As I promised, I have my story for you guys. It took almost 3 hrs (yes, Kiersten slept that long) of writing notes and making a rough draft. When I started typing it out, I didnt even use my notes, thinks just came to my mind and I wrote my story from my heart. Its definitely not short, but I hope you take the time to read it!! ~MY STORY~ Its taken me awhile to finally sit down and write this out. For a long time, I kept telling myself I didnt have a story to tell. Ive never really had weight problems, never had an eating disorder, no major health issues, etc. (you know the main reasons people decide to make a change). Everyone has a story though, and I needed to dig deeper to figure mine out. So here goes! Growing up, my parents tried to set a good example of eating healthy. I really enjoyed it, and stuck with it even when the rest of the family detoured from it. I didnt start working out until I was almost 21 years old. I started going to a gym and I really enjoyed it! It became something I was really passionate about, I loved how I felt after a nice workout! Somewhere along the way, my priorities got mixed up. I decided I wanted to be really skinny and have a really nice body. I started really intense workouts, but wasnt fueling my body properly. At the time, I thought this was great, but looking back, I could kick myself for doing it. March 2012, started a whole new chapter in my life. I set aside all my fears, went with my gut instincts and moved to Minnesota to be with an amazing man. It definitely was the best decision I have ever made! Settling in took a little time, everything was so new and different from what I was used to. I decided to take a break from working out and just enjoy everything around me. Of course, I scored big time, finding a man who knew how to cook and I really enjoyed his home cooked meals! (Therefore, clean eating wasnt a priority). Life was great and December of 2012 brought some really exciting news for Paul and I! We were expecting a baby!! Like any other girl that finds out theyre pregnant, I read up on everything I could! I wanted to do everything right, make sure everything I did was safe, have the healthiest baby, etc. I wanted to better myself to have a healthy baby and healthy pregnancy! Since I hadnt been working out for awhile, the doctor advised that I didnt start anything new. So I was stuck with going on walks (which didnt happen very often lol) I had gained 10 lbs from the time I moved to the time I found out I was pregnant, but I was happy with how I looked and wasnt concerned about the weight. I decided to start something I knew I could do- eat healthier. It was easy to make sure the baby and I had a well-balanced nutritious diet.... for awhile. Third trimester hit, it was summer, and DQ buster bars became my best friend lol. I gained 10 lbs more than is recommended but I had a healthy baby, the doctor was happy with my weight and thats all that mattered! August 11, 2013, Kiersten, our beautiful, healthy baby girl came into the world!!! Motherhood had me feeling on top of the world! I was so happy, I felt like super woman! I felt like I was put on this earth to be a mom! Seriously, I was ecstatic!! Id decided as soon as I found out I was pregnant, that I would breastfeed my baby. Along with all the awesome benefits it has for my baby, it would help me too! One benefit of breastfeeding for me was I was able to loose all my pregnancy weight in a really short time! My body didnt look like it once had, but the weight was off and I was happy. Around 7 months postpartum, something changed. I blame the change on hormones, but who knows what the real cause was. Motherhood was still the best thing, but my self-image changed. I was no longer happy in my own skin, and didnt understand how anyone could look at me and tell me I was beautiful. No matter how many times Paul told me how great I looked, I didnt see it anymore. (I know a lot of mothers that can look at their postpartum body and be happy, proud, and feel like they earned their stipes. More power to them!! I couldnt.) I tried avoiding the mirror as much as I could so I would have to look at myself. Thats definitely no way to live. Paul always says this quote, If you dont like the situation you are in, change it. This kept running through my mind day in and day out, but I wasnt doing anything about it. I wouldnt say I was depressed, but my mood had definitely put a damper on me and I didnt like it. Hating my body and being an emotional wreck was definitely taking a toll on my mental health. I tried not to let it show, but Im sure it affected others and I didnt even know it. I knew what I needed to do to see a change in my body. I knew it wasnt going to happen overnight or be a quick fix, and I knew I was going to have to work hard at it! Im a busy mom, sometimes working 40+ hours a week, and the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was go to the gym. Time was the biggest thing for me and I knew thats where my struggle would be. I saw a commercial for T25 and was drawn to it. It was only 25 minutes, it had a modified version, but I would still work my butt off and get an awesome workout in! Wow, this seemed to fall into my lap at the right time! I admit, I was a little intimidated about the program since I hadnt worked out in over 2 years, but I knew I could do it!! I spent some good money on it and I knew it was not going to be a waste! I was determined to see amazing results with this program!! I signed up for a free BeachBody account, ordered T25 and Shakeology (which I love!!) and was super excited about this new start! I was assigned a free coach from BeachBody, which I though was really nice. She asked me if I wanted to join a clean eating challenge group. I had my reservations, this was still all so new to me, but I decided to go for it. If I was going to start working out, I might as well get a jump-start with eating healthier to help me get back on track. This challenge group was so much fun, I really engaged with the group and I loved the accountability it gave me! After the challenge was done, my coach asked me if Id ever thought about doing what she does- being a coach. Id never thought of it before, didnt even know it was an option, but was very reluctant about it. I didnt have a perfect body, I was just starting to get back on track with clean eating, I didnt have any knowledge about being a coach, etc. Im sure you can imagine all the things going on in my mind. How could this be for me?? My coach took the time to answer all my questions, invited me to a group that showed me what coaching was about, and stuck by my side the whole time! It took me close to a month to finally decide, but I finally told her I would do it! Why not me? I felt like this would be a really great opportunity for me, and open up so many new doors in my life! (A special thanks to Lauren Lynch for seeing something in me and not giving up!!) It helped me realize, ANYONE- including you!- can become a coach! Since becoming a coach, Ive realized how passionate I am about helping others. I want to help people see that no matter where they are, if they want to change, they can! I want to help people realize this can be a lifestyle for them and their family! Most importantly, I want people to feel confident about themselves and be comfortable in their skin! I want to help everyone find true happiness in themselves!! Whether you have 50 lbs to loose, or only 5 lbs, your goals are important to me! If your goal is to cut out caffeine, or candy, or start eating one healthy meal a week, I want to help you achieve that goal! Some people can jump in 100%- workout 5 times a week and only eat healthy food, others need to take their time in reaching that goal. Whatever your goal is, I want to help you reach it! If you step out of your comfort zone, I promise I will take your hand and be there for you ever step of the way!! All you have to do is push that fear away, and ask me to help you! One step at a time, we can make that change! I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things. -Mother Teresa
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 00:38:51 +0000
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