April Spotlight Member - Angela!!!!
Biography: I am 36 years old and have been married for 11 years to Mike, my very supportive husband. We have 3 children-a daughter and 2 sons. Looking back, I thought I had a weight problem since I was in elementary school. I was tall for my age when I was a kid, so of course, I weighed more then my shorter friends. I thought of the extra pounds as being fat, and unfortunately, that thinking "sticks". I was overweight by about 30 pounds in high school and lost a bunch of weight during my senior year by crash dieting. My eating at that point was horrible, but I did begin to exercise and that is a habit I have continued up until this day. I was able to maintain a healthy weight through college and when I was first married. I struggled again with my weight after the birth of all 3 of my children. I gained close to 50 pounds with each pregnancy and struggled to feel "normal" again after each baby. It took me around a year each time to get down to a comfortable weight, but that weight was still 10-15 pounds more then I weighed before I was initially pregnant. Throughout this time, I attended Weight Watchers and exercised. When I tally it up, I realize that I have spent almost half my married years focusing on losing weight.
Why and When you got involved with PnP: I first found Corinne on the Weight Watchers boards. Since I had already been exercising, I was looking for ways to improve my exercise, and I thought she gave great, solid advice. I then read her blogs for awhile and finally applied to PnP and became a member the end of October 2007.
What types of workouts you do? Prior to PnP, I was mostly cardio focused with my exercise-a lot of walking, aerobics and some light strength training (FIRM videos). Now that I am with PnP, my thoughts on exercise have flip-flopped. Strength training with heavier weights is now my main focus. I follow the home gym workouts and use my treadmill for almost all of my cardio. I used to dread going on my treadmill and preferred to take my walks outside, but the Work Your Butt Off book has so many great workouts to choose from and the time seems to fly. Since the cardio routines are so effective, I have found that I don't have to sweat it out doing cardio for as long as I had in the past.
What keeps you motivated? There are two things that keep me motivated. First is the constant change in my body. The scale has not always showed the changes that have taken place, but my body is always changing shape. The tape measure shows a difference and my clothing size has gone down! I actually just bought a pair of pants a size smaller then I wore before my first child! Plus, I love my new muscles! My second motivation comes from the members at PnP. I am a very social person, but have never had friends who aim to live a lifestyle of eating well and exercising like I do. The community of women at PnP is like none other. Everyone is supportive, encouraging and willing to share. There's a feeling of "If you succeed, we all succeed". I learn something every single day that I am here!
Eating plan: My goal is to eat as clean as possible. I think I was on that road before PnP, but have gotten so much better over time. The most important thing about eating that I now implement is planning. It doesn't take a lot of time, but when I plan, I set myself up for success. I use my crock pot every week-it makes food prep that much easier. I have also learned the importance of fueling my body regularly with the right foods so I can achieve the results I am working toward. I still struggle with cravings, but I find that I now think more often what does my body need versus what do I want to eat.
Favorite exercise: Ummmm...I find this to be a hard one to answer. There are certain exercises I find hard and I dread, but I know that is a weakness so I need to do it even more. Difficult exercise for me is anything that uses my body weight as resistance, but in time I am doing better at this. I really like all aspects of strength training, because I like the "burn" during exercise, the soreness the next day and then really seeing the muscle form over time. I also have learned to love my treadmill and like the variety of workouts I can do on it. Who knew that you could walk backwards and sideways on that thing!
Something you never thought you'd be able to do and either can do or have tried doing: The one thing I didn't think I could do was to ever lose the weight I have been unhappily carrying around for 9 or so years and coming to like my body again. You know what? That's the best part of all right now-I like my body, I'm amazed at what it can do and how it responds to good food and hard work! I am also excited to see where I can be in 3 more, 6 more or 12 more months! I find myself believing in me and that's a great feeling!
How has PnP affected your life? I have said it before, but I really feel like I got the golden ticket when I became a member of PnP. I am so much more knowledgeable about exercise and nutrition. Now that I am feeling so much better about myself, I find that it is spilling over into all other areas of my life-most importantly my family. I have believed for a long time that taking the time to be healthy makes me a happier person, which obviously affects my family.