About Me

Thanks for visiting my blog. As I am sitting here writing, there are hundreds of thoughts going through my mind. Who cares about me? Why would you want to read my story? Will my story inspire anyone? Even though most of the thoughts are negative, there is still that one positive thought-it will make a difference in someone else's life. That gives me the courage to type MY story. Growing up, I was very active and didn't pay attention to what I ate or even if I ate! This way of life worked for me, and I was able to stay relatively "skinny".  All of that changed when I was twenty-three and got pregnant with my daughter. I gained over 50 pounds and weighed over 200 pounds for the first time in my life. Luckily, I was still active and was able to lose all of the weight that I gained and felt like my old self. As I got closer and closer to thirty, the number on the scale kept getting closer and closer to 200. For whatever reason, it didn't bother me. I just kept buying bigger clothes and pretended to be happy with the way that I looked. Finally, the number reached 230, and I could no longer wear the clothes that were in style. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was a time for a change. The first step in my journey was running. My sister-in-law and I ran off and on throughout the years, so I called her up and asked if she would train for a 10K with me. She agreed, and this started my running "career". Those first miles were pure hell! I could hardly breath and my legs struggled to carry my weight. At this point, I was determined and a little bit of pain was not going to stand in my way! The training continued, and there is one run that I will never forget. Abby and I were doing a 5 training run together on a trail in Pittsburgh. We were going to go out 2.5 miles and then turn around to finish. Going out wasn't that bad but once we turned around, I thought I was going to die. I couldn't breath, and I felt like I was going to die! Abby convinced me that I could survive, and we finished the run. It was probably one of the hardest runs of my life. I learned a lot about myself that day; I learned that I had more strength inside than I ever thought. About a year after I started running, my sister-in-law introduced me to Myfitnesspal, an app that track calories. This helped me understand the number of calories in the foods that I ate and the number of calories I burned while running. If my number stayed positive, then I felt that it was a good day. Of the course of four years, I was able to get down to 187 pounds and maintain. I thought this was the end of my journey. I was happy with that number; I could shop in stores that were in style. Little did I know that my life would change in November of 2013. My sister-in-law asked me to join her for a T25 workout at her house. I was hesitant to say yes because she was in better shape than I was and I HATED work out videos. After minutes of consideration, I said yes. Twenty-five minutes later, I was a hot, sweaty mess, but it was a day that changed my life. I instantly fell in love with Shaun T and completed the 10 week program. Ten weeks later, I was down fourteen pounds and 11 inches, but the best part was I fell in love with myself again. As my New Year's resolution, I decided to clean up my eating. It's a daily struggle, but it is getting easier.

November of 2008

June of 2011

June of 2014
 Since November, I have lost 30 pounds and found myself again. I am so thankful that I had the courage to take those first steps five years ago and the perseverance to push through the tough times. Please follow me on Facebook