Heart Shaped Sweat: From Flab to Fit....

I love reading your stories of fitspiration and I love sharing mine with you. Today Ashley is sharing her FITstory with us. She admits it hasn't always been easy and shares with us the reasons why making a change to a healthier you is worth every side cramp. You may be following Ashley already but if you're not.... here's your invite! She's one of kind. I'm SO grateful to have met her in this bloggy world :)

From Flab to Fit: My journey so far

Hello pretty Heart Shaped Sweat readers. My name is Ashley and you will usually find me blogging about the randomness that is me over at It Is What You Make It. When I first made my blog, the name just seemed right and as time goes on, it describes my blog and me pretty well. It is what you get out of it...whether you are reading about my weekends, my sometimes disastrous DIY crafts, or posts from my heart... you get out of it what you want. Recently though, I've been overloading my readers with running updates. Let me explain.

I don't know what it was about that Tuesday evening in April that made me decide "This is it, today is the day I start getting fit" but it happened. I had recently signed up for a 5k and had run (no pun intended) across Kristine and my friend Nikki's blogs, both encouraging their readers to do something, anything to be active. I read it and thought to myself, surely I can do this. So I put on my clean running shoes, downloaded the Run 5k app, and took my first steps to a healthier me.

That first night was brutal. My side was cramping by the first jog that only lasted 45 seconds and I kept saying that there was just no way. When I got home, my usual Dr. Pepper and chips for dinner just didnt seem appetizing after I worked so hard to finish a 1 and a half mile jog/walk, so I ended up downloading the MyFitnessPal app and set out looking for what I could do to give myself more energy. Little did I know that was the beginning of a new me and I was beginning a new journey.

37 days later and I'm sitting here fitter than I have felt in a very long time, more energized and happier than my body is used to, and I just finished a light choice sirloin dinner with a glass of water. That my friends is a long way from drinking a Dr. Pepper for lunch and dinner, snacking on 3 musketeer bars all day long, and eating McDonald's for dinner pretty much every night. And I couldn't feel better. I can tell in the mornings the most. Although I still hit snooze a couple of times before I roll out of bed, when I get up, I'm excited and ready to start my day, which is what my 22 little first grade friends deserve from their teacher.

One thing that has come from my new journey that I wasn't expecting was that my husband decided on his own to join me. I was on week 2 and he said "well, I have a fitness test coming up, maybe I should go with you" and off we went. With his schedule it gets difficult for us to do it together but it's awesome to have someone pushing, encouraging, and motivating you to do a little more or keep going when you don't think you can.

Some people say it takes 21 days to make a habit but for me it's not about the repetition, it's about the desire and the outcome you are looking for. Setting goals is an obsession of mine so from the beginning I've had goals I'm working towards. Although most people's fitness goals would include loosing weight, I knew better than to expect that because I know my body. I wanted to work toward goals I could see and some that I could feel. I took before pictures, wrote down mileage goals, and continue to work and strive towards those goals. Has it been the easiest thing I've done? Nope. But has it been more beneficial to me than I ever thought possible? Absolutely.

Have you recently made a change in your habits, whether that be workout habits or eating habits? I would love to hear from you on how you stay motivated and what you've done differently that I could try. I hope you all have an amazing day. As my Grandmom always says, "be happy".

*********************************************************************************************************************************

Isn't she just the sweetest?!! I love keeping up with Ashley. She is always so motivating and cheerful. Her outlook and determination are both so inspiring. I'm really liking her perspective on "habit forming". I hadn't thought of it that way. She's right, all it really takes is a constant desire and eyes on the goal!

Go say hi and make friends!