It was quite the EVENTFUL weekend over at the McCormick’s, that a weekend recap just had to be written. Oh and it RAINED all weekend, which is crazy talk for southern California.
On Friday I did the 16.2 workout at the new Crossfit gym I am working at. I innocently signed up for the Crossfit Open, because one of the coaches said even if your not super competitive and just want to do it for fun, sign up. So I thought…why not?! Oh man are these workouts kicking my butt, but in a good way. I only go to Crossfit about twice a week and I am not gonna lie I choose the days where there is mostly HITT workouts and running, not a huge fan of snatches and overhead squats. The 16.2 workout was actually a lot of fun (well fun from a trainer doesn’t mean anything). There was toes to bar, double unders, and squat cleans (I finished with a 95 pound squat clean which is a PR for this girl). I got a whopping 262 reps, which I was proud of but walked away with a gnarly blood blister.
Friday night I also had a GNO! It had been too long since I had just gone out with the girls. We grabbed taco’s and wine at the local Winery that I am a member of. I know weird combo, but it’s cheap and yummy! We ended up meeting up with my parents and finished the evening with a little karaoke, it was a lot of fun!
Saturday was DAY ONE of potty training!!!! (see I need the night out before the craziness started). We did the three day method where you don’t leave the house, you don’t use pull-ups and you use the reward system. I am going to do a full post on that soon. The first day RJ had a lot of accidents, but now we are on day three and she’s got it!! We haven’t left the house yet and I am a bit nervous about that.
Sunday I got to escape from the potty training mahem for a couple hours and did the Run Through Redlands Half Marathon with my beautiful client Lauren. She has been doing my bootcamp for about three months now and we have been running a couple Fridays together. I haven’t run more than 6 miles this past year, but I have been doing SPIN and running for me is more mental than anything so I wanted to pace her and enjoy the run. It rained the WHOLE TIME and was super windy, but we had a great race and the best part was she felt amazing the whole time!!! I can honestly say I am not sore today at all thanks to the Catalyst from Advocare I have been taking!
After the race I enjoyed my favorite local breakfast, breakfast tacos at Olive Avenue Market.
The rest of the day was spent potty training and relaxing with the family and there may have been a couple glasses of CHARD enjoyed as well as a cheesy movie or two.
I am excited for this new week! I have a whole new group of 24 Day Challengers starting for the month of March and they are going to do awesome! I have a full recap of my thoughts on the 24 Day Challenge as well as my results. We got a full new shipment of supplements this weekend and I am not sure who was more excited, me or RJ?!
Question: What was the highlight of your weekend?Â
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Let’s go back…. to the days after my senior year of high school (2003) and the beginning days of my freshman year of college. I tried Weight Watchers meetings with my mom, and it worked for a short time, but I wasn’t serious about it and I wasn’t following the plan correctly. I would save all my daily points for dinner and basically starve myself throughout the day! Not a good idea, and really not a healthy way to live. I suffered from headaches and a multitude of health issues because of it. So needless to say I stopped the meetings and lived my life, and of course gained more than the freshman 15!
Now go with me, to the pre baby days in 2006, I weighed about 195 pounds, unhealthy for my age and height and then in April of 2007 I got pregnant and on delivery day in December 2007 I weighed 239 pounds. Of course I had the baby, my sweet little Jaiden Dakota born on New Yearâ€
s Eve 2007, and I didn’t lose much weight from that of course just the baby/water weight! After Jaiden was born I enjoyed every bite of food I put into my mouth, not ever thinking twice about the calories I was consuming or the exercise it would take to burn that food off. Between 2007 & 2009 I never changed anything about my diet or exercise. It was not until I went for my yearly checkup in February 2009 when my doctor told me that in the past two years I had gained weight every time I had seen him and that if I did not change something I was headed for a very unhealthy life and that if I did not want to change anything for myself that I should consider changing it for Jaiden! That one statement hit my heart… Yet I did nothing about it.
Okay now let’s fast forward to July 2009, I had a one and a half year old and a friend of mine asked if I wanted to join Fitness 19 with her to workout. So I joined but I never changed my diet. I figured as long as I was working out, I could eat whatever I wanted and it still wouldnâ€t matter. Boy, was I wrong! It was not until a different friend of mine in April 2010 asked if I wanted I join Weight Watchers online and workout together when we could at the gym! I jumped at the chance, I already had the workouts down somewhat and I knew I needed to do something (Doctor Appointment in February ringing any bells here?) – So May 14, 2010 I joined Weight Watchers (WW) online and I started my weight loss journey at 229 pounds (only 10 pounds less than baby delivery day a few years prior)! I did have a goal weight in mind, which is great for WW also! In high school I can remember being 155 pounds and I wanted to get back to that weight. I did everything online, never attended a meeting, but I did have the support of family and friends and a personal trainer at the gym holding me accountable! When I started WW I wore a size 24 jeans and a size XXL shirt. Once I started focusing on my food intake and also making better choices alongside my workouts, the weight started to fall off. I made sure that I knew every ingredient in all the foods that I ate, and almost every meal I ate was planned out the day before. If we were going to be eating out, I planned what meal I could enjoy along with fully understanding the nutritional facts prior to sitting down in the restaurant! The food scale became my best friend at home and still to this very day I use it! I donâ€t know about you, but I donâ€t really know for sure what four ounces of chicken or beef is.
It took me 16 months to hit my goal weight and well I passed that up and hit 152 pounds in September 2011! It was a HUGE day for me! 480 days of five to six days a week workouts and better portion control – my biggest issue – (I was eating lean cuisines then, which is NOT clean eats or healthy – I didnâ€t know about clean eats then), I had finally done it! I had lost 77 pounds since I first started Weight Watchers online! I was finally able to wear a size 10 jeans and a size medium shirt! I was able to maintain my goal weight, fluctuating between 152 & 156 pounds for the remainder of 2011 and most of 2012! For most of 2012 I did not use WW Online, I used a similar app in the App Store from iTunes called iTrackBites, which is a similar app to WW Online. I did it to save money, it was a onetime pay app and it seemed to have everything the same. In October 2012 I turned 27 years old and I kind of just stopped tracking all together and watching what I was eating and then the pounds slowly started to creep back on.
January 1st of 2013 I weighed 173.5 pounds, which meant I had gained back 21.5 pounds and I knew I had to do something. While it was still a huge deal that I had kept off 55.5 pounds I knew that I needed help and I knew that my options were to head back to Fitness 19 full time, since I had kind of slacked off there as well, or I could find a personal trainer outside of the gym who could help me with food and diet! I went for option B and on January 10, 2013 I met Bobbi McCormick at Starbucks to discuss a plan to get healthy and kick these 20+ pounds to the curb! I got linked with Bobbi through a mutual friend from church and social media. I had emailed her and we started chatting options and that all lead to our meeting in January. We decided that her virtual personal training was going to be the best option for me. Bobbiâ€s virtual personal training means I would get weekly workouts to do at the gym, a meal plan for the month, accountability with her via text and email, tracking my food in my current similar WW app, as well as two workouts a month with HER!!! I virtually personal trained with Bobbi from January 2013 until the start of her Summer Shred in May 2013. I continued her plan for the Shreds from May, June and on into July 2013. At the end of the shreds and personal training with Bobbi I weighed in at 159 pounds. I had lost 14.5 of the 21.5 pounds I had gained back! I was thrilled and never felt better! Before Bobbi I was strictly a cardio and minimal free weights girl, Bobbi changed that for me. She taught me the benefits to free weights as well as burpees… yes I just said there are benefits to those darn things! Weighing 159 meant that I was only 7 pounds away from my lowest weight ever! I was so proud of myself and so was Bobbi! During that time we became way more than just trainer/trainee friends. We became real life friends and it was the best! Nothing like having uplifting, Godly, driven and health/fitness conscious friends in your life. That right there was something I had prayed about for a long time & finally through Bobbi I gained much more then weight loss; I gained friendship!
During personal training and the shreds I decided to visit a plastic surgeon in April of 2013, about a mommy makeover to remove the excess skin I had in my mid-section which for the longest time I considered to be FAT! The doctor told me that I could work out two times a day for two hours each time and nothing more was going to happen to that skin, I had done all I could and the only option to remove the skin was surgical. So in July 2013 I had a mommy makeover to remove the extra skin and tighten everything up! I had a health scare and it took longer to heal then originally planned but overall I am 110% happy with my results and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Part of a mommy makeover is to have your abs tightened after child birth; the doctor informed me after surgery that because I had done such a great job losing the weight, he couldnâ€t even get a stitch in my abs and nicknamed me “ladder absâ€! Having that skin removed and the feeling of losing that final bit of “fat†for me was a HUGE step in my journey that started over 3 years ago!
Back to my weight loss journey… through the summer and the fall months of healing and light walks and workouts I maintained my weight loss of the 14 pounds, going back and forth between a few pounds here and there! In October & November 2013 I had gotten far more serious and back into my workouts and watching my food even more and I got down to 154.5! Only 2.5 pounds away from my lowest ever!
Then the holidays hit and my mindset changed, I thought that since I had surgery and since I had maintained for the most part that I could stop such constant workouts and I could stop watching every point of food that I enjoyed and what do you know I gained back 17 pounds! All of a sudden it was March 2014, and I was staring at myself in the mirror yet again weighing 171 pounds! I couldnâ€t believe it. I knew what it cost me time and money wise to change these habits and I yet again allowed myself to slack off and gain weight! I was at 58 pounds lost since I first started WW which is a great deal of weight to have kept off, but I knew better and I knew that I needed to get back to being more serious about my health. After all lets me honest, I didnâ€t even start this for me, I started it for Jaiden, after the doctor has suggested it; but I do love feeling better about myself and having the energy to chase my now 6 year old around!
Between March 2014 and September 2014 I have gone back and forth between being up and down around six pounds. I was still tracking, just not strictly, in iTrackBites, the similar WW app. If I look at my weight loss that means at my lowest in the past couple of months of 2014 I have weighed in at 165 pounds. That is 64 pounds gone since the start! It is a great deal of weight to have lost but I know I can be healthier and make better choices. So on October 8, 2014 I rejoined WW Online! One of the many reason I chose to go back to WW Online was I think, you get what you pay for to be honest with ya. With the other app, it wasnâ€t bad, it just did not have everything that WW has and I feel like if I want to be serious about my weight loss again, I need the real deal! Alongside my sister in law and support of my family and friends I am back at it! My plan now is to workout 4 to 5 days a week and stick to clean eats and portion control with the help of WW online.
Weight has always been an issue for me, I have always seen myself as the bigger girl of the bunch. I know for me I need accountability and that means Weight Watchers, the scale (weekly and nothing more) and a great support system. What works for me is Weight Watchers for portion control and now with the knowledge I have learned from training with Bobbi, I know the best way to eat is CLEAN! Of course I still enjoy a drink every now and then and I eat the sweets I want also once in a while… As for fries, well those are few and far between but I do allow myself them every now and again! I donâ€t think WW or clean eating is about starving or deriving yourself. Some of my favorite meals now are 100% clean eats and that is a huge statement coming from this girl, who used to enjoy Farmer Boys once, sometimes twice a day in 2006 & 2007! Food is meant to be enjoyed and not to be seen as a negative thing!
I have learned through my journey that not everything works for everyone. Sometimes people can count calories and that works for them, but it might not work for others. I have also learned that each and every personâ€s body is different and just because I can run an 11 minute mile outside and someone else can run faster it doesnâ€t mean there is anything wrong with my mile time. I have really had to work hard and pray through the comparison traps in the fitness and health world! I know that when I am working out at the gym or even on a run it is just me vs. me and that is OKAY! I donâ€t need to lift the same weight as her or run as fast as she can because we are all at different stages in life and in our journey! I have kept my size 24 jeans; just one pair! They are might “FAT†jeans and when I am down or having a hard comparison day, I just look back and remember those jeans and realize how far I have come. I wonâ€t lie to you, I have walked into my closet and put them on… of course I can practically fit in one side of them now, but none the less that are a constant and helpful reminder of the distance I have come. I have to keep in mind to think like this “look at how far you have come, not how far you still have to go.†I never thought in 2006-2007 I would as healthy or as fit as I am know. I was never a runner before and now I am running between 3-5 miles every time I run. I just finished a 5k with some dear friends of mine and I am registered for a 10k in November 2014 and a HALF-Marathon in May 2015!
A little bit about me… I am a coffee addicted, rain loving, flip flop wearing girl with a born again passion for my faith, which is nothing short of being on fire for GOD each and every day! We currently live in Yucaipa, CA. I am now 29 years old and Jaiden is now almost 7 years old. I am happily engaged to the most patient and loving man I know, Keith; and we are getting married May 23, 2015! I am also a host of Bobbiâ€s dream come true, which is Refresh Summit and I canâ€t wait to see all that God has in store for the ladies involved & myself through this door He has opened for me! You can follow me on Instagram @ HeatherJean85
Here are a few before Weight Watcher pictures as well as through-out the process of Weight Watchers and then some current pictures also!
HAPPY MONDAY! Sorry I have been MIA on ya’ll been enjoying some much-needed rest 
I am really loving the Monday Motivation series on the blog. A lot of you have related to the stories shared so far and there are so many more to tell. I am still looking for more stories. So please if you wish to share your story with NHS readers, please send me an email! WE ALL HAVE A STORY TO TELL!!
Today’s story comes from Jenna Beil from Crazy Healthy Fit!
Jenna’s  Story
2002-2006
I was a HS athlete. I played Varsity Soccer, which kept me very active. However, I was never very healthy. I was your typical HS student, always looking for a party and just wanted to have a good time. I would eat junk food all of the time. My friends and I would order dominoâ€s pizza and cheesy bread on a regular basis, and finish all of the food. Then, later that night, weâ€d make brownies. We would also drink every weekend, whenever we would get the chance. We werenâ€t heavy girls, but that was only because we were active in sports.
When I would start to feel as if I was putting on a few pounds (dominos and alcohol can do that to ya!), I simply would consume less calories. I counted calories like it was my job. In my mind, the lesser amount of calories I consumed, the leaner I would get.  It did not matter what kind of food I ate. I remember eating dry cereal for breakfast, and chewing gum like it was my job to curve all cravings.  My goal would be to consume no more than 1000 calories in a day. If I completed this goal, it was a good day. Trust me, 1000 calories a day for an active HS athlete is NEVER enough. I think back to those days and can only cringe at how detrimental I was being to my body. My goal was to please others. If other people were happy with the way I looked, then it did not matter to me how my body felt inside.
2006-2010
Throughout these years, I was a college student. I moved away from home and was finally free to do whatever it was that I wanted. I chose to put sports aside, and joined a sorority instead. This meant less exercise and more partying – this was what I wanted at the time. I still counted calories, believing that 1000 calories per day was appropriate. Any alcohol that I would drink and any extra calories over my 1000 calorie limit that I consumed, I would burn away at the gym (usually the treadmill and/or elliptical). If I would eat over my caloric limit or if I did not make it to the gym one day, I got very depressed. This led me to buying diet pills and experimenting with fad diets. I did gain the “freshman 15.â€Â As a matter of fact, I think I actually put on about 20lbs my first year of college. And no, these 20 lbs were not muscle, it was pure fat. I hated my body, and hated the way I looked. Which only led me to more diet pills and fad diets.
At this point, I had hit my plateau. After 2 years of college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (“IUPâ€), I decided that the school just wasnâ€t for me. I transferred to a school closer to home (and my boyfriend). This was the turning point in my life. I was living with 3 wonderful girls at St. Josephâ€s University (“SJUâ€), all of which had a good head on their shoulders and were just the kind of people I needed at this low point in my life. One of these girls (Alyssa!) was training for her first marathon when I moved into the apartment. This really got me thinking about running. At the time, my mind was still set on losing weight and looking better, not necessarily feeling great and doing what was best for my body and health. So, I started running. Little by little, I started to feel like a brand new person. I also joined the club soccer team at SJU and met a bunch of new friends. After surrounding myself with good people – people who genuinely loved life and cared about one another – my mindset and entire outlook on life began to change as well. Running became my stress reliever. I would usually run by myself because it was my “me time,†which I enjoyed very much.  In 2009, I completed my very first race, which began my career as a runner. Running gave me the opportunity to interact with other health conscious people like myself. I attended race expoâ€s, subscribed to health and fitness magazines, and followed the lifestyle of some popular fitness icons. This was how I began to learn about the importance of nutrition and fitness.
2010-2012
I graduated college in 2010 and remained in the Philadelphia area. I began to love my body for what it was and not for what other people thought. To this day, I am still running races. I ran my first marathon in November 2011! Running will always be a part of me – it is who I am. However, I have recently learned a lot about the importance of strength training and proper nutrition. Therefore, I am now incorporating strength training into my weekly routines. I usually aim for 5 days of strength training with a small cardio session per week, and 1 day of cardio alone. I have also altered my eating habits, and now have a very clean eating style. I aim for about 5 or 6 small meals each day, focusing on getting the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat in my body. Ever since I began exercising and eating correctly, I have found that I have a lot more energy throughout the day and am overall a happier person.
I have a new-found love for crossfit as well! I try to follow the paleo lifestyle as much as possible, and am currently focusing on my sugar intake. Did you know that we are only supposed to consume about 35 grams of sugar per day?! One day I would like to get my NASM certification and become a physical trainer so that I can teach all of you about the importance of fitness and nutrition.
To read about the current me, click —-> here
Feel free to email me at crazyhealthyfit@gmail.com for questions about my journey. Iâ€d be happy to share more personal information with you via email if you would like. I found that talking to others about my problems really helped me learn how to change the way I thought about things and become the person that I am today.
I am starting new series here at NHerShoes called Monday Motivation. I want to hear your motivating stories from all of you!! Everyone had a story and I want to create a place on this blog to SHARE those stories. You donâ€
Todayâ€s story comes from my sweet dear friend Carly Jones:
Decide. Commit. Succeed
These 3 words make up the Team Beachbody mantra.
{My sis & I, hysterically laughing on the Jungle Cruise @ DisneyLand. She’s a fantastic fitness instructor, excitedly pursuing her dream of becoming a personal trainer in Colorado Springs.}
For years, my sister (Jenny Jones, an awesome trainer & encouragement) has been driven and committed to a healthy lifestyle. I have learned tons from her over the years and truthfully haven’t been too unhealthy myself. But I haven’t been all that healthy either – some days I would only eat one meal and most days only two. But nutrition & fitness was Jenny’s thing, and I didn’t want to take that from her.
About 2.5 months ago, my good friend Bobbi McCormick was putting together a group of women who, for 60 days, would be willing to commit to a challenge of health and fitness. At this time, I was sick of being hyper conscious of my poor self-esteem and body image. My lack of confidence in my shape was distracting me from being fully present for ministry. I didn’t feel good about myself. And I was over it. After talking with my sis about this chance that Bobbi was offering to her friends, I expressed interest.
Within a week of giving Bobbi my goals of truly just jump starting a healthy lifestyle and toning up my body, I was rear-ended by another driver, which resulted in back injuries including a pinched nerve that severely limited the use of my left arm. I thought, “Well, that’s it. I can’t do this fitness challenge because I can’t even move.”
But Bobbi wouldn’t accept that excuse. Her response was that health starts in the kitchen, and she encouraged me to start by just changing my eating habits. And so I did. As my back began to recover some, I started walking regularly. And once my Chiropractor gave me clearance for intense exercise again, I began the TurboFire workouts. And the results over the past 2 months have been astounding!!!!
I weigh less than I did in college. My muscles are toned. I’ve dropped 2 pants sizes. But more than this I just feel good. Mentally, I am not distracted by wishing I looked differently than I do. I don’t get angry with myself for not eating healthy, or eating too much. Truth is that unhealthy foods don’t even look appetizing to me anymore. I honestly crave turkey burgers and veggie burgers over beef… tho I’ll still get beef every now and then. I know to ask for whole wheat pasta and bread. I eat only half of entrees when I go out… which means I get at least 2 meals out of a more expensive meal, making it more manageable for my budget! I snack on veggies and healthy proteins (like cottage cheese with fruit & almonds). Basically, everything I put into my body counts.
Yes, I feel good. I have more energy and confidence. I have courage and determination. I actually am loving myself enough to take care of my body. I always used to think that I had to run marathons or triathlons in order to be committed. But that’s just silly. I used to think that if I cared so much about my looks it was vain and would just boost my ego. But it’s not.
Being healthy has freed my mind to worship God differently and more fully. It is giving me the confidence in God’s truth that I am beautiful and worthy. It’s making me realize that any “normal” person can feel good about themselves and their health without having to be a marathon runner or super involved in culture of races around the country… that’s just not my thing.
Bobbi McCormick has been passionate about fitness & nutrition since I’ve known her. Her own story is inspiring, and she has helped many friends rewrite their stories to become confident, healthy women.
The accountability of Bobbi’s Summer Beach Body Challenge, the encouragement & expertise of Bobbi & Jenny, and the success & struggles of the other women in our challenge group encouraged me to follow through on this commitment. I can truly say that I have succeeded in my goals of a healthier lifestyle, the result of this is physical, emotional, & spiritual health! Thank you Jesus for this story! Each of us is different, and are driven differently.
But all of us have the ability to be healthy and whole in body, mind, & spirit.
You can do it too!
You can keep in touch about my journey in life by following my blog at whereismybrain.wordpress.com.
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