Pursuing Greatness Together
The transformation started in January 2011. The year I was about to turn 40. I was just sick of being in a rut and I didn’t like the way I looked. I was not overweight growing up. But after children, like many moms, I neglected myself. The transformation for me was slow and I never really thought I was going to get to my trainer’s goal weight for me.
In January 2011, I was 197 lbs. & 36% body fat. I knew I wanted to go to Vegas in October for my 40th birthday but did not want to go looking like I did. By time my birthday rolled around with the trainer I had signed up with, I had lost roughly 25 to 30 pounds. It was the most weight-loss I’ve had in a while. After children I did Weight Watchers and lost the baby weight but would always hit a plateau. I was happy and content being roughly 170 pounds & I couldn’t believe I had lost that much weight but still wasn’t the bathing suit body I want.
What was different about this weight-loss was that I was actually working out, not just working out but working hard! Intensity was the difference for me and diet was a difference for me. You can’t have one without the other. Once this ball started rolling, by the following spring of 2012 I was roughly 150-160 pounds with my body fat consistently dropping.
The weight was coming off slowly but I could see and feel my body shape transforming & I liked it. At that point I thought that I was as close to my trainer’s goal for me of 145 lbs. that I was going to get. I was content. But my trainer was not! He knew I could take it to another level.
That’s when he told me I had two options. Run a 10 mile trail run. Which I hate to run! Or enter figure competition! I thought he was joking but he wasn’t he was dead serious. I said well I hate to run as you know so it looks like I’m going to be in a figure competition. The following 15 weeks were filled with extremely strict dieting and exercise. I was eating a ton of lean protein, no sugar and dark leafy greens and that was it! The more I did it the more my body changed & the more i fell in love with everything in the figure competition world! I ended up placing 2nd in my first competition that November! I walked on stage @ 128 shredded pounds & roughly 8% body fat! My family was so supportive of me and my dieting. Taking my food everywhere & skipping out on dinners out!
After having lost nearly 70 lbs. and two months after my competition, my husband decided to also make a change! He lost roughly 70 pounds between January & completed in his first physique competition the day after his 45th birthday! He did not place but he was in the best shape of his entire life! He had always been an athlete but as a lot of parents do, he concentrated on work instead of his body.
After seeing what I had done he knew he could do the same! We both entered more competitions & Keith will be running his first Goofy Race (1/2 Marathon the first day and a full marathon the very next day) in January 2014 at Disney World. We have both been able to maintain healthy weight and body fat through eating lean protein, very low carb and lots of fibrous vegetables. When we are on the go & on vacation we take plenty of protein with us which includes Quest Bars. We found, fell in love with & have become dependent in them since the fall of 2012. They are the first protein bars we could find that had no added sugar, low carbs and actually tasted great!
