Everyday wellness Hero's - My inspirations 5

Teenage years only playing softball

Improper eating in my teens

When you are young and you think you are in love, you sometimes let those people who claim to love you walk all over you and take advantage of you. You let these people make you feel like you are worthless and don't deserve better. You let them critique your body and make you feel like you are fat and ugly. You begin to believe every little negative thing they say to you about yourself. You become depressed and hardly anything makes you happy. 

One year before I started my health and fitness journey 

Fortunately for me after 4 years I realized that I was stronger than that and didn't deserve to be treated like that. I deserved more. I deserved to be treated with respect and accepted for who I am. I knew that I wanted more out of life and any future relationships I would have. I knew that staying in a negative relationship like that would have absolutely no positive outcome. 

When I first started my journey. Only doing cardio and looking really tired.

When I made this decision in life to move on and find myself, something truly amazing happened, I was happy again! I saw my friends more often. I spent more time with ones who truly did love me for me. I even found true love without even looking and now we are engaged to be married and

A few months later when I decided to change my workout and diet. Bulking and heavy lifting routine. 

5 months after my bulking routine. Started cutting diet.

are having a baby girl at the end of July! He has played a huge part in helping me find myself because he believed so much in me and my dreams that there was no room for doubting myself. This was the start of my new found love and passion for wellness. My passion for health and fitness! 

Keeping muscle mass built during my bulking season

My wellness journey hasn't always been easy. Growing up my father wasn't around, my parents divorced when I was young. He was still in my life but I hardly saw him. There were a lot of things that happened that made me hurt and feel abandoned by him. I think that a lot of my insecurities stemmed from them. I believe that the reason I stayed in a bad relationship for 4 years was because I felt I needed to be wanted and loved by a man to replace the love I wasn't getting from my dad and it didn't matter how badly this person hurt me. 

Double bi shot. Strong is hot week is not (R.C.)

Leaning

Abs

What mattered was they would give me attention whether it was good or bad. Over the years my dad started to grow up and find himself and to this day our relationship is 100x better than it was when I was a child. I don't hold anything against him because you honestly cannot control the past and let it ruin your now. I've learned so much from my experiences as a child and teenager that it has helped me be a more understanding person today.

Aug-Oct 2013 Pre-pregnancy body

Another one of my insecurities that I am constantly battling is being my worst critic. My mother is also the biggest critic of herself and for as long as I can remember she has openly talked about her body in a negative manner in front of me and she is this petite young mom who has had 4 kids and looks better than most 20 year olds! As a child you absorb EVERYTHING your parents say or do. I am the first to admit that I am extremely hard on myself and always have been. Every day it is a work in progress to love my body during all different stages. And more than ever this is the time I really need to work on it because I have a daughter on the way and the last thing I want for her is to feel insecure of her body.

Feb 2014 at 4 months pregnant

Now let me begin by saying that my health and fitness journey at first were two VERY different things. I didn't understand how to put them both together. I started as a cardio queen and I loved watching numbers fall from the scale. But what I didn't understand was what kind of proper nutrition I needed. I basically ran myself to a state of depression. I became so caught up in watching the weight fall off I didn't care how truly healthy I was. I had always been a curvy and heavier girl and seeing my body lose weight like that was all I wanted. I became so down that my fiancé honestly didn't know what to do. He would try everything in the book to make me happy and I wasnt having any of it. Unfortunately a lot of people have a similar fitness story where they have such high expectations but no guideline to follow and what they don't realize is our bodies fluctuate so much depending on your diet, workouts, even your rest time. I knew that if I continued to be down like this I might lose the love of my life and myself altogether so I decided to make a change. I did my research, I found weight lifting programs to try. I looked up what a girl my age, and specifically what my goals were, are supposed to eat like. I found a balance. I found happiness again. I gained weight but this time it was muscle and not fat. I learned to love to lift and eat properly for my body. I learned to love my body through all the stages it was going through. I learned to love the process! It also helped having my fiancé being my gym partner and pushing me to limits I didn't even know we're possible. I never in my life would have thought I would be able to squat three 45 lb plates a side ( that's a total of 315lbs with the bar) for 3 sets of 10 without his constant motivation! 

March 2014 at 5 months pregnant

My diet hasn't always been good but now it is very simple and I've been eating like this for years. I eat a high protein diet mainly lean white meats, lots of veggies especially greens, healthy fats such as avocado and nuts, and fruit. I've cut out processed foods, sugar, wheat products and most dairy. Instead I substitute by using honey or stevia as a sweetner. I use almond flour, coconut flour or oats as my substitute from bread products. The only kind of supplementation I use is a rapid absorption protein powder that is 99% lactose free and is sugar, aspartame and fat free. I've tried many protein powders but I find that my body loves this brand the most. When you are open to experimenting with food and recipes you'd be surprised at some of the amazing creations you will come up with. Or if you aren't adventurous Pinterest is a great website for finding healthy recipes. The ratio of what I eat depends on if I am on a cutting, bulking or maintaining diet and what my goal is for my body. And LOTS of water. Keeping the body hydrated is a major role in so many of our body functions and not to mention it helps you lose weight! 

April 2014 at 6 months pregnant

My biggest obstacle to date is accepting the fact my body has changed and is growing differently because of being pregnant. Right before I found out I was pregnant I had found my trainer to start my fitness competition journey. I was mentally and physically ready to start that journey and then one day woke up and I found out I was expecting! It has been a long and hard road these past 9 months accepting the fact my body has changed, but I wouldn't change this whole experience for the world. My style of training has definitely changed throughout the different trimesters of my pregnancy. I work out 4-6 times a week even now at 38 weeks pregnant. I was body building prior to getting pregnant so I am able to still lift weights throughout my pregnancy just using lighter weight and higher reps. I wouldn't recommend my style of training for every woman who is pregnant but I truly believe that staying as active and healthy as possible throughout my pregnancy has helped me huge and helped me only gain weight I need to! It is so important for women to stay active during pregnancy for many reasons. Bouncing back quicker, helping with labor and delivery, back and body pains and overall wellness and happiness! I have 2 goals for after delivery...1) to start the road to recovery and rehabilitate myself the right way always listening to my body, that way I can start training hard again and work towards a fitness competition sometime next year and hopefully inspire other new moms or woman in general that anything is possible if you want it bad enough and 2) to go to school for personal training so I can properly help other woman who want to change their lives and bodies for the better! 

May 2014 at 7 months pregnant

My thoughts about wellness are simple- when I am active and eating clean healthy food to fuel my body I am happy! It really is that simple.

Still healthy and hitting the gym at 7 months

I met Ray when I was 15 years old and I started working for him. (I thought 16 but…RC) I was always inspired by him and looked up to him like a father figure. He was there for a lot of difficult times in my life and his words of wisdom always helped me. What inspired me so much about him was his passion for helping others and trying to improve their overall wellness. At the time being only 15 I didn't really understand what "wellness" meant. I played softball my whole childhood and teenage years but by no means was a super healthy eater or a very active person. My wellness journey didn't start until I was 19 years old but as soon as I found my passion, my journey started and I was hooked!

June 2014 at 8 months pregnant

What I would say to others who are looking to start their wellness journey is to be fearless! Have a vision and make goals. Believe in yourself and your journey. Stay focused and work hard every day and make things happen! Find new ways to stay motivated and inspired because you will have a lot of bumps in the road that make you want to quit. People will want to see you fail and they won't understand why you do the things the way you do but at the end of the day those people's opinions don't matter! It's your journey! Trust and enjoy the process and journey. Do what makes you happy!

Current baby bump picture July 2014 at 9 months pregnant