My Weight Loss Journey

 NOTE:  You can see a VIDEO of my RIPPED to FIT journey HERE.  I am so excited that I made it to the top 10 in the RIPPED to FIT Challenge, I would love it if you would vote for me on the R.I.P.P.E.D facebook page HERE! 

Thank you so much, Carlee

First off, I would just like to mention that this post puts me way out of my comfort zone! Sometimes I find that I like to lose myself in talking about fun crafts, and recipes, avoiding being too personal.  But today I am going to talk about my Fitness Journey.  This post is all about what has worked for me, just because it has worked for me, it may not work for everyone, we all need to find out what works out best for our individual needs.

January of this year, my husband and I got to go on a  trip of a lifetime to Hawaii!  It really was pretty amazing, I posted about it HERE.  But it was also a huge wake up call.  I felt so uncomfortable with myself, and the weight I had gained, with being an overwhelmed mommy of three.  It was still a great trip, but I knew in order to be truly happy with myself I needed to make a change.

January
When I got home I started doing a few things... First I started a fitness class my friend Holly had started teaching, called R.I.P.P.E.D.  I will talk much more about this class later.  I also continued to take my Spinning class twice a week. I also at that time started Weight Watchers Online.  I started to slowly lose weight, it was so nice to be on the 'fighting' side of the battle.

March
RIPPED to FIT challenge
In March the New Years Resolution motivation was starting to fade, and I needed something to keep going.  R.I.P.P.E.D. announced that they were going to start a two month RIPPED to FIT challenge during the months of April and May.

R.I.P.P.E.D. is a fitness class something kind of like Zumba, except it combines both Cardio and resistance training. RIPPED is an acronym that stands for Resistance, Interval, Power, Plyometrics, Endurance, and Diet.  During the class they have a workout for each of the RIPPED letters (such as a Resistance, Interval, etc), except the D (diet) of course.  It is pretty challenging, but at the same time upbeat and fun.  When they announced the challenge, I thought it might be just the thing to help me stay motivated for two more months, and as an added bonus they contestants would have access to their master trainers to learn more about the Diet aspect of the RIPPED program.  I was in, all I had to do is submit a before picture from before I started taking RIPPED. With the hope for more motivation, I took the challenge.

Commitment and Sacrifice
Through my continuous weight loss journey, I have learned the importance of commitment and sacrifice.  I wake up EARLY 5-6 days a week to work out.  My Spin class that I take two times a week starts at 5:20 Am, and the RIPPED class that I take 2-3 times a week starts at 6am.   Now that the warmer weather has hit, I add running to this mix, I sometimes run instead of attending a class, and I always take a run on Saturdays.  I had a lot of excuses before on why I could not exercise with having kids and a husband who works 60++ hours a week (the joys of being a farmer), but I knew I could not let this stop me.  I will not lie it is HARD, but it is totally worth it.

Healthy Eating
I am so NOT new to exercise, I have run in the past, and done a lot of cardio type work outs.  But it was not until I really committed myself to eating healthier that I started to see results.  It has been said that diet is 80%of the weight loss equation, and that has definitely been the truth in my case.  I will devote a complete post to this next week.  If you want a good picture of your diet, my suggestion would be to track what you eat, EVERYTHING.  I have used Weight Watchers online for this, I love the points plus system. But there are also great free programs out there that will let you track what you eat such as My Fitness Pal.

RIPPED CHALLENGE
I definitely have enjoyed the RIPPED challenge.  One of my favorite aspects of the challenge is the facebook discussion group they set up for us, I could talk to other people doing the challenge with me.  I also learned more about the D aspect of RIPPED.  I started to incorporate the RIPPED D aspects into my diet.  This mainly included for me adding more protein to my diet, and eating smaller meals throughout the day.  There D diet, in a nutshell is eating food to fuel your body and keep your blood sugar stabilized throughout the day.  I continued to track my food with Weight Watchers Online, which has been very helpful as well.

I turned my after picture into R.I.P.P.E.D. challenge being satisfied, with my accomplishments. I had lost 30 pounds since January, and a combined 42 inches off my hips, waist, thighs, arms, and chest.  Can I just take a proud moment and say WOW.  More important than the numbers though, I have found a confidence I had lost, I have SOOO much more energy.  By taking sometime out just for me, I feel like I am a better wife and mother.  I am committed to have a healthy lifestyle, not just for me but for my family.  Do not for a minute think I am done on this jorney because I am not, I still want to lose 8 more pounds to reach my goal weight.  This is a life style change not just a quick fix, I want to have a healthy lifestyle not just now but forever!

TOP TEN (AHHH)
To my utter astonishment on Monday June 5th, I found out that I made it as a top 10 finalist to the RIPPED to FIT challenge.  I was stunned, as a finalist I had to make a video about myself and my RIPPED to FIT journey (talk about stepping out of your comfort zone.) You can see the VIDEO of my RIPPED to FIT journey HERE.  I am so excited that I made it to the top 10 in the RIPPED to FIT Challenge, I would love it if you would vote for me on the R.I.P.P.E.D facebook page HERE!  Voting goes from Friday June 8th-Friday June 15th, you can vote once per day, I would LOVE it if you would take a minute to vote for me!


I like to LINK to these great parties!