A Fitness Plan for Anyone!

First of all before I start, I have to point out that the PRODIGAL SISTER has finally appeared! I'm sure my sisters were beginning to seriously doubt if I would ever follow through with my promises to contribute to this blog. I am embarrassed that all 5 of my sisters have been posting so faithfully and I have been the big dud. I actually have been keeping a list of all the posts I want to do . . . . someday. Story of my life. So hopefully you will see a lot more of me from now on. Now let's just hope I don't disappoint everyone.

My background fitness story:
I've always considered myself a somewhat physically active, somewhat in shape person. There's times I have looked better than other times. There's times I have done super good at an exercise routine, and there's times when I have gone long periods without doing anything. The bad thing for me was that no matter what I was or wasn't doing, I seemed to stay within a 5 pound range. Why is this a bad thing? Because it tricked me into becoming a bit complacent. It tricked me into thinking I could do whatever I wanted because it didn't really matter - if I was exercising good, I stayed at the lower end and if I was being a lazy bum, I stayed at the higher end. Well guess what folks? That worked for only so long. Along comes my 35th birthday and very sneakily and slowly, the extra pounds started showing up. I denied it for awhile, convincing myself it was just a fluke weigh in, or I'd just had a bad eating day. Sure my clothes were becoming a little snugger and I was becoming quite self conscious about my gut, but I continued to tell myself that I wasn't that bad. By last fall (a few months after my 35th birthday), I was almost 7 pounds OUT of my 'high end of the comfort range'! That's when I realized I had a problem. I wasn't working out at all more than an occasional run every few weeks (so lazy) and wasn't doing anything to change what was happening. But at least the seed had been planted in my mind that I needed to make changes. It would take another few months (and some serious motivation & great examples by my sisters) before that seed really took root and I took the first step - getting off my butt and doing something about it.

It's been almost SEVEN months since I took my first step. The journey has been slow & steady, but guess what? I have lost 15 pounds and feel better than ever. Lots of people have been asking me what I am doing, so I thought I'd share it with all of you this week on Junk in Their Trunk because a) I'm not doing anything spectacular or hard, b) everyone can do at least what I'm doing if not more and c) everyone deserves to be happy with their bodies! To be honest, feeling healthy and happy in this area of your life transcends to all the other areas. Here is the breakdown of the steps/tools I used/use for my fitness journey. Over the next week, I will take each a couple of steps and go into more detail. So keep checking back all week long! (I know you are all just on the edge of your seats with anticipation.)

STEP 1: DESIRE/THE MENTAL GAME

STEP 2: MORE WATER & ACCOUNTABLE EATING (no diets here people!)

STEP 3: DAILY EXERCISE

STEP 4: PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE!

STEP 5: PATIENCE, PROGRESS & SUPPORT

I can't stress enough how ANYONE can do what I'm doing. I'm not spending hours at the gym. I'm not on a new fad diet where I can't eat anything delicious. I'm not depriving myself of anything. Anyone and everyone can do this (and probably way more) and I am living proof that results will follow! I'm usually the one behind the camera, so there's not a lot of pictures of me to show the changes - especially in a bathing suit, but here's a picture of me from July of 2010. It doesn't show me too well, but you can definitely tell I'm a little frumpy in the belly & my arms were getting big and flabby.

And here's me from the past few weeks. Again. Not sure you can tell much, but my arms are more toned, my belly is flatter and I fit in a pants size I never thought possible. It works people!

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