P90X: Finishing Up
Chrissie
Once again I have let time get away from me. I had intended to blog my P90X experience and now I am almost done with P90X! It has been a trying experience to be sure. And a long, drawn out one at times as sickness, injuries, and other setbacks have delayed me. But I haven't given up and I think that is what is important to remember. Sticking with it and moving forward. No matter how long it takes me to finish, staying with it is what produces the results. I see people too frequently think they have to start all over again when setbacks occur, and, listen to me.....they always do!! If I had to start over every time I had a delay, I would NEVER finish. I'm in it for the results, not the perfection of sticking to a schedule. The schedule is there to help you and guide you, not rule you. 

So, speaking of results!! I, obviously do not have "final" results yet but I took some photos a couple weeks ago to mark my progress so far with P90X because I just "needed to see" tangible evidence that this program was working. Here's the thing I have learned about P90X: You will most likely not see dramatic weight loss right off the bat or even from week to week. The victories you see with P90X are mostly non-scale related. I haven't lost a lot of weight with this program, not like when I was doing Combat. BUT, I have lost 3 pants sizes!!! I can wear a fitted shirt and not have side-belly spillover!!! I have muscles that I have never seen before!!! I have stamina that I never had before, I can wear clothes I haven't been able to wear in years, I look better in my wedding dress now than when I wore it on my wedding day!!! Those things are immeasurable. So, here are my pictures from recently while we await my "final" pictures. 


So, in two weeks I will be done with this program and I'm trying to decide what program I will be doing next. P90X3 comes out in only 2 more days and I would LOVE to do it because it's all the hype right now and there will be a lot of groups forming for everyone to work out together. That's super exciting!! But we have lot of household dynamics changing at the current time and I don't know if a new purchase is wise. I have two programs that I haven't done that I am considering doing FIRST. In which order, I am not certain. We have Focus T25 which is an incredible program and we also have the Ultimate Reset which I really "need" to do to learn how to eat better and really bust through this plateau. 

So, I have been considering doing the Reset first after the beginning of the New Year and once we get moved into our new house! Yes, new house!!! So, Mike and I put a contract on a (new to us) house and if everything goes smoothly, our closing date is set for January 3. What better way to break in a new kitchen than with the Ultimate Reset and cooking wholesome delicious foods in it? 

These are exciting times for us and a little scary too. I turned in my notice at my current "away from home" job and am working it out through the end of the year. We are buying a house and moving. And now I feel called to homeschool my children, which when I really think about it answers more questions than it raises. So, I am praying about all of these things and exploring all of the possibilities. Ultimately, I know that He is in control and my job is to follow His will to the best of my ability. It doesn't always (read, rarely ever) make sense to my head what He is asking and where He is leading but it always turns out amazing. And it always gives me much to write about!! 

In the meantime, I will continue with my workouts and my wonderful, amazing challenge groups! Watching what God is doing in others' lives through those groups amazes me daily!! Trust me, if you have a desire for change in your life healthwise and fitness-wise, message me and I will help you. It is what I love to do. And the results speak for themselves. 


Here are some recent pictures of the shenanigans the kids have been up to. :)






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Back to School? Already?!!
Chrissie
With the beginning of the new month came the unofficial end of Summer. School started 3 weeks ago! Where did the summer go? We were just counting down the days until our June beach vacation and we're already in another school year. My clients and I have been disussing the last few days why the first day of the new school year is such a big deal to moms. We have come to the conclusion that it's an in-your-face reminder of how quickly your children are growing and that time is ticking away. I tell this story frequently to make my point. When Reagan was very little a lot of my friends had kids that were starting Kindergarten and I remember how utterly ridiculous they would act on the first day of Kindergarten. I swore I would not be that mom. Needless to say, I was that mom and probably worse because of PPD. Upon contemplating this (because that's what I do is contemplate everything to its death), I came to see that it was due to unrealized expectations. When you bring home your baby from the hospital you think you have so much time because all of it is out in front of you. You make plans, you dream of all the things you will do with your child and teach your child in those first 5 years. And perhaps you do some of them and others you put on a back burner because "there's plenty of time". And then you're dropping them off or sending them on the school bus for their first day of Kindergarten and you are shockingly overtaken by the reailzation that those 5 years are gone forever. You can never get them back and the next phase of your child's life (and yours) has begun. One word sums it up for me: regret. Perhaps not all moms feel this way but when I was in the throes of PPD, the walk home from the bus stop without my "baby" was agonizingly regretful.



This month Reagan started 4th grade. Each year is definitely not like that first day of Kindergarten but it still has it's bittersweet moments. Thankfully, I feel like I made the very most of the moments I had with Reagan over the summer. And I owe so much of my new carpe diem attitude to Beachbody and Shakeology!

Instead of being too tired, too depressed, or too down on myself because of my appearance, I was up and ready to go each day. We had weekly lunch dates, just the 2 of us while the younger two were in summer day camp. We went to Six Flags and had a blast and were even able to catch the last ride of the night for our favorite ride, Mind Bender, because we RAN from one side of the park to the other. I would NOT have been able to do that last year. Ha!!


During the first week of school, I also participated in my first-ever 5-day Clean Eating Challenge. My coach was hosting this as a Facebook Challenge Group and even though I've been doing fantastic with my workout programs, I knew my eating habits could stand to be "cleaned" up. The basic rules were: Shakeology 1x per day, stay active each day, and follow a Clean Eating diet. 


I was surprised at how easy and fun that it was! I had so many delicious meals that week! I was never hungry, I felt amazing, and I lost almost 2 inches off my waist.....IN 5 DAYS! It was so awesome that I have decided to host my own challenge group which kicks off tomorrow morning! I can't wait to post the results from that. 







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P90X Day 1: Chest & Back
Chrissie
Today was supposed to be my day off. Key word: supposed. I had planned to work on cleaning up the house, doing some laundry, maybe even getting a head start on packing (we are in the process of possibly buying a house), making some phone calls, and using the remainder of my gift money to get a relaxing spa pedicure. This was my plan BEFORE I came home from work on Tuesday night to a sick 4 year old. 

Instead, my day went something like this. Up on and off all night with sick Caleb. Sleep later than intended because of exhaustion. Stress and worry about getting a home inspection done within the 7 day time period. Stress and worry whether this is the best time to be buying a house. Get a spa pedicure and TRY to relax while waiting to hear how Mom's surgery went. Rush home to pick up Thing 1 and Thing 2 and go to Thing 1's doctor appointment. Fill out too many pages of redundant paperwork while Thing 1 & Thing 2 roll around like maniacs in the floor of the waiting room. My two year old doesn't seem to understand how gross I think it is when she drags her blanket across a public floor, knowing that the corner of said blanket will go into her mouth as soon as she gets still somewhere. 

Turns out Caleb has hand, foot, and mouth disease, and a pretty severe case of it. My poor dude has blisters all over his mouth and an itchy rash on his hands and feet that keeps him awake and crying all night. So, we leave there and go straight to Publix to fill his prescription, which takes almost an hour. Then we go to McDonald's (sick boy's request) for a cheeseburger and a milkshake in the middle of a thunderstorm. After getting home and administering the medicines and applying the ointments to his rashes, all of which make him scream and cry, Kinley started running a fever. ::sigh::

Bathed them and got them ready for bed, went through the whole medicine and ointment and screaming/crying routine again and finally got both kids in bed. At this point, I'm exhausted and not thinking at all about P90X or working out tonight. So, I poured myself a glass of wine and flopped down on the couch. After an hour, I couldn't stand the guilt any longer. I kept going over all the excuses in my head and trying to convince myself each was super legitimate because I had a really rough day with sick kiddos. But these excuses were coming from me, the coach who is always talking to her challengers about NO EXCUSES!



And then I made a decision like flipping a light switch. I went to the kitchen and downed my E&E and then donned my workout clothes. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I was done with Day 1 of P90X!!


I didn't sweat near as much as I did when I was doing Combat but my arms and core were SHAKING when I got done! I could hardly hold up the camera to take that picture. Ha!! Feels so good to have persevered and do what I said I was going to do despite the difficulties that could have kept me from it. 


I don't think I ever did Chest & Back in the version of P90X I was doing last year. Last year I was doing Lean because it was less intensive and I was very out of shape at that time. This time I'm going for Classic. I really liked this workout but I forgot how hard Ab Ripper X is after an hour of P90X! I will definitely be feeling this in the morning!


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New beginnings!
Chrissie
Not coincidentally, it has been a very long time since I updated this blog. However, I am making a new commitment to try to post here much more frequently. It has been on my heart for quite some time that I had a story others may be able to relate to and possibly even benefit from. So, this is my attempt at resurrecting this blog and bring you all more intimately into my journey.


Like SO many women, I have struggled the majority of my life with self-esteem issues. And also like a lot of other women, I believed that my low self-esteem was because of my appearance. I was always awkward, taller than other girls and felt very boyish, although I was never overweight until adulthood. 

I married at 20 and gained considerably in the first 2 years. By year 3, I was the heaviest I had ever been. I only shopped in the men's department because I hated the way women's clothing looked on me. My marriage was suffering and I felt awful about myself and blamed all of it on my weight. So, I set out with determination and lost 50 pounds in about 6 months' time. I felt pretty good and loved being able to fit into cute clothes again. While I had made a few healthy choices, including more exercise and cutting way back on portions, I was still a smoker and my "portions" usually consisted of unhealthy foods. And I was consuming a LOT of diet soda. 

Shortly after I lost that 50th pound, I became pregnant with Reagan. On July 4, 2003 my life changed drastically, forever. It's a good thing, then, that I couldn't see what the next 10 years would bring. Ha! But that is when my agonizing roller coaster ride of antenatal and postpartum illness began. Only, back then, I had no idea what was happening to me and there was no such thing as Google, Twitter, and Ms. Katherine Stone's wonderful www.postpartumprogress.com . But there WAS iVillage. (insert deliriously happy face)

The next few years were tragic, sad, exciting, happy, terrifying, and spiritual all wrapped up in one. I went through a divorce, moved back home with a toddler, went back to school, moved to the other side of the globe, and got remarried. Whew! Those three years were my transitional years. I quit smoking, decided on a career path, and set out to redefine who I was as a woman, wife, and mother. 

Caleb came in 2009 and I thought that since my life was so dramatically improved that I wouldn't have the same postpartum experiences as I did with Reagan. But another traumatic birth experience and some circumstantial issues combined with a predisposition toward depression and an ugly new factor called D-MER proved me very, very wrong. But I fought hard and became educated about what was going on with me. And I had my amazing iVillage family that supported me through it. 

The Spring after Caleb was born I enrolled in Electrology school and began Weight Watchers. I was pursuing my dream and losing weight in a much healthier way than I had in the past. I felt amazing. I had beaten postpartum illness, I had an amazing husband, two amazing children, and I was chasing down my dreams. Life was so good. 

And SURPRISE!! The week of Caleb's 1st birthday we found out we were expecting again. As horrible as it sounds, I felt completely devastated at first. I experienced a wide and wild range of emotions in the beginning from utter terror to a calm peace that everything was going to work out. 

The antenatal illness didn't really set in until after our move back to GA the Fall before Kinley was born. But when it did, it hit with a vengeance. There were days I was certain I wouldn't make it. But I did. Kinley was born on a warm day in February a couple weeks after a horrible ice storm. As prepared as we tried to be for the post-delivery complications I had experienced in the past, we couldn't prevent it from happening again. So, another traumatic birth experience coming fresh out of severe antenatal illness combined with an early onset of D-MER...I was doomed from the beginning. I was a rock star the first week or so at home with the three kids. And then the hideous PPD monster reared its ugly head and I plunged into the deepest darkness I have ever experienced. 

I can sit here right now and tell you readers that I don't know how I got through it. God's Grace is the only thing I can imagine that carried me through safely to the other side. Like the Footprints poem that my Murr loved so much; I definitely only saw one set of footprints during that time. But it certainly felt like I was all alone and going it on my own. 

Because of how severe the illness was and how deep the feelings of self-loathing I ate (and drank. Lots of delicious home-brewed beer.). I gained a LOT of weight. I tried Weight Watchers again but failed. I had pretty much resolved that I would always be heavy from here on out and there was no sense in making myself more miserable trying to lose what couldn't be lost. 

But I had this wonderful girlfriend on Facebook (now my rockstar Beachbody coach) that was a fellow iVillager. She had been doing this thing called Shakeology and P90X and was always talking about how wonderful she felt. She posted pictures of her progress and she looked absolutely amazing. For a YEAR I watched her go through this incredible transformation before I decided that I wanted in on this deal too. So, Mike and I decided to go for it. We signed up for a P90X and Shakeology Challenge Group and I signed as a coach to get the amazing Shakeology discount that I was sure we would need with both of us doing it.  


IT. CHANGED. MY. LIFE. 

The Shakeology made a difference immediately for me. I had so much energy, I didn't crave the usual salty snacks or the pizza or the sweets, and I just felt....Good! I am proud to say that Mike and I stuck to the rigorous P90X routine nearly perfectly for the first 20 or so days (try doing anything new consistently for 21 days! It's harder than you think!). I suffered with the most horrible shin splints the entire time and then I sprained my ankle. And within a week or so, I had completely quit my workouts and the Shakeology. 

Then an amazing work opportunity came along for me and my life changed again. All of our lives changed when I started working part time and Caleb and Kinley started preschool. In March of this year, the preschool had a book fair and did something called Muffins for Moms. I went to the school that morning to spend the day with Caleb. While I was there, the school photographer was going around snapping photos of all the kiddos with their moms. A few days later, my picture showed up on the preschool's Facebook page, standing next to Caleb at the book fair. I was mortified at how huge I looked. I was shocked and ashamed that I had let myself get that way and decided on the spot that I was going to change it.


I started drinking my Shakeology again every single day and I bought Les Mills Combat fitness program because I thought it would be better for my schedule with it being shorter workout durations than P90X. I lost a good amount of weight on Shakeology and diet changes alone before I started Combat but I didn't start seeing the physical changes to my body until after I started Combat. 

Here are my Les Mills Combat results!! I'm still far out from my goal fitness level but I'm so thrilled with the progress that I've made. And I love that so many people have come forward to tell me how motivated and inspired they have been by watching my transformation over the last few months. That blesses me so much! 


Even better than an awesome physical transformation is the mental and spiritual transformation that has taken place. I feel like I have finally found the answer to keeping the depression at bay and my postpartum period is finally behind me forever. I can finally close that chapter of my life for good and know that my scars haven't left me bitter about it. Instead, God has used my mess to inspire others to better physical and mental health also. Through it all I have learned to love myself so much more which is what I think postpartum robs you of. It robs you of self-love by screaming at you that you're not good enough. Not a good enough wife, not a good enough mother, not a good enough woman, or maybe not even a good enough person. But having a loving support group, setting goals, and having the love of people gently pushing you to reach for your dreams and goals, and then doing it....that's the best feeling in the world. 


I have learned I can do anything in this world that I set out to do. If I can believe it, I can achieve it. I want my kids to grow up with the same belief in themselves. And I want new mothers out there who may be suffering what I suffered to know that they too can overcome and begin to love themselves again. 


That is Beachbody! Are you ready to make a change? Reach out! 

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Getting Ready for Summer
Chrissie
We have had a busy last couple of months. Reagan is 8! I can't believe she's 8 already. She had her birthday party at Panola Mountain State Park like she has so many other birthdays. We had perfect, sunny weather. She had several friends come and they had a wonderful time. And since her birthday fell on the weekend this year we were actually able to hold her party on St. Patrick's Day. She had a shamrock theme for the party and it was very cute. I think she had a great day.


Kinley is walking now! She took her first steps a couple weeks ago at Mom and Dad's house toward PaPa! It took a couple more weeks for her to get the hang of it but now she's a full time walker. Weekend before last we took a trip down to Stride Rite and got Kiki her first pair of shoes. She loves them and gets so excited when I put them on her.



Reagan has 3 weeks left of school and she will be out for the Summer! She's ready; I'm kinda ready. Ha! We're all very excited for the vacation we have planned for the week of Caleb's birthday. We are planning to go down to Gulf Shores for a week for his birthday and can't wait! Caleb's speech is improving every day. He can now tell me how old he will be on his birthday and even hold up the fingers to show me. He knows we're going to the beach to play in the water and he told me he wants a Ka-Chow (Cars) birthday cake.

The weather has been wonderful here all Spring. It has only recently started to get hot with temps in the upper 80s. We spend as much time outside enjoying it as possible. We have the best little spot in all of Georgia to enjoy being outside, with all of our beautiful shade trees and our quiet, safe neighborhood. Here are a few pics of the kids from the last few weeks. I'm sure we will have much more to post after our vacation in June.






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Kinley is 1!
Chrissie

On Sunday, February 26, Kinley Jocelyn turned 1! The night before her birthday was filled with nostalgia for the night we went to the hospital to have her. I was sentimental on Reagan and Caleb's first birthday as well but there's something surreal about knowing your last baby is turning 1. There were tears. :)

For her birthday celebration we had friends and family over to Mom and Dad's house for yummy food on the grill and cupcakes. It was a beautiful day as we had excellent weather. Kinley got a lot of great presents and loved her cupcakes.


As for the rest of us, all is well. Mike started a new job at a different hotel a few weeks ago so we've all been adjusting to a somewhat new schedule. Reagan's school year is winding down and we're excited about spring and summer. Caleb is his normal wild self. We still watch Cars and Scooby Doo (Loo Loo) every day. Kinley isn't walking yet but is getting very close. She loves "pouches" by Plum Organics and bananas. She has a few words but nothing intelligible yet. My business is (slowly) growing. I love every minute that I get to spend there with my clients. I really enjoy my work.

This week is all about preparation for Reagan's 8th birthday party. I can't believe she will be 8 years old this Saturday!! She wants a Lilo & Stitch birthday cake but wants St. Patty's Day decorations. We are planning to have her party at Panola Mountain Park like most of her birthdays and are praying for beautiful weather like we had last year.

Here are some recent pictures of the kiddos.






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Another New Year
Chrissie
I've let so much time pass since my last post. Thankfully, I think everybody keeps up with us on Facebook so you know we're still here and just busy, busy.



Reagan is doing well in 2nd grade. It has been a struggle at times but her grades are outstanding and we are seeing improvements elsewhere. She has lost several teeth and has another loose one! She is officially a Snaggletooth!




Caleb is finally talking and I LOVE it! He is the sweetest (most of the time), cuddliest, and cutest boy. His favorite movies are Cars, Cars 2, and Scooby Doo. We watch them frequently!




Kinley is growing up so fast. She is the owner of two bottom teeth with two tops ones getting ready to pop through any day now. She crawls, cruises the furniture, and is becoming brave, trying to stand hands-free. This results in frequent crashes so it will probably still be some time before walking. She also waves and claps! She is such a good baby and a wonderful addition to our family. I think she has the greatest laugh and such a sweet personality.




My business is doing very well! Back in October I opened in my own space and it's been wonderful! I love my little building and I have the greatest clients! There is so much opportunity for growth and I'm hoping to have a great 2012!



I will try to get together some other photos from throughout the year. Wishes for a Happy 2012 to everyone!!
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