I would never imagined living the life that I live today. A life on the road with 3 kids, a dog, and a husband I can barely keep up with. Days spent chasing the next stunning sunset or roller coaster that’s even higher and faster than the last.
Most in our family can’t wrap their minds around our lifestyle and over the past couple of years, I have learned to not care what they think. I am happier and more importantly, healthier than I have probably ever been. How did I get here?
As with most transformation stories, I had hit a lifetime low. I was a divorced, single mother of four; weighing in at almost 215 pounds. I had taken time since the divorce and extended custody battle to heal mentally and emotionally but physically I was a mess. I was heavier than I had ever been – even during my pregnancies and it didn’t feel like I was ever going to lose the weight.
My knees were wrecked from high school sports and the strain of carrying around an extra 65 pounds! Working out wasn’t an option, even if I could have found the time or the motivation to try.
But that all changed when one fateful Facebook memory prompted me to send a text.
Usually, I would assume nothing good could come from such an impulsive move; but I would be wrong. Sending that text was the single greatest thing that I could have done.
I was moving one of many loads of laundry from the washer to the dryer when my phone dinged. “2 years ago today…” read the notification, a quick tap and I was scrolling through a series of pictures; the kids and I with a man I had dated for short while after my return to Florida.
Before I could think better of it, I fired off a FB message saying that I hoped he was doing well. A few messages later he told me he would call me after the football game. He did and we talked into the wee hours of the night. Fast forward to January 2017, we were married in front of the Bellagio fountain on my first ever trip to Las Vegas.
During our separation he had gotten his diabetes under control by following a regime of pills and insulin injections, an all to common story.
However, he knew being a husband and father again meant he had to make some serious changes; that we both did if we wanted 30 years together! So, we started our marriage with a commitment to get healthier.
We both quit smoking and he decided that “managing the Type-2 diabetes” with medications that were causing more problems than they were solving, wasn’t good enough.
Together we started an extreme keto diet and he coached my through a progressive at home workout program. We both succeeded – I hit my target weight of 155 and Barton fully reversed his T-2 and he weighed in at a healthy 225.
Since then we have stopped therapeutic ketosis dieting, Barton has become a certified Master Health and Wellness Coach, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Nutrition Coach and I am back to fluctuating between 160 and 175 pounds.
Yes, it happens; even when you’re married to a professional coach!
While I continue to work on getting back to a healthier BMI, my overall view of exercise and our ways of eating have adapted overtime. I’m older now and stressing myself and my body isn’t going to help.
I continue to follow a 16 hour fasting schedule and am focused on getting more consistent with my calorie intake – you know, the basic meat of the matter of weight loss; not eating more than I burn!
The long and the short of it – we are living our lives in a way that is making us healthier and happier than we have ever been before. And we are checking as many things off our bucket list as we can with kids in tow!
We hope that you will join us on this journey – nod not just by reading what we do, but by signing on to do it too!
