Who am I?
I am Jean Marie,
- Ok so let's get this settled first. It is pronounced Je`an, like Jean Luke Picard or Jean Claude van Damme. Yes it is spelled in the male sense, I know! I didn't fill out the birth certificate though, something about me being an infant and not yet having eye-hand coordination, but lets not hate on my parents, they meant well. :) (was that to many commas? Hmm)
I am going to be 36 in July. I have been married for 17 years and have 3 awesome sons ages 16, 14, and 11. Also, I have recently finished graduate school with a M.S. in speech language pathology.
"But this blog is about healthy stuff and some fitness and maybe a black eye!
True but we are getting to know each other, remember!
So, back to me.
During graduate school I found 20 pounds.
"Dang, education makes your brain fat!"
No silly, Education makes your brain retain knowledge; bad, unhealthy, fatty foods and no exercise makes your body fatter. (No, I am not fat and I know this.)
Prior to starting graduate school I had successfully lost 73 pounds. The summer of 2009 I had finally had enough! I didn't take pictures, I didn't wear clothes I liked, I didn't own a bathing suit! So I got busy! I cycled 18 miles 2 days a week that summer, ran, and went to the gym 3 days a week for 2+ hours a day. I logged every bite I ate into an app (Loose It) and by April 2010 I had hit my goal of 165! WOOHOO!! Yay!
You know you want a before and after!! Ok, well here it is…
So then I kept the weight off and still went to the gym, ran, and cycled regularly.
I loved doing that!
Then came graduate school!
DUN DUN DUNNN
During my 2 years in graduate school, traveling 4-5 days a week 62 miles one way to school, I managed to find 20 pounds and lose all of my muscle that I worked so hard to build. I ate like crap, I was stressed, and practically had a diet coke & coffee drip attached to me the entire time! Recipe for disaster!!
I even got shingles in the middle of all that! FUN, right!? NO!!
So now I am finished with graduate school, SWEET! I even have a great job that I start the beginning of July, AMAZING! and I have muscle to regain and some fat to dispose of. WOOHOO!
Now before I show my after grad school photo, I want you guys to understand one thing!
I love my Grandmother with all my heart and she was always my best friend.
Yet, she spent the last 7 years of her life in a nursing home due to her inability to recover from a broken hip because of her weight. She was overweight my entire life. I never saw her as that though. She was my life and loved me more that a grandmother should. She raised me through high school and helped me grow into an honest and caring woman.
So, that being said, I may not be "fat" to you guys, but obesity is a fact on one side of my family and cancer and disease is the reality on the other side. I am fighting a two sided battle to show my children that obesity, cancer, and illness do not have to be in our futures. By eating a healthy cleaner diet and living an active life we can overcome the past and create a new future for our family.
Okay so here is my "After grad. school photo."
I know, it's not the end of the world. However, on the inside, the feelings I get when I put on my clothes and they don't fit. I feel like I have gained back every bit I lost!
I came so far and worked so hard and then I let it go away! I can't blame school. I made the decisions to eat junk and drink junk. I also can't dwell on the past and what I did and what I was.
What I can do is start anew, start fresh, start living again!
So I am starting this blog. I am starting it not just for those who want to be pretty like the magazine! That's just not real. I am starting it for me and anyone who wants to have fun and make changes for a healthier life, whether it is thin or heavy set.
Don't we all want to be healthy? (please say yes!)
So let's start today! I told my cousin this once, and now I am telling myself!
p.s. I forgot, I am also a vegetarian :) but you eat what you want, I'm not on a mission to conform anyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment