Finding Grace in Fitness started because of a series of events that lead to my dream of losing weight, learning how to eat right and make a difference in other people's lives who's goal is to do the same. For many years, I lived life eating what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted and where I wanted. I wouldn't think of myself as one who ate all the time or constantly thought about food, but I didn't care enough to make good choices and I wasn't planning on caring either.
What changed was that I met a man who did care. He allowed me to see that my choices were killing me and I was on the road to premature death. His goal as we were dating and married, was to try and help me to make better choices and get outside and exercise. We went for bike rides each night when I got home from work and on the weekends. He helped me to learn what a normal portion of food is and to think about what I was eating before eating it. No words can express my thankfulness to God and him that this new chapter in life happened. It literally saved my life.
From there, my interest in health and nutrition grew. This man's family (whom I've lived with for a year now) taught me what they knew and shared the same healthy lifestyle that their son did. They ignited the fire within me even more. My amazing mother in law, Becky, introduced me to an fantastic book by Tom Venuto (visit: http://www.burnthefatblog.com/ for more information) and shared her experience with it. She also helped me by spending hours and hours of her time to come up with plans, figure out my numbers on what I should eat and the percentages of protein, fat and carbs I should be eating. She spent hours in the gym teaching me how to use weights, coming up with weight lifting plan for us to use and posted it on the wall of the gym, coached me when riding my bike or using the rowing machine. She woke up in the morning and worked out with me each day and made me breakfast! (Can you believe I've been so blessed!?! Remarkable). My father in law spent hours of his time working out with me, teaching me what he knew too. They both are examples and listen to me when upset about how I got where I am in my weight and mentality, encouraging me with words and showing me that I can do this! We also all went on bike rides and spent time studying about food addiction. From there I learned so much about the body, how food is processed, what's important for us to eat, but mainly how important it is for us to take care of ourselves. And to them I will be forever grateful and continue to be for all they say and do for me (and their beautiful granddaughter!)
As you can see - my life changed drastically when these wonderful people came and made a difference and I finally felt like I had a chance at life! My eyes were opened to the truth and I was given an opportunity to make changes within myself and lose the weight I had gained over the period of time. As an overweight person who's been overweight my entire life, I still struggle with food, the way a food addict does - craving things that are bad and fighting an internal battle to make the right choices. However, when making the right choices - it gets easier and easier as time passes. Struggles are normal and I've recognized that since making changes in my life.
In August of 2012, I made the choice, after lots of prayer and conversation with my family, that I was going to go to school to become a Nutrition coach. My goal in this was to help other people who had the same struggles that I did and that they would see that it's possible to make changes and lose weight to be healthy. My plan has been to lose all my weight and see where God takes me from there. I started at Kaplan University online in October of 2012 and have been going for a year. It's been an amazing journey so far and very rewarding. I know this is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do.
In July of 2013, the day before my birthday, my life changed even more. When waking up that Saturday morning, my heart started pounding out of my chest. After a few hours of contemplation, my mom took me to the ER. A ton of tests were done and I spent a few days in the hospital, to find out that I have sleep apnea induced atrial fibrillation (Go here for more information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/DS00291) and a heart murmur. My weight was (and is) literally killing me. This opened my eyes to the importance of health and nutrition, even more then before and something clicked inside that made me realize that it's time to get serious about this. God was showing me that I needed to not mess around anymore.
Another step in the journey was that my aunt Lora reached out to me and told me that I could do her program for free. She would help me to lose weight and give me the guidance and support that I needed coming from someone who had lost a lot of weight herself. She owns her own business called 7 Cycle Research (7cycleresearch.com), which is a Christian based weight loss program in which she sets you up on a plan that's best for you and counsels one who is interested in losing weight and focusing on Jesus and faith in the midst of doing it.
The last 7 weeks, I have lost about 20 pounds and feel more free inside then I have in my entire life. I am still working through my problems and struggles, healing from the past and making a new future for me and my daughter. Something else that's been a huge eye opener and blessing since starting her plan, was I've been learning more and more about the food industry, factory farming and fur farming. From the research that I've done, my choice has been to be more conscious about making better choices that will save animals and help my body. I'm also researching companies that do not do animal testing for beauty products (such as shampoo and makeup), so that I can purchase cruelty free products. I'm also trying to find other ways I can help animals. It's a passion of mine that I didn't even know I had until now and it feels incredible to be able to make a difference and stand up for what I believe in, in every aspect of my life! It's only been a week since changing my eating but it's definitely something I plan on doing for the rest of my life!
This blog's purpose is to share my journey, recipes, alternatives to unhealthy foods or non-vegetarian foods, and to be a support to those who are wanting to make a change in themselves. I also would like to share my love of photography, interior design, and fashion. My mother in law is going to be writing for the blog too and working on bringing it together, so make sure and read her information too! We're so happy to have you here and hope you enjoy your time on our blog
Take care,
In August of 2012, I made the choice, after lots of prayer and conversation with my family, that I was going to go to school to become a Nutrition coach. My goal in this was to help other people who had the same struggles that I did and that they would see that it's possible to make changes and lose weight to be healthy. My plan has been to lose all my weight and see where God takes me from there. I started at Kaplan University online in October of 2012 and have been going for a year. It's been an amazing journey so far and very rewarding. I know this is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do.
In July of 2013, the day before my birthday, my life changed even more. When waking up that Saturday morning, my heart started pounding out of my chest. After a few hours of contemplation, my mom took me to the ER. A ton of tests were done and I spent a few days in the hospital, to find out that I have sleep apnea induced atrial fibrillation (Go here for more information: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/DS00291) and a heart murmur. My weight was (and is) literally killing me. This opened my eyes to the importance of health and nutrition, even more then before and something clicked inside that made me realize that it's time to get serious about this. God was showing me that I needed to not mess around anymore.
Another step in the journey was that my aunt Lora reached out to me and told me that I could do her program for free. She would help me to lose weight and give me the guidance and support that I needed coming from someone who had lost a lot of weight herself. She owns her own business called 7 Cycle Research (7cycleresearch.com), which is a Christian based weight loss program in which she sets you up on a plan that's best for you and counsels one who is interested in losing weight and focusing on Jesus and faith in the midst of doing it.
The last 7 weeks, I have lost about 20 pounds and feel more free inside then I have in my entire life. I am still working through my problems and struggles, healing from the past and making a new future for me and my daughter. Something else that's been a huge eye opener and blessing since starting her plan, was I've been learning more and more about the food industry, factory farming and fur farming. From the research that I've done, my choice has been to be more conscious about making better choices that will save animals and help my body. I'm also researching companies that do not do animal testing for beauty products (such as shampoo and makeup), so that I can purchase cruelty free products. I'm also trying to find other ways I can help animals. It's a passion of mine that I didn't even know I had until now and it feels incredible to be able to make a difference and stand up for what I believe in, in every aspect of my life! It's only been a week since changing my eating but it's definitely something I plan on doing for the rest of my life!
This blog's purpose is to share my journey, recipes, alternatives to unhealthy foods or non-vegetarian foods, and to be a support to those who are wanting to make a change in themselves. I also would like to share my love of photography, interior design, and fashion. My mother in law is going to be writing for the blog too and working on bringing it together, so make sure and read her information too! We're so happy to have you here and hope you enjoy your time on our blog
Take care,
(October 6th, 2013)
