Beachbody Baby!

Hopefully you've had a chance to read my last post about my transformation! (If not, read it here!) Remember I said I didn't do this to inspire anyone? That I did it for myself? Well, here's the crazy thing about when you try to be the best you there is...you DO inspire people. It just happens! And it's amazing!

I shared WHY I started my journey, but I didn't really share how. Well, long story short, I started January of 2013 trying to lose weight. I weighed 178 lbs when I started. I decided to start with just cleaning up my eating using South Beach Diet (phase 1 is brutal!!) and doing some walking/running and workout dvd's (started with Jillian Michael's 30 day shred). There were so many days I wanted to give up. Throw in the towel, go back to my old habits, and just be done.

There are lots of reasons I kept going. I had goals! And I'm not typically a quitter. But when it gets hard, you don't remember those things. Lucky for me, I started my journey with a beachbody coach, who has now become a pretty great friend! She was a huge supporter, motivator, and encourager for me. Every time I wanted to stop, she reminded me why I was doing this. I didn't really know much about beachbody then (except that Shaun T is a trainer for them and I think he's awesome! Hip Hop Abs is where it's at baby!) but I did know that my coach cared about me and would do anything to help me stay on my journey! I'm so incredibly grateful for her! (Love ya Kelly! Y'all go check out her blog too...she'll inspire you as well I'm sure!!)

Doing all of that I lost about 20-25 lbs. It was great! Then I kicked it up a notch and reached out to my brother in law for help (he's a personal trainer) and I'm so thankful he believed in me enough to help! He convinced me I could run a half marathon and trained me through it. I lost another 15 or so pounds!!

It was around that same time, maybe two weeks before my race, I finally decided to try out some beach body programs and Shakeology (I used hip hop abs quite some time ago and loved it!). I joined a beachbody challenge and a 7 day trial of Shakeology. I was hooked. I couldn't believe how great the Shakeo made me feel and how much energy it gave me. Since my training and eating didn't really change and all I added was the Shakeo I can only assume it was that specific product.

I also loved the feel of the challenges, how encouraging everyone was and celebrated each success. I especially loved the accountability. I knew accountability was huge based on the past year and I really wonder what my journey would have looked like if I had started with beach body products and challenge groups.

And this, my friends, brings me to coaching. After such an incredible year, how could I not share everything I've learned?? How could I not help when people ask me for advice? How can I not empathize when I hear other people's stories?? I can't. It's in me. It's not surprising seeing as how I've always been involved with people at some level, whether that's with ministry or teaching or caring for these sweet littles. So I decided to jump in and start coaching. I'll be honest...I was terrified at first. Yes, people asked me for advice. Yes, people saw my pictures, heard my story and wanted encouragement, help, motivation. Them asking and me answering is one thing. But now that I'm putting myself out there, offering this up...who would want to join me in this journey? Who would trust my judgement when I recommend these programs to them? When I post a meal plan for my challengers, will they actually go out and buy the groceries on the list and stick to the plan?? It took me 3 months to get started...THREE MONTHS! I look back and wonder what could have been if I had started when I was planning on it. Where would I be as a coach? Guess what? Doesn't matter. Because I'm doing it now. And I love it!

So let me ask a question. Does any of that last paragraph sound like you? Do you like helping people? Are you motivated, passionate, driven, and super into fitness? Oh yeah, and you'll get paid for doing what you love! I'm really wanting to build my team and I'm looking for 5 people who read this and thought "O.EM.GEE!!! (Cause that's really how everyone says those three letters put together!) This chick is talking about me!! I want that!!" If so, please email me!! victoriasharee@gmail.com Or message me on facebook! I would be thrilled to have you on my team!

Deuces. Ha!

It's not over!

Throughout the past year and few months I've had a lot of people talk to me about this change. At first it was words of encouragement. Then it became statements of congrats. Towards the end of the year, about when I ran my half marathon, it became questions of how. How did you do it? What diet did you use? What exercises did you do? How did you find the motivation? How did you stay motivated? Can you help me do what you did? It reminds me of an awesome quote:

I didn't go into this trying to inspire people. I went into this trying to find myself again. The woman who you see in my before pictures, you read about her. Jealous. Miserable. Lethargic. (If you missed that post you can find it here.) All I wanted was to be the woman my husband married. Always smiling or laughing about something. Who loved shopping, loved getting dressed up for her man, loved going out, loved RUNNING, loved laying out in the sun and wasn't ashamed of what I looked like. All I wanted was to be the mama I pictured myself to be. Running after my baby, playing with my sweet boy, rough housing with him, cooking healthy meals, teaching him new things. I never in a million years thought taking control of my health would lead to so many other amazing things! I've met so many wonderful people, I feel amazing and I feel like I found myself again. I have confidence again. And that alone has opened up so many doors! 

So without further ado...my transformation images!

Before: Jan 2, 2013
Current: Mar 16, 2014

I look at these pictures and I am overcome with emotions. Definitely mostly positive.

I HAVE LOST OVER 50 LBS!!! How crazy is that??? I need to do my measurements as far as inches go, but I can tell you that in my waist alone I've lost 11 inches. ELEVEN. I have gone from a size almost 16 (refused to buy them and started this journey not too long after that day in the dressing room) to a size 2 or 4, depending on where I shop. At the risk of sounding braggy (is that a word?!) I have to say I am incredibly proud of myself!

I think H is happy he has a healthy mama!
Also, don't judge! I look like poo and
needed a shower! lol!

But there's something I want to warn you of. It is so easy for me to look at these and think of my next goals. To see the pieces of me that I'm still not happy with. To think of my next workout, or list in my head what I ate that day and if it's going to get me closer to my goal. I am constantly reminding myself to STOP.

STOP focusing on these little flaws.
STOP talking junk about yourself.
STOP putting yourself down.

LOOK HOW FAR YOU'VE COME! (Yes, I talk to myself. All the time. Don't act like you don't! Ha!)

Instead, I have to remind myself to celebrate how far I've come. Celebrate each pound loss. Not because the scale measures my worth, but because the majority of those pounds lost added years to my life! Years where I'll be able to enjoy my family. And one day Harrison's family.

And maybe this is a tangent, but I gotta say it. A lot of people see me today, or will see these pictures, and think "why is she working out still? who cares if she has a cheeseburger? she's "skinny" now. she's fit now. it doesn't matter!" I know people are thinking this because A) I used to think that (remember the whole jealousy thing?!) and B) I've been told already. Either behind my back and via a friend or even to my face. Well, guess what got me where I was in those before pictures?! That kind of mentality. LAZINESS. Thinking "I've arrived." Umm, no. SORRY! It doesn't work that way!

 FITNESS, HEALTH, EATING WELL...those things don't just stop one day because my scale says "oh, you're ___ lbs...yay you. Now go eat all the food and don't exercise!" Those things don't just stop because my pant size goes down. I worked really really hard to get here! Now I need to keep working hard to stay here! Fitness never ends. And that's what I love about it! There is always something new to learn. A new class to take. A new person to talk to. It's a huge reason why I decided to coach through BeachBody. But that's a post I'll save for another day!

So I leave you with this...and don't forget! In the end, all I care about is being STRONG. For myself, for my boys, for my family, for my friends. For my life. And I care about it for you too!

Alright, enough rambling. Deuces.

(Trying out a new tagline...whaddya think?! I don't have a mic to drop so...! Oh, and I guess I didn't mention it in my previous post, but I'm also corny. It's sad really. Just humor me! <Insert winky face sticking his tongue out here>)

Strong

Yay! Welcome to my new blog! Ok, now that the awkwardness of "how am I going to start my first post here?!" is out of the way...! :)

I went back and forth on what I should write for my first blog post. There's the obvious intro post, why I'm doing this, etc. Then there's the transformation post, where I share my before and afters and get into fitness and health and share my struggles and successes. But I decided there's time for that. I'll get to those. You'll learn a lot about me (probably more than you would like since I tend to have word vomit...even when I can go back and delete what I typed! I'm totally an over-sharer!) and I will most certainly share my before and current progress pics! You'll learn that I'm a BeachBody coach (woot!) and why I dived into this and joined such an amazing company (shameless plug...I LOVE doing this and would love to help you on your fitness journey!). You'll also learn that I love wine. A lot. Like some days I run solely so I can really enjoy a glass or two of wine without feeling guilty!

Instead of all that I'm going to start with something different. I'm just gonna throw a few words out there for you all. Just take them in, think about them, process. Here they are...you ready?

Encouragement.

Praise.

Love.

Acceptance.

Support.

Genuine.

When I hear these words I feel good. I think about all of the people God has placed in my life who are these words to me. I think about my amazing, supportive husband who has been with me every single step of this journey. I think about my dad, who I miss so incredibly much, and how he was always one of the first to tell me he believed in me, no matter how crazy the idea. Sure he would always come at me with his pros and cons lists and make sure I knew all the angles before jumping in (his infamous lectures!). But he always BELIEVED in me. I think about my mom, the silent supporter. Always there for me if something fell through. Telling me I could still do it. Telling me she BELIEVED in me. I think of my crazy sisters and brother, who always tell it like it is but also always accepted me no matter what. And also they like to smother me with pillows. It's not fun. But they're GENUINE. And most certainly of my brother-in-law who had and continues to have a HUGE impact on my health and fitness. He's a trainer and around June of last year he started helping me, then put FAITH in me that I could run a half-marathon. No way would I have put that idea in my own head! I'll be honest, I'm pretty blessed with an amazing family.

But for a long time none of those words applied to me. None of them described me. Here are some that did:

Jealous.

Lethargic.

Misguided.

Ashamed.

Sad.

Why? Why did these words describe me and not the previous list of words? I had (and still do have) a great life! I have a husband who loves me and encourages me. A sweet baby boy who thinks the world of me. Clearly a family who believes in me. So why these words? Here's why: I didn't believe in myself. I didn't love myself. I was so ashamed of who I had let myself become. A lazy mother and wife. Someone who would rather sit on the sofa or floor while her wild toddler ran amuck and she was too tired to play with him. Someone who believed what society fed her. Fat, ugly, lazy, and not a size (insert whatever size you want here) therefore how and why should good things happen to me?!

Ok, that's all a bit heavy. Don't forget...I like wine. Scratch that...love wine! Ooooh and coffee!

Ok, back to the heavy stuff. So what does all of that have to do with anything? Well over the past year and 3 months I learned how to love myself again. I learned to look at myself (for the most part) the way my husband and family look at me. Most importantly I learned how to look at myself the way God looks at me. I am His creation after all. So what changed??? What made me go from jealousy to encourager? From misguided to acceptance? My health. Seriously.

Let's be real. I'm a woman. It's important to me that I look pretty. Even more so that I FEEL pretty. (If any of you out there are singing lyrics to I Feel Pretty from West Side Story just know I love you!) So this journey initially started with me wanting to lose weight and be skinny. But guess what?? I lost (and found) so much more than that! I realized something...skinny is awesome...I guess. I mean yes, I enjoy fitting into my clothes better, being in the single digits pant size for the first time in years, not crying every time I go into a dressing room, all that stuff. But do you know what's better? I feel STRONG. Like I could probably kick your butt strong. ;)

Strong.

I love that word. Strong as in I carried another human being inside my body for 41 weeks (that's right...my child is just like his mama...fashionably late!), labored for 30 hours then ended in a c-section strong. Strong as in I ran a half marathon strong. Umm, that's 13.1 miles in case you didn't know. MILES. Strong as in I lost my daddy to cancer last March (March 27, 2013 to be exact) and I still fully trust I'll see him again and I know he's proud of me. He was such an amazing man and to watch him battle cancer, then to have cancer "win"...it sucked. But he left a legacy for his family and I'm such a STRONGER person for it. (Oh, and cancer didn't "win"...he still won...he fought his hardest, showed all of us what strong is, and taught us to NEVER give up...no matter what. Fight for what you want.)

Strong.

So I end with this. One of my favorite quotes and I have no idea who said it.

IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING SKINNY...IT'S ABOUT BEING STRONG!!!

My sole purpose is to help others find what makes them strong. Support them through that. Prove the naysayers wrong. Help them love themselves again.

What does strong mean to you?

(PS: Doing this simply to be skinny...there is NOTHING wrong with that! I just don't personally believe someone can go on a journey like this and it not change you, both physically and emotionally! That's part of what makes this journey so awesome! And hey...rock those skinny jeans along the way! Us mamas still deserve to look good while chasing our kiddos around the park!)