Health & Fitness

If you visited my About page then you'll know that I'm a little passionate about health and fitness... But who isn't these days;)

I'm not a pro at either but I've dabbled in fitness my entire life (I even managed a gym in Cincinnati when I was in college). So I feel like I have a little bit of knowledge and a lot of experience to share. I'm also a busy, working mom and wife who is constantly trying to balance healthy eating and activity with the rest of my life. Hopefully I can be some help or maybe a little bit of a motivation to those who are in the same life stage as me. So let me give you some context and background for why I do the things that I do when it comes to this subject.

Growing Up

I started playing sports when I was in kindergarten. I tried almost every sport offered in my tiny town in Indiana from basketball to volleyball to swimming to cheering to dance. I ran cross-country and track in junior high and the beginning of high school. In 3rd grade I tried soccer and by the time I hit 8th grade, I knew that was the sport I was going to focus on during my high school career. Although I'm not tall, I played goalie. I worked really hard at it and taught my body how to jump high, react quickly and always be one step ahead of the Strikers so I was good. It was important for me to stay in shape and keep my body in great condition to stay good. So I ran track for a little bit as a way to keep myself focused. When I decided to play soccer year round and dedicate some of my summer to conditioning camp, I stopped track but continued to run on my own. Always longer distances. It was not only a way to stay in shape, but it was also a great stress relief for me. I found that getting out and running a couple miles always helped clear my head.

Early College

Fast forward to college, which I began in Kentucky. I'm 5'4" so obviously I didn't continue soccer in college:) I remember trying to keep up my running routine, but studying and working became more of a priority for me. And then there's the food.... I grew up in the Midwest in a time before our country realized that sugar and butter were one of the leading contributors to poor health. Casserole was a common word in my house, potlucks happened at least once a month, and my mom used to make THE MOST AMAZING chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. I had no understanding of how to feed my body for fuel instead of just eating whatever I craved whenever I was hungry. To be honest, I think we, as a nation, are just now beginning to understand how that works. So, my early college years were a food frenzy. I think I gained about 20 pounds by my sophomore year. It's not about the weight, but obviously I was not treating my body with the respect it deserved.
When I decided to transfer schools to Southern California, the land of gluten-free and vegans, I realized I needed to change something.

The Downfall

I started out by running again and it felt great! I started feeling my body get back into shape. Friends began making comments about how good I looked (I'll get back to that), and it gave me confidence. But then I hit a plateau, like a lot of people do when they have been doing a fitness routine for awhile. So I worked out harder and more frequently. Then I began focusing on my eating. I tried really hard to pick the right things from the school cafeteria, but when there's fresh Mexican food every day and a DIY ice cream station at your beck and call, it's hard for a college student to say no. It was almost IMPOSSIBLE for me. Even when I would make good choices one day, I would completely fall off the wagon the next day. Then I would feel incredibly guilty and beat myself up over not having enough will power. So, I cheated....

Right after I began
purging.

Whenever I slipped and had a second helping, or couldn't pass up a chocolate sundae with whip cream, or if I "accidentally" finished an entire bag of chips, I'd just.... purge it.

It started as an exception... like, I would focus on picking healthy food BUT if I wanted to go to the movies with my friends, I HAD to have popcorn.Then I'd find myself searching for an empty bathroom to go throw it all up. "But it's ok, I'll be really good tomorrow," I'd think. But then my friends would want to get Thai food and I'd find myself eating an entire plate of curry and rice and multiple Thai iced teas. Immediately followed by a purging session in the nearest lavatory.
Soon, it became the norm instead of the exception. After a couple months, I was throwing up every meal. I became obsessed. I HAD to go running everyday too. If it got too late at night to go running outside, you could find me at the gym on the treadmill for at least an hour.

Oh yeah, I lost weight. I went from consistently sitting around 130 pounds most of my adult life (accept my freshman year of college), to 118. And for the record, I know that's not too bad and I don't think I necessarily looked sick. But I didn't FEEL healthy at all. I had stomach aches all the time and my skin was a disaster. And it didn't matter how many weights I lifted, my muscles were slowly deteriorating because that was starting to be the only energy source I had left in my body.
I just kept thinking that "if I can just drop a few more pounds then I'll be happy and I'll stop throwing up and really start focusing on good nutrition and maintaining." But it wasn't that easy. Breaking an eating disorder is never that easy. I couldn't come to acknowledge the fact that I had an issue at all, so of course I couldn't just switch it off.

Honestly I can't believe no one caught on to me. I was constantly running to the bathroom and I was obsessed with the working out every day. Looking back, the most frustrating thing I realize now is that I wasn't even enjoying the outcome. Everyone thinks they'd be so much happier if they can get to a goal weight, but I became so obsessed and stressed and guilt-ridden that I was NEVER satisfied.

Wedding day

This went on for about 2 years. I won't necessarily say this was the worst time of my life because, amidst this deep and dark issue I was holding onto, I met the love of my life and got engaged. At first that sent me into overdrive... trying to perfect my body to look as good as possible for my wedding day. And I did look good! I was thin and my wedding pictures look bomb! But I also remember stressing out about how much I was going to eat AT MY OWN WEDDING RECEPTION. It was all consuming!

It was right around this time that I kind of stepped back and looked at the big picture.
You know what is harder than trying to eat healthy? Trying to keep a secret from your new husband. I knew I couldn't keep something like this from my husband, and I didn't want to start out our marriage like that!

ED Recovery

So I faced it head on. I remember doing research about what can happen to your body when you continue to throw everything up all the time. I vividly remember typing in the word 'bulimia' and having to come to terms with the fact that I had a problem. I should have told someone and gotten support, but my pride got in the way. I'm a 'do it myself' kind of gal. Luckily I was able to break it. It took some deep soul searching and countless conversations with God, but I cracked. And it was ONLY because I was being honest with myself and to God about it all. (At this point, I need to deeply express to anyone that is dealing with an eating disorder to go tell someone... I was lucky but it's
really not that easy)

A few months after I
stopped purging.

I would love to say that's where it ends, but unfortunately eating disorders don't just end. They never fully go away and I did continue to struggle with that feeling of food guilt (and still do sometimes), and that old routine would start sneaking back into my life. But you know what really changes a person's perception about themselves and refocuses their priorities? Having children. Once I got pregnant with Addalyn everything changed. It was about giving that child everything it needed.

Fast forward, again, through 5 years and another child. My husband and I finally found something that works for us.... key word: US. If you don't have support, specifically from the one's you live with and are around most of the time, then it's going to be 1 million times harder. We are a species created for community. We rely on each other to get through the hard times.

Runners World

My passion for running rubbed off on my hubby and he became hooked. What keeps us motivated and excited about it is that we consistently sign up for races, so we have goals to focus on and training to keep us going. It truly makes it that much more enjoyable! Find physical activities that you ENJOY! So, yes, a lot of my sharing will involve running and training for races. I know running is not for everyone, but I will tell you it's become a great family activity. Our munchkins run in any kids' races that we can find and they love it. We take them on runs with us in the jogging stroller and my 5 year old is getting to the point where she will run a little bit with us! If you are interested in getting into running or maybe a 5k or even half marathon has been on your bucket list, I highly recommend utilizing Nike Run Club. You can download the app on your phone and it has been the most amazing thing for my running since I had a coach in high school.

Nutrition and Whole30

Now: clean eating, never
hungry, no stomach issues,
best skin I've ever had.

The real kicker for my hubby and I was the nutrition. Having 2 munchkins around the house makes it hard to get in the veggies our bodies need... it's a constant battle with them between riced cauliflower with chicken or mac and cheese. We are also a busy family. My husband and I both work, our kids are in sports and we are extremely involved with our church. So for a long time, normalcy was grabbing Mexican food after church, or pizza after sports practice or donuts on the way to school. We knew we needed a shock to our system... something to get us going and be a legitimate "thing" we could keep track of so we could stay focused. Enter Whole30.

I'm not going to tell you that you HAVE to try Whole30 or that it's the best nutrition program out there (because just the Whole30 program is actually incredibly strict and hard to maintain). BUT, it was perfect to kick us into gear. Thirty days was all it took... to create some good habits, become aware of what exactly we were putting into our mouths, and get into a good grocery shopping routine. Oh, and I also dropped 10 pounds that I had desperately been trying to lose since Clayton was born (awesome outcome, not goal).

After the 30 days was up, we had a choice. We could go back to what we were eating before or we could embrace the hard work we put in and continue the partnership we had created with our bodies. It hasn't always been easy, but we're at a good place right now. Understanding what nutrition we NEED to stay fueled but also what food to stay away from so we don't feel bloated and tired is really relieving! And it has completely changed our running game too. But what's important to understand is that we've taken the time to figure that out for ourselves. You can't just let other people tell you exactly what you should be eating because what if your personal genetic makeup doesn't mesh well with that specific food? It was trial and error, and Whole30 just so happened to be the best setup for us to figure that out.
To get more information on the Whole30 program, please visit the website. It is awesome and has so many resources, it makes it really easy to understand.

3 Things to Remember


I want to finish up by saying this: first, don't let other people's comments about how you look be the main motivation to get on track with your nutrition. Even when someone tells you that you look great, which is always nice, shouldn't be the reason you continue to work. How you FEEL and how your body is reacting is the real measurement. You're already beautiful, dang it!

First marathon,
10 lbs heavier.

Second, fitness and activity (which is important) will only help so much if your nutrition is not on par. Find out what nutrition can take your workouts from "let's get this over with" to "I feel like I can go harder and longer". The first half-marathon I ever trained for resulted in a 10 pound gain and horrible stomach aches after every long run. Food is supposed to aid your physical activity, not impede it.
Third, stop having relationships with your food. We have somehow created a society where food is a huge factor in dealing with emotions and mentality. Have you ever heard someone, who completely changed their diet and recently got healthy, say "it changed my life"? Because it does! It changes our perception of food and what it's meant for. Just because we want to have a birthday party should not mean consuming processed and zero nutrient snacks is a must. Change your priorities from how food makes you feel emotionally in that moment, to how it will make you feel physically later in the day, and the next morning, and the day after that.

I know that was a lot to take in, but my blog will consistently include health and fitness things so I really wanted to give everyone the backstory to the information I might share. I appreciate you reading and, as always, if you would like some encouragement or support, feel free to reach out to me!