Sarah

As long as I can remember my mom told me that I needed to do a better job about watching what I was putting in my mouth. Not only what I ate, but how much of it as well. “Be careful, Sarah” she said. “I used to be your size too until I started having children and got older and it wasn’t so easy to stay skinny like I was.” She told me that she used to look at her mom, who was overweight and vow that would never happen to her. And I used to think the same thing. “Pffft, That won’t happen to me! I am athletic and active and in great shape! I have nothing to worry about” I told myself. I was the girl who played volleyball in the spring, basketball in the fall and ran track in the spring. Summertime was meant for swimming and biking and just running around with friends. I don’t know if I was ever at my ‘ideal body weight’, at least in my adult years, because I always had such an athletic build to me. But my body fat percentage was always at a great number. Even just a few months after my first son was born I was back down to 19% body fat; although I was only 21 years old when I had him.

That is when life changed. The role of motherhood came very quickly, and I hadn’t yet finished college, so life became very busy for me. Parenting, school, and work took precedence over being active and I began eating just to keep myself awake and focused and found there was no time for extracurricular activities! What were those? Slowly over the years my weight crept up and seven years later we had our second son. On the day of his birth I weighed over 200 lbs. Granted I was pregnant but I am just barely 5’4” so that was very difficult for me. It was 40 lbs more than I weighed when I gave birth the first time. But even then I didn’t lose it all, and life was still to ‘busy’ for me to work exercise and healthy eating into my busy schedule. Food almost became my comfort. Sure, I would have times that I would work really hard and lose the weight, feel great about it and then get sick of eating like a bird and decide to ‘reward’ myself…which resulted in falling off the bandwagon and the weight would climb right back up there. The longest I ever kept the weight off by dieting was for a year and I combined some occasional walking and light jogging in with that. I have found however that running is not really my thing. I also tried the gym memberships but I just don’t push myself much on my own. And workout videos at home only work if I actually put them on, instead of parking my butt on the couch and watching something else. Then in the fall/winter of 2012 I went right back into my old habits again of eating waaaay too much. It got too cold out to exercise so I became basically dormant and didn’t go to a gym because I have not had luck in the past so I just felt sorry for myself. I ate some more, gained weight, felt fat which caused me to feel even worse even though I knew it was my own fault and every month or so I swore I would start eating better. And after a couple days of eating really well something would happen or someone would bring treats into work and I would eat it!

That is when I finally followed my friend’s advice and decided to try the free week at Eupraxia. I had tried a local boot camp class in the past, which I really liked, but was too expensive to keep up so I already knew that I liked the intense workouts that I had heard that Eupraxia provided. I tried it and I loved it. Not only did I love the workouts but I also love the support and the team like feel of it. Everyone is so nice to each other and encouraging! It was a bit more than I initially thought I wanted to spend, but I was finally to the point where I was fed up with myself and I thought why not? I spend all kinds of money on other stupid stuff all the time. I used to smoke and when I think of all the money wasted on cigarettes, or junk food, or soda…it was ridiculous! If someone can spend ALL that money to destroy their body and do horrible things to it, but not spend some money investing in the very thing that gets us through each day and preserves us, then what are we here for? So that was all I needed to make up my mind. And just like that, I was committed. And I have hit it hard ever since.

Sure, I have things I need to improve on still. I am working on some of the lifestyle changes, but processed foods are few and far between for my family, I haven’t had a glass of milk in months (I used to drink it daily!), and I have made enormous strides in my fitness. I’m not quite to my goal yet, but I am getting closer and closer each week. I have my weeks, lately I have been really struggling with eating right and find myself having more cravings and giving in to some of my old habits. But I find that even though I am still giving in on occasion, it is not to the degree that it was before, and now with the fitness added in with Eupraxia and the encouragement that I get from the trainers, it is a lot easier to get back on track, and I haven’t gained any weight even on my worst weeks. I credit the trainers at Eupraxia with that. I would never push myself this hard at a gym. There are many times during my workouts when I just want to give up and if I were on my own, I would! There are times I have wanted to put my weights away and walk out I am so spent and tired and sweaty, but of course I don’t, because I know that those are the times that make me stronger and the trainers are there to encourage us. They are all so great. And when I have had questions, they always have answers for me. And when Lindsay feels that my weight is too small for me, she just brings a heavier one right on over 😉 I just feel like I have found an extended family and I encourage anyone to give it a good try, I cannot think of any reason why anyone would regret making this healthy choice for their body. I look better, feel better, have more energy and can keep up and be a more active and involved mom for my kids because I made this choice for myself. And the best part is, my boys see me making this change and are old enough to understand the changes and how much better they have made me so they know how fitness and living healthy can affect them and they are encouraging of me, which makes it all the better.

About the Author: Eupraxia

At Eupraxia we not only teach the best way to exercise, we also teach our members about nutrition and food. Our goal is to help people take control of their own health!