The start of my journey...winter 2013

          My name is Kristen. I am a 29 year old stay at home mom to an almost 3 year old daughter. My husband is a PE/Health teacher for elementary and high school aged kids and coaches several sports. We live in rural northwest Iowa. We also have 2 fur-babies: a maltese/Shih-Tzu and a German Shorthair pointer.

          I kept a diary from 6th grade until I had a baby in 2012. It started out on paper, then went online in high school and from daily entries to monthly catch-up posts. Since my daughter was born, I haven't updated that but keep a calendar/diary of sorts for her. I started this blog to chronicle my health and fitness journey and to reach out to other people who are in the same boat I am, or are wanting to follow in my footsteps. :) I figure to start out, I'll tell you where my transformation began:
          I played soccer my whole life and in college and going from that to nothing in grad school really affected my fitness level and weight. In 2010, my OB-GYN told me I needed to lose 40 pounds before getting pregnant and that my weight could affect my fertility. I think I technically had an "obese" bmi: there's not much wiggle room when you are only 5 feet tall! Thankfully I got pregnant right away and ended up leaving the hospital with my newborn (April 2012) at the exact same weight I was when I got pregnant!!

          Breastfeeding for 2 years helped me lose about 10 pounds but I wanted to lose more and get fit to keep up with my daughter and just live a more healthy lifestyle!! My sister in law had gotten into those fun Warrior/Color 5k races the last couple years and she talked me into doing one so I started workout out diligently in December 2013 to get ready for my July 2014 race. I work best when I have a goal and a deadline in front of me. I lost about 5 pounds in 3 months and then started drinking this amazing thing called Shakeology. I figured if it gave my best friend the energy to keep up with 3 little ones under the age of 5, I needed to try it out! Adding Shakeology to my fitness video helped me lose 5 more pounds in half the time.

          Then in April 2014 my husband and I started the 21 Day Fix fitness program from Beachbody in addition to drinking Shakeology every day. The weight started falling off immediately and we've never looked back! I've now lost about 40 pounds and my husband has lost 30. We are healthier and happier and love supporting others who want to make the same changes in their lives that we did.
          I think I'll be posting flashbacks of our transformation on Tuesdays so you can see how we got to where we are, as well as other posts about healthy living. Welcome to my blog and I hope you enjoy a glimpse into my life!