New Goals.

It's official, I WON the 90 day transformation challenge for my club.  I finished in the top 10 for the national finalists but only the top 5 women were eligible for votes to win the national competition.  I truly believe that if I had been with my MMA trainer the entire time I could have made top 5.  I did however win 300.00 LT bucks that will probably be put towards more training and I also get a locker with my name on it for 1 year.  The above picture shows a comparison to my goal at the beginning of the competition.  I think I came pretty darn close to that "look".  This week is a new start to new goals after this past week off.  I am excited to see what I can achieve next.  Thanks for all of the encouragement and support!

Eric's 90 day results

These were my husband's impressive results only doing MMA class 3xs a week.  His diet was tweaked, but it wasn't altered to the extent mine was.  Just simply amazing!  Way to go Eric:)

Final Weigh In.

This morning I had my final weigh in.  My final number is.....

15.8% total body fat
-17.25in lost (mostly in my hips and waist)

I am so excited!!!  That was seriously the best I could achieve in less than 6 week.  I know it was a 90 day challenge.  And I worked hard all of those days.  But it wasn't until I started training and eating like a fighter was that I started seeing any kinds results. 

First 6 weeks my body fat went from 25.1%-23.7%
The last 6 weeks (including a 10 day Easter vacation) I went from 23.7%-15.8%

Thank you to all of my supporters!!! It's been the start of a wild adventure!
My Essay and before and after photos have been turned into the judges and we will find out soon who the local winners are and then finally the national winners are.  (There will be voting for the last one so stay tuned)

Before and After.

All my life I have been extremely fit and active; involved in many sports from basketball and cross country to rock climbing and wakeboarding.  I was a youth Boot Camp instructor all the way through my first pregnancy nearly 6 years ago.  Two more babies followed closely with each pregnancy being more challenging than the one before. They were filled with many complications before, during and after, leaving my body at near breaking point.  Multiple surgeries, bed rest, infections and carrying 3 nearly 10lb babies had done a number on my body and left me in uncharted territory.  I was lost.  I had never had to work at being fit before.  It was just a lifestyle for me and nothing I was doing seemed to be working.

Now, my days were no longer my own.  Instead, I was in constant "mommy mode".  I love being a mom more than anything, but I was also struggling with postpartum depression. I needed to find a healthy way to combat it. 

I decided to turn to nutrition and exercise. I had been working out at a low intensity prior to the 90 day challenge, but the results were not there. When the 90 challenge presented itself I figured it would be the best way to be accountable to actual physical change. I needed SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely) goals.  
I sat down with a trainer and made a plan. I had some blood work done and started training once a week with him. On my own time I would go to the gym and work out 6 times a week.  I was feeling great, but not seeing the kind of results I was looking for.  I was nearly 6 weeks into my transformation journey and nothing had changed in the way of measurable goals. I was crushed. All my hard work did not seem to be paying off. I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. 

 I met with the amazing staff in the personal training department to problem solve.  We all decided that it would be best to start working with someone with nutrition training as well as a trainer who is an expert at cutting lower body fat percentages.  Merrick Morlan, the MMA trainer seemed to fit the bill perfectly.   My husband, who is also in the 90 day challenge, had been training with Merrick since the beginning and was seeing amazing results. Luckily, Merrick was willing to take me on as a client with less than 6 weeks remaining in the challenge.

 When I met him he said he was going to train me like a fighter (not intimidating at all) and that it was going to be different than anything else I had done before (no joke) and pretty difficult, especially considering our timeline.  I agreed to do whatever he told me to do.

Now, MMA fighting isn't even on my wild and crazy bucket list.  I am not by nature, an aggressive person so the idea of coming into a fight shape class with no experience and being introverted...let's just say I was in slight panic mode.   At this point though, with no current results to speak of, I didn't have much else to loose.

 Every single person in all of my classes were so nice and welcoming and Merrick was a quick teacher to catch me up.  I quickly fell in love with the idea of coming to the gym and not having to spend hours lifting or doing traditional cardio.  It was FUN! Merrick also drastically changed my eating habits. They weren't bad habits, they were just not conducive to what my body needed. I was now training and eating like a fighter which was no longer as intimidating as I once thought. 

At my first weigh-in, one week after changing my routine, I had dropped 4% body fat!    I did in my first week of fight training more than I did my first 6 weeks of traditional lifting.  I had finally found my personal equation to fitness success, which I have learned is VERY different for each person.  Moving forward it was physically a challenge, but it turned into more of an emotional and mental challenge as the 90 days ticked further down. 

 It wasn't always easy to stick to the meal plan. I found myself being hangry (angry because I was hungry for treats). It also wasn't my favorite thing to wake up at 5:00am to get an early lift session in before the kids got out of bed for homeschooling and my husband had to leave for work, but I quickly learned it was worth it.  Every.  Single.  Time. I was beginning to see all of the small victories I was making. 

Joining group classes when my introverted personality wanted to hide in the corner of the gym, WIN.  Trying new things that I wasn't very good at (basically everything in MMA/fight class), WIN. Learning to tone down my perfectionism, WIN. Staying on track while out of town for 10 days over Easter, BIG WIN! Putting my kid's goldfish crackers away without snacking on them myself, WIN! But mentally, pushing through the weeks of initial failure to find my eventual success was my biggest win!

 It's the little things that not everyone is willing to do, that makes your life exceptional.  I decided many years ago that I am not okay with a mediocre life.  We only get one chance at this and I want to do it with extraordinary determination!  I have learned from this 90 day transformation journey that the best parts of life start outside of your comfort zones.

I am grateful, more than I can express, to the wonderful team of people who have helped me along this journey. Having a strong support has made the seemingly impossible moments survivable. All of the sweat, tears, and bruises have been worth it!  I am excited to see what the future holds next because this is only the beginning for this homeschooling mom and wife.

A special shout out and thank you to Merrick for his constant patience and tolerance of my numerous emails and questions. And especially for showing me just how much more I am capable of!

Post Easter Update.

We are home after a long trek down to Texas for the holidays to see my family.  It was a bittersweet trip in that I miss my family more than words could ever say, but I also felt as though the deck was stacked against me in maintaining my very strict workout/eating plan.
 On Good Friday we loaded up at 4:30am and headed out for our extra long day of driving.  Our goal was Norman Oklahoma where we had previously booked a hotel (with a gym).  The car was packed with snacks and buckets of movies/toys for the kids to keep entertained and I was able to get some overdue reading in.  Side note:  I LOVE to read!
 At each stop the kids and I got out of the car for some squats, lunges, bench step ups, jumping jacks, etc.  It was a blast!  And it helped tremendously to get all of the wiggles out.  Never mind that we looked like a group of crazy people:)  Eating take out was especially tricky to stay within my eating plan.  For lunch I settled on a spicy chicken salad and a small chili from Wendy's.  We finally arrived to our hotel around 6:30pm (I think?!) and after getting the kids settled with a pizza dinner I headed down to the gym.  I engaged in a brisk walk on the treadmill at an intense incline for just over 30mins and then moved onto a full body workout out with free weights.  It was actually quite a well-equipped, nice and clean gym.  When I got back to the room the little people were mostly sleeping and I crawled into bed myself.  There was very little sleep that night due to the fact that we were all in one room. 
The next morning Eric took the big kids down to a full breakfast while Brielle and myself got ready and packed up.  Saturday was my warrior seeds and berries eating day so I wanted to avoid steaming piles of eggs and meats at all costs.  We finally loaded up just after 9am and made a quick stop at the grocery store to stock up on my berries.  The final dive got us to our destination right around dinner time.  That night Eric and I pulled out our gear and did a card fight for the boys to watch.  I added in some upper body.  The issues we ran into though was that they live in the middle of nowhere, the outside ground is riddled with fire ants, sharp mesquite and stinging nettle.  Their floors inside the house are all poured concrete.  So, to attempt any sort of ground work (triangle holds, shrimps, pushups, sprawls, etc) can be quite the challenge. 
Easter Sunday was a re-feed day so that I could enjoy all of the yummy foods.  I ended up eating homemade granola with raw milk for breakfast and then after church we feasted on turkey, veggies and I had a slice of tres leche cake.  Lunch was followed by extreme games of confetti eggs, chubby bunny, egg tosses, etc.  That night I walked on the treadmill for 2hrs.
Monday was another warrior eating day and we all went to a trampoline park.  It was pretty intense complete with races, mechanical bull riding and trampoline doge ball.  Dinner was plain hot dogs and raw veggies.
Tuesday was a rest day as far as activities go.  We drank iced tea and watched the chicken, fed the neighbors horses and ate simple paleo food.  That night was another long treadmill walk.
Wednesday I woke up at 4am and drove over an hour to my friend's (we went to high school together) gym in Austin.  He kicked my butt for an hour and I headed back to the homestead.  That day we went to visit another Aunt and spent the day eating delicious paleo meals of lean meats and veggies.  I also took a long nap on their couch that afternoon:)
Thursday the guys went golfing in the morning and that late  afternoon the girls headed off (sans kids) to eat my favorite restaurant La Madeline's.  French food!  I had the chicken Caesar salad, strawberries rominoff, and a small plain potato soup.  We sat and talked so long that at dinner time we headed off to eat Indian food for the first time.  I ate several items that I have no idea what they are.  But they tasted yummy!  That night was my cousin Graham's 13th birthday.  I didn't eat the chocolate cake. 
Friday morning we hit the road around 5am and made it into Kansas City.  Our hotel didn't have a gym but they had a pool with a waterslide that the kids LOVED!  I ate a warrior seed/berries diet.
Saturday We made it home around dinner time and did warrior again b/c it was so much easier than finding fast food that worked.  That night we crawled into bed at around 1030pm and I did not wake up until 4:30pm Sunday night!  The trip really wore me out. 
Now, I am back in the swing of my normal routine and feeling less stress about my food/workouts.
I weighed in on Monday and I was at 18.5% body fat.  I was so relieved all things considered.  I am sitting in 2nd place for the Chanhassen lifetime club and I am determined to get first.
Merrick is going to do body fat pinches on me tomorrow before class so we can come up with a final plan for this last week's push.  He says I am going to do a fight cut.  It's something fighters do just before they weigh in/fight.  I'm hoping to reach my goal and push into first.  I also have to write an essay about my transformation journey and submit a before and after picture by the 9th of May.  I'm nervous but I am also excited to see the end of this journey.  I already have new fitness goals for when these expire.

Pre-Easter Update

Lately, I have been so busy or so tired that anything extra has gone to the wayside.  I've been sticking to the plan that Merrick gave me (which is quite extensive/detailed) and it's been working like a charm.  It's been some of the most challenging few weeks in more ways than one.  I never expected to be this emotional or have to deal with such mental struggles. 
My last week's weigh in I was at 18.9% body fat.  Which is awesome since my goal was 17%.  Now the number is fluctuation closer to 15% for my new goal.  We will see.  My shins have been swollen and bruised to the point where I actually cried in class.  3 times.  It was really sad.  I felt like the more I tried not to the harder I cried.  I just don't like feeling weak and incapable.  It's a terrible feeling when I don't know what to do different.  Merrick has been very supportive and patient with me, so that has been helpful.  I think I have a weigh in tomorrow morning.  Actually, it's just a few hours away so I'm signing off.  I will produce a better update when it's not 2am.  I have been packing and getting everything ready for our road tri down to Texas on Friday.  Merrick gave me a revised plan while I am traveling.  I am praying I can achieve the same results I have been getting with class/gym.  Fingers crossed as we are in the final 4 weeks of our 90 day challenge. 
PS
My skinny jeans fit again!!!!

Week 1 MMA Update.

 Yeah, always wrap your hands before punching stuff....

 I think the above pictures speak for themselves.  I feel like a bruised peach, but I guess that's normal.  At least we can tell where my strikes/kicks land.  Considering I feel like an uncoordinated goof during class, I'm at least hitting the right parts of my body to the bag.  Haha! 
This past week has been such a challenge both mentally and physically.  Besides my 9:30am class Merrick is having me add additional workouts in to get completed before class.  I am making it work(think alarms set at 0'dark thirty) and if I'm not working out I'm soaking in hot showers and Epsom salt baths and rubbing muscle relaxing creams on. 

My meal plan has drastically changed.
 Most days I eat eggs and meat for breakfast, meat and salad/veggies for lunch and meat and veggies for dinner.  No snacks, nothing fermented(condiments, dressings, yogurt, etc.), dried fruit, rice cakes, protein shakes and bananas are all on the NOT-TO-EAT list. 
2xs a week I am eating what Merrick calls a Warrior Day.  It consists of mostly seeds, nuts and berries.  No strawberries (I just feed those delicious juicy things to the kids) and I drink 2 gallons of water (to help with muscle recovery) that day, followed my a LONG slowish walk on the treadmill for 2-3hrs.  I set my portable DVD player up and pick out a long movie to watch.  It still gets boring pretty quick and my legs are toast by the end.
 But I'm doing it and sticking to it!  I want to see results more than I want to eat strawberries and peanut butter by the spoonfuls on the couch.  And that's a whole lot at this point!
 Merrick assures me there is a method to this madness and I have put all my trust in his abilities.  He's a smart guy that knows crazy weird stuff and has eaten bugs in Japan(long story).  So he's legit.  And he's probably wondering why he took me on as a client.  I email him all of the time with at least 15 questions a day.  This is just such a new journey for me and I tend to struggle with perfectionism.  Yeah, he laughs at that. 
Anyway, here's to week 2 of MMA training!

PS
It's actually been a lot of fun.