns sitting with him and sleeping with him on a mattress we put on our living room floor because he couldn't get upstairs to our bedroom. We spent 3 months there and usually only escaped the floor to go to work. I did some abs work when I could and pulled in my bike trainer.
I got certified as a spin instructor in October
and started teaching as a sub at our YMCA in Jan 2015.
November 2014
December 2014
January 2015
January 2015 (Taught my first spin class!)
(Can you see the crazy difference in the shape of my face?)
February 2015
(With my first spin student, Insanity partner, mother of 3 under3, and BFF)
March 2015
April 2015 with my hott lil' bro!
(At least I have good genetics going for me!)
May 2015
I became ACE certified to teach all group
fitness classes in July and have been teaching spin, strength, and boot camp
classes all year!
15 weeks ago, I reached out to a nutritionist
for help. I was fit…I was working out 7-8 hours a week, but I could not slim
down and drop any weight. I am very limited in what I can eat, so I fill up on
a lot of rice and stuff that is easy on my stomach. I wasn’t giving my body
what it needed.
Here are my before pictures...
147 pounds
waist 30.5
We did an elimination diet and then slowly
added things back to see how my body responded.
August 2015
September 2015
I added most nuts (so far I have tried almonds,
pistachios, and walnuts) and all veggies to the allergy list and soy as
something doesn’t work well. Nuts and gluten make my legs breakout in fire-ant
looking welts too, I forgot to tell you that part on top of the GI stuff.
I have a routine now I feel so much better. I hope to add back some other foods later and get some medical testing
done to figure out what is truly going on. Right now, I am seriously so thankful for
my awesome coach for giving me the kick start I needed to tackle my nutrition
and feed my body what it needs and not just what I want!
I am so thankful for this crazy (freakin' long) journey. We
take so much for granted. I used to eat whatever I wanted because I could, but
that didn’t mean it was good for me.
Do I wish I felt better? Yes. Do I wish I could
eat veggies so I could be a better athlete? Yes. Do I wish I could have
splurged with cake and ice cream and donuts and pasta for my birthday this
month? Yes. But, if I can help others with their fitness journey and GI/food
allergy issues, then I am okay with my illness.
I have to thank my husband first! He has
supported me through it all! He never once said anything about my weight (even
though I have told him if it ever happens again, I need him to help me nip that in the
bud!). He has helped keep our house mostly gluten free and has adapted to
eating some ridiculously plain and boring meals! He lets me complain when I
need to and doesn’t bring it up when I just don’t feel like talking about it
anymore. And lately, I have been doing fasted walks on a very low calorie
intake and he nicely lets me know when I am hangry, but doesn’t get upset.
Thanks hun! I love you!
Thanks to my family and best friends for
putting up with me and always making sure I have something to eat (or at least
a place to cook and I just bring what I know is safe).
Lastly, thanks again to my awesome coach. I am
inspired! I hate that this is our last week, FOR NOW, but I have learned so
much from you and you made sure I was ready to take a turn on my own. Thanks
for everything, I tried…. but I could not do this on my own! I gave you a really hard job and we made it there!
The hard part is I'm not just trying to build muscle to compete in a show; I want to be a competitive athlete in so many different realms! I want to lift heavy and sprint fast. I definitely gave my trainer a difficult task! Then I told him I can't eat most healthy things to get there...haha!
My everyday foods include: Eggs, turkey bacon, Rice Chex and rice milk, rice and ground turkey, chicken, small amount of sweet potatoes, a pea protein shake, lots of fruits, and tons of olive oil!!! I have found one blueberry muffin I can eat for a treat! I take vitamins, probiotics, fish oil daily and another supplement on my low calorie days.
Remember this is only 15 weeks and for the main part of that we were just figuring out how to feed me. We only worked on the calories for the last 4 weeks!
I am looking much tighter!
Almost 2 inches off the waist and 8-9 pounds lighter!
Before After
This journey is just beginning and a great deal of work is just around the corner, but I'm ready to go. I'm not just along for the ride, I decide where I go from here!
Here is my transformation thus far!
