For those of you who don't know me, I am Jessica Arrowsmith. I am a follower of Christ, a doding wife and mother to 4 beautiful children. And that about sums it up. My life is not overwhelmingly interesting. We don't have gobs of money to spend on lavish vacation, expensive cars or the newest shoes at Nordstrom. However through the love of God, I am most certainly the happiest and emotion-filled woman there is. Don't ask me about my husband or I may never shut up. :)
I have decided to start this blog specifically to document my fitness journey. I have been a yo-yo "dieter" for as long as I can remember. Even when I was a teenager. My mom, sisters and I would try the newest diet around. Back then I was a healthy 128 and thought I was fat. I am just over 5'6. So 128 was darn good. But because I am curvy in my butt and thighs I felt "fat." When my friends and I would go wander the mall, I would dread walking into Abercrombie & Fitch. I would pray none of my girlfriends were looking when I picked up the size 6 after they just picked up their tiny, size 2.
I gained gobs of weight after the birth of my first daughter. Mostly because of depression. And once I was free from that volitile relationship, I took the reigns of my life. Every moment that I was not working or sleeping, I was sweating. Whether that was buckling McKenna into the bike trailer and riding 20+ miles or hiking Camelback or rocking a killer workout at Gold's Gym. Yup...Gold's. I was the fattest and youngest girl in that entire place. But I was determined. Being around the "meat-heads" made me hungry to look like them. Okay maybe I didn't want to be a giant beastly woman. But I did start thinking about becoming a figure competitor. That was about the time I hired a trainer.
Now let's back track and give you the reality of my weight gain...in numbers. When I was in high school I was a healthy 128. Before my first pregnancy I had allowed weight gain from well, laziness. Then I had my first appointment at the OB, to determine my pregnancy with McKenna I was 156. I gained a normal 21 lbs and lost 17 of it before I even left the hospital. Then depression hit. Which is a story for another time. I ate myself to a whopping 208 lbs. That was only in an 8 month time period. I remember very clearly the day I realized I had become so fat. And yes...I was fat! There is not nice way to say it. Anyway, we were in Ohio visiting some of McKenna's family. I remember looking in the mirror as I finished my make-up and thought, my face looked chubby. But never did I think that I was as big as I really was. Then we got pictures back from the trip. There I was, all 208 lbs of me sitting on a rock. I looked like a beached whale. I mean it. It scared me to tears!
But it wasn't until a year later that I actually did something about it.
So getting a trainer was amazing! I had one-on-one sessions as well as group sessions and Saturday boot camps. The people I worked out with quickly became my friends and my biggest supporters. They helped me realize my potential and within 6 months I had lost 48 lbs. I remember being so nervous to step on the scale at the gym. I had hidden my true weight from everyone for so long. Knowing the trainers and my fellow trainees would see the number, made me feel sick to my stomach. But I stepped on the scale and saw 160. It felt good! Then the best part, was measurements. My trainer had told me all along that losing inches was far more important than the pounds lost. It proved real change in my body. Well at my 6 month check-up I had lost a totaly of 13 1/4 inches from my body. Now that was encouraging!
I stayed with that trainer for just under a year because he moved. Then I decided to start working out on my own. He had taught me so much and I felt very confident that I could keep up the momentum on my own. And I did.
I got a membership at Lifetime Fitness. It was close to my house, so everyday after work I would pick up McKenna and we would head to the gym. It was so rewarding and became my necessity. It made me happy to workout.
Fast forward to today. I have an amazing husband and a total of 4 little Arrowsmiths. Our youngest is going to be 2 in August and I am nowhere near that fit girl I once knew. Being a wife and mother is my first priority. They are what make me the happiest woman on earth. Now I am to a point where I want to not only be the happiest woman on earth...I want to be the hottest as well! I am greedy aren't I? And full of myself. Ha! That was sarcasm obviously. I will never be the hottest woman ever. But I want to be the hottest woman my husband has ever seen. And that is good enough for me!
So after all that babble I have set myself a 6 month goal. I am giving myself 24 weeks to lose 35 lbs. That is just over 1 pound a week. Totally managable when I break it up weekly. And that means I will be posting weekly. My weigh-ins will be every Monday morning. So I will update early in the weeks on my progress.
BRING ON 30!!
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