Let's go back a year...

Last year at this time I joined a gym, the same gym that I now work, but at the time had no idea it would be my future place of employment.

I was over-weight, my whole body would hurt when I got into bed at night and when I woke up in the morning I would still hurt. I had no energy, I preferred to sleep all day until I had to work at the bar and then supplement Red Bull for energy to get me threw my shift. My dinner would include any and everything that was quick, easy and I could use my discount on at the bar. Pizza, chicken fingers, motz sticks and as much ranch as the eye could see.

What's crazy is that if you met me you would think I had all the confidence in the world, tho so over weight and unhealthy. Shopping is my ally. I always thought that if I covered myself in designer clothes and $200 shoes then no one would notice my weight. I also lived by "tan fat looks better than pale fat", I wish I kept all the money I have spent on tanning beds, I would be a rich bitch.

So, I think the difference in my journey is that I already had the confidence, I just needed the body and lifestyle to back it up. There was no denying that my health was declining and I couldn't ignore it anymore. I am not getting any younger and losing weight and getting healthy is only going to get harder and harder. Hell, it's hard as hell now.

So, the first thing that came to my mind to do was, JOIN A GYM. I mean duh?! Well, turns out joining the gym is the easy part. Actually going to the gym is the shitty part. Even though I have been an athlete all my life and knew my way around a weight room and a gym I still has absolutely no idea what I was doing. I would walk around aimlessly in my cute workout clothes and then end up doing the elliptical and calling it a day. YES, that's a great start but I obviously need to step this up...

I just want to for warn everyone that I am not what you call a "religious" person but, some sort of angel was sent to me one day...and her name was Colleene.

Colleene actually owns the gym that I joined. But, she has been apart of my life for years. She, in the nicest words, told me I needed to get my shit together and she would help me. Help is an understatement of what she has done...she saved me. (You will hear me talk a lot about her).

I started training with her...For an hour, two days a week...I am not going to lie, in the beginning, it was awful. I was sore. My knees hurt so bad (I would blame old basketball injuries, but let's be honest I was too heavy). But progressively, it got somewhat easier (it is never going to be easy). I found myself wanting to actually go to the gym even without having a training session. I started taking other classes like Barre and Yoga and Spin. Who would have thought?!

Over the next year, I learned so much. Not only about myself personally but I learned about weight loss and living a healthy lifestyle. I used Pinterest for recipe ideas and "My Fitness Pal" to understand what was in the food I am eating. I learned that working out is one thing but actually eating right and limiting what is going into my mouth was the hard part. I still drink beer but limit myself to one day a week. I learned that my true friends are actually disguised as my biggest cheerleaders. And I also learned that I am not alone in this journey.

Here is March 2015 and March 2016...slowly but surely my outside is starting to match my inside. but not without a little help from my friends.