Why Am I Doing This? ~ Reassessing My Goals

I'm taking this journey farther than I've ever
been before, and I feel a little like Samwise here!

I am in my size 6 jeans. I'm 5 lbs away from my goal weight. I feel pretty good about myself, but I'm losing my drive! For the past 14 years of my life, I've been in a constant pattern of: Get pregnant. Lose baby weight. Get pregnant. Lose baby weight. Get pregnant. Lose baby weight. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

This time, I chose to step things up a notch with personal training.  My life so far has not required a long term fitness attention span because as soon as I lose my weight, I'm pregnant again. Well, I'm not pregnant, and nothing is a guarantee. I can't live my life in limbo. I want to take charge and continue to choose my oxygen mask. I want to be strong inside and out! So, excuse me while I give myself another little pep talk. . .

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I'm in pretty good shape. I'm fitting into my skinny clothes again. I'm stronger. It's not like I'm a competitive body builder or anything. Why not just quit now and get back to normal?

Although all those things are true, it's more than just losing my baby weight this time. Here are my top five reasons to keep at it:

1. I chose to make fitness part of my life this time, not just for a short term weight loss goal.

2. I want to inspire my children to take care of themselves, and show my children that women can be strong.

3. I want to avoid physical problems as I get older, and physical fitness is a major key to that.

4. Being a mother of 7, I will probably have a lot of grandchildren someday, and I want to have the energy I need to enjoy them fully! I want to be an active grandma: babysitting, running, playing, and keeping up with those grandbabies!

5. I want to be confident! I don't want my body or self esteem to hold me back at any age. If I am confident and happy, my children most likely will be too. Not to mention the way my husband is enjoying my growing confidence!

So, little voice telling me to quit, you can hush now. I have a bright future ahead for me and my family. I have goals that will make my dreams come true. I've got this.

And on that note, here are my 14 week progress pics:

Daddy's Girl

He would be proud of me. I wish I could call him and tell him how I'm doing at the gym. I wish he could call me and tell me how he's impressed with the progress I'm making and how strong I'm getting. I wish he could've seen me dance for the first time in June.

Whenever Dad was proud of any of us, he would make a bunch of phone calls and tell everybody the exciting news whatever it happened to be. He loved to brag on all of us.

When I was a young girl, and I messed up on my flute solo and had to start over, he just praised me with tears in his eyes for how I handled myself when I made a mistake. I was always the most beautiful princess in the crowd to him. He respected me as a mother.

I never knew what a treasure it was to have a dad who believed in me.  I never knew how much I would miss his praise. I never knew how much I would miss finding out that he had been talking about me or my family to his brothers or cousins or friends at church. He would even brag on us to nurses and doctors when he had an appointment or was admitted.

I'm just really missing him, missing his attention, missing his kind encouraging words; but more than anything, I am so deeply grateful that I had a dad that loved me that much, and that he was the kind of dad that is missed dearly after he's gone.

Lots and Lots of Good News to Report!!

Hi!! I really just want to catch up with you all. So much to share with you!!

My kids continue to be absolute rockstars. They are such a huge support to me, and I could not do this without their support. Here are a few pictures of us working out last week:

At this point, with my fitness, I am amazed at how quickly my body is changing. I want to share this photo with you. These were taken just 1 week apart. When I saw this comparison, I was blown away! Yay mommy muscles!!

And here are my official 12 week progress pics!!

 I went to my first bootcamp at the gym, and it was great! I didn't expect being in a group to be that intense, but it is! He put me with Rick. He's a little older and bigger and stronger, but because we were a team, I pushed myself to try to keep up with him! Here are some pictures from bootcamp taken by my trainer:

I am so excited that Matt is going to start training tomorrow!! I am so proud of him for taking this huge step in his own self care. He constantly denies himself for me and the kids. Now, he's going to take some well deserved time to focus on himself. Go, honey, go!!! 

I LOST 5 POUNDS LAST WEEK!!!!! After a month long plateau, I am down to 135, just 5 pounds away from my goal! It's weird to say 130 is my goal since I was always skinnier than that, but this is the new muscular version of me, and I love it!! Here's a picture of my victorious weight loss chart:

A little collection from a photoshoot with my babies:

Have an awesome day, everybody!!!