I graduated, ran a marathon, got married to Mark and had our first baby girl. Cora Grace, who is 15 now. A year and a half later we had Alyeska Mae who sported the best little fountain ponytails and always wore a smile on her face. Still does. Two years later we had adoption placed on our hearts, and we followed through with that leading, and a year later we were asked to take a sibling group of 2. Tyler was 11 then, and Felicity was 6. A week later I found out I was pregnant with Hatcher, now ten years old. That would be 3 to 6 in 9 months if you didn't do the math yet. Being pregnant and taking care of my kids and two new kids that I hadn’t raised takes a significant toll on you emotionally and physically, but I managed to slim down to my pre-pregnancy weight again and plunged on with life, which looked very different now with six kids.

I started this journey the summer of 2014. I remember it very distinctly. I remember how it rescued me. I remembered how it re-created me. I remembered how it gave me hope and helped me find my confidence again. I didn’t know how much I needed this... maybe as much as you do right now?

I have been an athlete my whole life. Moving from the time I jumped out of bed until the time I lay my head down. I wanted to be a part of it all, all the time. I played four varsity sports in high school and continued to play softball and volleyball in college. I broke my hand playing softball, and I got pregnant playing volleyball. (another story for another time) I transferred colleges to have help with my son and found yet another way to play sports and be active. I played Club Volleyball at Central Michigan University while I went to school full time, worked part-time and was a single mom to my toe-headed son, Karson.

I have always had a fascination with food (mostly with putting it in my mouth) and even went to the extremes of practicing Raw Veganism for almost a year. I loved it! I also liked what I learned on that journey even if I did not continue it long term. I knew though that food is fuel and we must put in the right fuel, or we will all be ailing individuals at some point and I felt responsible for taking care of my family by feeding them real food.

Even with all this knowledge, and a YMCA membership…..when tragedy strikes and trauma comes in….it can wipe it all away. Something happened to me after we moved and uprooted our family to go small town to live a “simpler” life. Life became stressful and hard, and then we had to deal with a horrific event in our life, and I feel that is when I changed. I thought I was eating well, I thought I was exercising, but I guess I wasn’t. I was over-eating, overeating sugar and maybe only going on one or two runs a week. I no longer was enjoying life. Stressed sapped it out of me and anxiety took its place. Next depression moved in, and just the little things in life were too hard. Laundry made me want to cry and going up the stairs seemed too much of a chore. I felt like there was physical pressure on my shoulders every day. I couldn’t think clear, and I was tired ALL THE TIME. I barely had the energy for my kids, and so I had none for my husband. Things got rocky.

I remember thinking… "well, I’m almost 40, so this must be what everyone was talking about." BUT, I could not accept that, just like that, I was going to get fat and sick. That mom-sense went off, and I KNEW something was wrong and if I could only find the right help, I could defeat this and move on stronger.

I found a homeopath doctor that put me through a series of tests to reveal I had Hashimotos (and auto-immune disease) leaky gut, candida, vitamin D deficiency, low testosterone and a slew of other things including 22 food allergies. I did not feel frustrated; I felt free. Shortly after that, I contacted a friend who I saw on facebook that was always posting about her challenge groups and so I jumped in with 21 Day Fix. Even though I was an athlete, I had no idea how to reshape myself mentally and physically without a plan. I needed a program!! This was going to be it. I knew it.

I jumped in with both feet. I followed the food plan to a T, excluding anything I was allergic to and took my supplements. I never missed a workout, and I lost 2 pounds the first week. I even noticed a massive change in just four days!! I continued to lose 2 pounds a week for six weeks and felt good about myself when my 20th-year class reunion came around.

After that, I did Insanity and lost another 4 pounds but over six more inches. I could not believe how much I liked how I looked and how many muscles I had already developed and could see. It seemed to happen so fast. I then jumped on board to be a coach and ordered a PiYo Challenge Pack so I could start drinking Shakeology (vegan of course) It wasn’t long before I was no longer taking all the pills and supplement capsules I WAS taking. Shakeology seemed to fill in the gaps where my nutrition lacked and not only was it a sweet treat but it gave me more energy. When we fuel our bodies right and use it to move, we get more energy and can heal our ailments. That’s just what I did! I treated my gut and slowly whittled away at my symptoms. I could have bottled my energy and sold it that summer!

Since then I have done, P90X3, Insanity Asylum, Insanity Max30, Body Beast (2x), Ulitmate Reset (4x), Country Heat, Core de Force, 21 Day Fix Extreme, 22 Min Hard Corps, 3 week Yoga Retreat, and have dabbled in and sampled many other programs On Demand I also got certified to teach Turbo Kick last year and thoroughly enjoy the 2-3 classes I teach each week. It’s a huge high, and I love it!! I’ve lost another 4-5 pounds.

What’s next??? 80 Day Obsession and maybe my 4th marathon and there even talk of a Ranger Race next fall. I’ll never stop moving and challenge myself, it’s part of who I am, but I have learned a lot about myself along the way, and that is why I wanted to be a mentor to others seeking the same thing. I know there are many women out there who reach that “wall.” They get to a point where they look at themselves and have no idea how they got there. They are the heaviest they have ever been and no longer like themselves or feel good about themselves and I want them to know that can change! We never have to settle for less. Of course, in life, we have to sacrifice, but honestly, that’s what gets up in these types of messes. Women want to take care of people. We sacrifice our own physical and mental health for so long getting it back seems hopeless. I want to offer hope. I want to provide a way to conquer the chaos in our homes and souls so that we can start dreaming and seeing ourselves the way we want to be. It’s not too late. If you are like me and have run and played your whole life or maybe you’ve never picked up a weight ever, and you have NO idea how to squat….it doesn’t matter, you can do this. YOUR journey is YOUR journey, but you have to jump on the train and start heading toward that goal. Thinking about it won’t make anything happen.