Meet Donna!

Donna

Height 5’5”

Weight 174.5

Goal weight 149

Fitness Goals: Improve run time.  Run half marathon in under 2:10.

Maintain my goal weight once I lose weight.

Life Goals: Maintain balance between work, family, and fitness.

I am so happy to introduce myself. My name is Donna. I am 38 years old. I am a mother to 3 beautiful children, ages 3, 4 and 7.  I also work as a full time IT professional.  I have been married to my husband for 12 years.

Here’s some background info on me and how I’ve gotten to where I am currently.  I was never super athletic in HS. I joined the Navy when I was 18 and was thrown into a lion’s den of push-ups, sit-ups and running, none of which I really enjoyed.  I have always tried to maintain some type of fitness whether it be Zumba, Step, Spinning, you name it, I’ve tried it, but I’ve never been able to really control my weight. For the past 15 years that has been one of my biggest struggles.  I’ll lose 15-20 lbs, feel great, and then allow something to throw me off course which inevitable puts all my bad habits back into play.  My latest passion has been running.  I started 5 years ago training for a 5K, then worked up to my first half marathon.  I truly enjoy it and the friends I’ve made from running is nothing short of amazing.  Running is manageable with my current lifestyle.  It’s my 30-45 minutes of clear headiness that I need to maintain my sanity for the rest of the day.  I have a gym membership but right now in my life there is no time.  That is definitely a goal of mine to incorporate weight training again but that will have to wait until baseball season is over!  My oldest son is an avid baseball player, which as you moms may know, takes anywhere from 3-4 days a week.  I have taken advice from a very wise friend and started utilizing baseball practice to exercise.  Even if it’s walking around the field while the boys are practicing, I’ll do it.  I started wearing a fitbit which helps monitor my steps and makes me feel like I’m putting in the work even on days that I’m struggling to find energy.  As you can see, I’m motivated and already have some of the pieces in place, it’s just sticking to this path and not letting life throw me off.

Last year I hit an all-time high, 185.  I had outgrown my fat clothes and swore I would not buy an entire wardrobe to accommodate my weight gain.  I made a huge change.  Started eating clean and oh boy, what a difference that made!! I lost 25 lbs in 4 months.  I also ran a half marathon in my fastest time last Dec.  Just like so many other times in my life, the minute I crossed the finish line I threw all my healthy habits out the window.  Seriously, the drive home from the marathon, I stopped for burgers and fries!! What?? I hadn’t eaten that in months!!  This of course started the weeks leading to the holidays, then my anniversary, then valentines, and so here I am 178 lbs.  I made the decision on April 17^th to stop all the bad habits and get back to where I was last year.  My goal is to be even more in shape so when I run my next half marathon in December of 2016, I’ll kill my time by 15-20 minutes.  I am so eager to start blogging because I have so much to share with you.  It’s been over a week and I have lost 5 lbs already.  I did one of the scariest things and had a body analysis done.  Not something I would ever recommend but it showed me where I am on paper and that will help as the months go by. I am 100% committed to my journey and to sharing my experiences with anyone who will listen.  I am turning 39 in a few months and my ultimate goal is to be in the best shape of my life while maintaining my family and work.  It’s all about balance!!

So now that you know a little about me I want to tell you about a few challenges I had this week.  I’ve been eating clean for 7 days and my baseball moms invited me to dinner and drinks Friday night. I immediately panic because of course I want to go, but uh oh what am I going to eat?!!  I quickly jump at the chance to be the designated driver, who needs those wasted calories from alcohol anyways…. Now for the restaurant meal.  I scope out the menu online beforehand and find what I think is the healthiest option.  My advice to anyone eating at a restaurant is keep it simple. Skip the apps and desserts and go for the grilled meats!!  The meal plan I follow is a combination of Whole30 and Paleo. I’ve cut out all white starchy items, i.e. Bread, potato, tortillas….and yes my husband is Mexican so this is very hard!!!  It’s totally working though.  Starches out…veggies, fruits and meats, in!! 

Healthy Yummy Foods and My Handsome Man

 Last minute change, we decide to go to one of the ladies houses because she ran into a babysitting situation at the last minute.  It actually worked in my favor because I ate dinner at my house before I went.  I encourage you to share your journey with everyone because this next surprise was what got me through the night….my girlfriend knew about me changing my habits and actually had a bowl of strawberries for me when I got there!!!  She was my angel in disguise at that very moment and I appreciate her heartfelt gesture more than she knows!!  So girls night out was a success!! I drank water this time, but as I get closer to my goal I plan to incorporate alcohol in moderation.   Don’t be scared to join your friends.  This is a lifestyle change and we can’t avoid things that make us happy simply because the situation may involve bad foods. 

I had another big event this past weekend, a quinceanera Saturday night.  Again, normally I’d be excited for the awesome food and candy table but I took a deep breath and thought about it sensibly.  I am human…so I decided to eat the dinner at the party and it was so worth it! My plan was to stick solely to water, but a couple at my table pulled out a bottle of something blue and started pouring me a glass.  I succumbed to temptation #1, the blue drink.  I also fell victim to temptation #2, the cake!! I tried to set an expectation of how I’d avoid these temptations but sometimes we fail.  I hate to use that word fail though because I really do feel like I’m in it to win it.  I danced the calories off to make myself feel not so guilty and ultimately had an awesome time at the party. 

So here we are… I’ve made it 9 days eating healthy and now I have a forum to share all of my trials and tribulations.  Have an awesome week everyone!  My goal this week is to run 3 miles, 2 times and hopefully get a long run in on the weekend.  Let’s kill it, Y’all!