The Backstory on My Fitness Overhaul

Before I unveil the whole fitness plan tomorrow I want to set the stage for those readers who don't know me or my past.

At the age of 9, and after many failed attempts at all things revolving around sports, I found swimming. Or maybe it found me, but however it happened it was a fit for me. Actually.... The way it really happened was that during tryouts for the local swim club, Attleboro Bluefish, the coaches wanted to keep my older, more skilled swimmer sister, Leann and cut me. After some discussion amongst the coaches they decided to let me have a chance too. While I may not have ever done a single stroke of freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly, I had some unbelievable stamina and could go forever. I caught on quickly and in a short time actually became a decent swimmer.

In the beginning I swam just a few days a week, but when I turned 11 my team took on a new coach, Paul and he saw some great potential in me. Myself and one other swimmer were by far the youngest members of this group (at least two years younger) but we just ate it up. Again, my strokes were not all that refined and I needed some serious training, but I could train, and train, and train.... And I honestly loved the training aspect. Before the age of 13 I completed my first 5,000 yard butterfly for time. Little did I know that many years later I would complete four more of those.

Throughout high school I would swim before school, after school and twice on the weekends. My workouts were always at least 2 hours long and I totaled 9/week. I traveled to high level meets and had the most amazing time doing it. My high school friends thought that I was crazy, but I was so committed that after prom I attended 7am practice- hair in pins and stiff from aquanet and all.

All this dedication and commitment afforded me the opportunity to earn a swimming scholarship to Ohio University, aka the best years of my life. I totally think this is true:




My body went through a lot of changes from eating dining hall food, staying up super late at night, and drinking too much "soda" at parties, but through it all I still was able to advance my times and meet my goals. I loved training, and if I could have learned to be half the competitor my roommate and teammate Shannon was, I might have been able to beat her in a race. Maybe not, she was really good. Regardless, I was fit. And if I only knew a thing or two about diet And nutrition I might have really been fit. Pretty sure a box of pasta or half a box of sugary cereal would have been wise things to cut out or at least eat modify the quantity and possibly add some protein. But, like they say, if I only knew then what I know now...

In 2004 I hung up the suit and goggles and retired from swimming. Every now and then I would hop back in the pool, but the biggest problem I had was that swimming was always training for me. It was never exercise. How could I change my perspective about swimming and except that it is a great form of cardio? I couldn't, and it got hard, really hard, so I packed up the swimming gear and its been in storage since about 2006.

This is when I discovered running. I really sucked, I mean I really sucked at running. It was hard and painful and I found zero enjoyment in this activity. Then, my coworker and mentor, Shelley and I began to run together. Everyday it got easier and I really liked it. We logged about 30 miles a week and to me this was a huge deal! We ran a few 5k's and after about a year I mentioned to her that we should do a half marathon. Yup, I had no business running a half marathon at that point but I needed something to train for, and in true distance based athlete mentality, 5k's weren't cutting it for me. In 2006, she and I completed our first half marathon together. It was hard, but we trained so well for it. She and I ran another one together in 2008 and this was more fun than competitive. I had moved away from Ohio so really it was a girls weekend. In 2011, I ran one more half and have not done it again since.

In the fall of 2011 I got pregnant, was banned from impact and strenuous activity due to high risk pregnancy and then after Bman was born, time was always the issue. Other than a 400 calorie burn on the treadmill, or run with Brody in the Bob, I really haven't done anything to notice change in my body or increase my energy levels. Those are my two ultimate goals. I should share that I am doing Crossfit during my lunch hour two days a week, but this was just not enough for me. I needed a complete overhaul.

Whew! Still with me?

My New Years resolution began on July 17, 2013 when Brody turned 1. I reached my breast feeding goals and now I could make changes to my diet and exercise without the stress, or fear that I would not be making enough milk for him.

My goal is not really to lose weight. I am someone who gains muscle quickly so I am not really betting that the numbers on the scale will budge, but what I want are these things:

Tone
Strength
Flexibility
More energy

With my diet my goals are:

Eat more balanced meals
Curb cravings (I have such a sweet tooth)!
Make healthy snack choices
3-4 vegetarian meals/week (meat is expensive)


I have one more workout to go tomorrow and I will have completed one week of my new plan, to a new me. Please note: this is not a diet. To me diets cannot be maintained over a long period of time, it has to be a full lifestyle change.

Tomorrow I will post some pictures, share the recipes from this past week and give you the numbers. I know, the suspense is ridiculous but I think it's important to give the whole picture before fully disclosing the plan.




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