Let's get started!

Okay ladies, it’s time to cut the crap. Do you have a pair of fat jeans sitting in your closet for those times in life when you put on a few extra pounds? Maybe you are wearing them right now? Do you poop only two times a week? Eat only two meals a day thinking that is what keeps you thin? Want to work out but don’t have the time? I have a proposition for you: Let’s change your life. Read what I have to say, learn about your body and the food you put into it, stop looking for short term solutions to lifetime health. Start your new life today… or tomorrow, if you need a day to think about it.

I know what you are thinking, “Why are you an authority on health?” and you are right to question me. I am not a trained professional. I have never worked in a gym and I don’t have a degree in nutrition. Maybe one day, but not today. I am a stay-at-home mom who wants to share with women what has worked for me, my friends, and can work for you, too. Also, I am not perfect. I have cellulite and upper arm fat I wish would just melt away. I also live two doors down from Dairy Queen (I could eat a chocolate peanut butter cup blizzard everyday). But that is my point. Let’s not try to be perfect, let’s try to be healthy. After successfully not owning a pair of fat pants for five years and training three of my friends (one who lost 20 pounds in less than 2 months and another who lost 12 pounds in one week) friends have prompted me to start this blog. (To be honest, I love doing this stuff! Helping my friends to see the potential in themselves gives me so much joy.)

A little background: When I started dating Kyle (my now husband) five years ago, I was living in New York City. I weighed 130 pounds (I am 5’3’’) and I thought I was healthy. I fit in most of my pants, I ran occasionally, and I ate healthy things. Even though I thought I was healthy, I thought about my weight all the time. This stemmed from years of yo-yoing weight (hello, college). I was a chronic binge working outer. When I noticed that I gained weight, I would work out like a maniac (come on ladies, admit it, you have done it too). I would also give my body as little nourishment as possible, 3 small meals a day. And voila! In a few weeks/months, the weight would be off and I would feel great again. I would stop working out as much (because my body needed a break, I would tell myself), eat more (because I had been slightly starving myself for months) and fast forward 6 months, the weight would be back on. Maybe not all of it, but some at least.
Five year ago, I had a conversation with Kyle that changed my life. It went as follows:
Kyle: What did you eat for breakfast today?

Bekah: Coffee

Kyle: You can’t eat coffee

Bekah: I don’t eat breakfast.

Kyle: What did you eat for lunch?

Bekah: A sandwich.

Kyle: Dinner?

Bekah: A salad (honestly, it was a taco salad, so it wasn’t the healthiest)

Kyle: You need to eat more.

Bekah: No I don’t. If I eat more, I will gain weight and I don’t want to gain weight.

Kyle: That is not how the body works.

Bekah: That is how my body works.

Kyle: No, that is how you have trained your body to work.

From that moment forward, I had to change how I looked at food and my body. The body I was living in was “skinny-fat”. I needed to be healthy, not thin. Once I got healthy, I found my “body weight” (I call it that because it is different for every person. Just because we are the same height doesn’t mean we should weight the same thing). Once I loved what I was putting into my body and what I was burning on a treadmill, I stopped worrying about bouncing back to a weight I had been years before. It is the most liberating experience of my life. I left all my weight baggage behind and started new.

Fast forward five years, I haven’t yo-yoed once. After I got healthy, I lost 10 pounds (without trying, my body just adjusted to that weight) and I haven’t stopped working out in five years. And yes, I love it. I could run circles around a younger version of myself. Even now as I sit here typing this at nine months pregnant (I am due on April 15), I am dripping with sweat from a 3 mile run I just did while my daughter is napping.

So what does this have to do with you? Maybe nothing. Maybe you know all the information I am going to give out in this blog, but if you want to feel healthier and in return look better, I might just be the person to help you out. So check out what I have to say, it couldn’t hurt… well not until you wake up after your first day of interval training, but more about that later.

In this blog, I will tell you what to eat, how to eat, when to eat, and why you are doing it. Once you understand the physical nature of your body, you can understand why it is important to put certain things into it. I will also tell you how to work out and why your sorry excuses for not making it to a gym are exactly that… sorry. Lastly, I want to incorporate an element of wellness and lifestyle. Any information I come across that I think might be of service, I will pass it on. I want your input, too! If you are having a hard time, need motivation, or just have a delicious healthy recipe don’t hesitate to share.

So let’s cut the crap out of your diet. Let’s get real about food, body image, and what it really means to be healthy. Let’s start a new lifestyle today. Okay, the sweat from my run is officially starting to smell and Drew should be waking up soon. The next installment will be information to get you started. I am excited! I hope you are, too.