Ahhh...#tbt memories! I will take that tan back any day...minus the actual tanning bed that it took to get it.
Honestly, the couple on the left was on a path to an unhealthy lifestyle, hell we were the epitome of an unhealthy lifestyle. We were newly married, we loved to eat anywhere that had pizza, nachos, cheese sticks, wings and beer. There were lots of trips to chain restaurants for nasty food as well as fast food on the daily. Those were our staples. That was our life.
I got pregnant SHORTLY after that cruise and continued on the path of destruction. I only wanted greasy fried food and I fed those cravings for 9 months, gaining almost 60 pounds. Any guess what my sons favorite foods are now?!
I bought Pregnancy DVDs that got dusty.
Then after Mason was born, I went through many attempts to lose weight and keep it off. I spent $1000s on trainers and boot camps but my food was never on point, which is 80% of the battle. I tried diet systems and couldn't get myself to stick to them. I was overwhelmed with the whole points system and I felt like it took too much effort to stick to it each day. I had an at home DVD program but the nutrition plan was strict and I just couldn't get myself to do it. I had no support system either. So again, I quit.
The only time in between having Mason and Maren were I was at a healthy weight was because of a birth control I took that helped me lose weight, once I changed birth controls, it started coming back....
Fast forward to after I had Maren. Something had to change. I attempted some workout DVDs from a few years earlier but kept quitting. I didn't have anyone to hold me accountable so it was easy to throw in the towel. I went back to the beloved points system...again, didn't stick.
Finally after her 1st birthday, I knew it was time to get serious. We had two kids and something needed to change. For good.
I had a coach. She had been inviting me to her groups but after I told her I recently tried and quit T25 (and couldn't stick to the meal plan)...she told me try this new program. I decided to take the plunge and I was going to do a program that was so far out of my comfort zone, that I was SCARED! It was this program that had 30 minute workouts and these color coded containers that signified what you could eat and how much of it. I didn't know much about it. I thought it meant I would be limited to the foods I could eat, I thought I would be giving up things I loved and be hangry for 21 days.
Instead what I got last March was a lifestyle change, from a simple 21 day program. It takes 21 days to break old habits and form new ones, so in the first 21 days, I vowed to give it 100% and I did. I wasn't hangry. I wasn't deprived. I ate foods I loved like burgers (from home), baked potatoes, tacos, chocolate and even though I could have wine, I opted to skip it for the first round. I didn't have to spend hours at the gym and I checked in every day with my new friends in my coaches online accountability group. It was amazing how that combination finally made something click for me! The support I had from the group was amazing. I had people depending on me each day to show up and check in and if I felt like skipping a workout, they were there to tell me to press play.
What was even better, once I said I was it was time to make a change, Aaron was right there with me. And he has been ever since. We have instilled new positive, healthy habits in our life that are the kind of things I want my kids to see and learn from. Working out, eating right but still enjoying ourselves when we want without overdoing it plus we drink our superfoods every damn day.
That couple on the left had no clue they would be the #fitfam they are today, but I would hate to think where "that couple" would be if they would have continued with their unhealthy habits.
But that couple on the right...they are happier, healthier, more confident and they can't imagine their life being any other way right now!