First Blog

First of all I should start out by introducing myself and let you know why I wanted to start a blog. 

MY STORY

My name is Nicole.  I am the mother of 3 and the wife of a wonderful man.  We have been married for almost 15 years.  Like most people who have been married that long you start to get to comfortable with yourself and sometimes you let things go like your weight, looks, etc.  You why does it matter he still loves me.  While that might be true how does that make you feel about yourself? 

After the birth of my first 2 children I was able to get back to my pre-baby weight very easily but after the third OMG watch out.  I think almost every year since she was born until last year I put on a pant size.  It is very hard on someone that went from a comfortable 6/8 to a tight 14/16 to feel good about themselves.  I have an extra reason for this weight (hypothyroid) but that shouldn't have kept me from trying to make it better.  You begin to dislike how you look and feel and you also know how unhealthy all of this extra weight can be for you. 

I thought I am a very busy woman, always on my feet running for this, working here and there I shouldn't be gaining weight.  Exercise is very important and has nothing to do the where you work and what you do while you are at work.  It should be something you make time for at least 5 times a week.  Even 15 minutes a day is better than nothing. 

THE TURN AROUND

Last year I was introduced to Zumba Fitness and fell in love.  I liked it so much that I came home one night and told my husband that I needed to be an instructor.  He was and continues to be very supportive.  My son tells people that I was born to teach Zumba and that really makes me feel good.

I started teaching in October of 2010 and since then I have lost about 1 1/2 pants sizes, 2 shirt sizes and around 25 pounds.  The best part is that I am finally starting to feel good about myself again.

Two days ago I decided to start the Couch to 5k program and dragged my sister-in-law along with me.  The first night was better than expected.  Night two is tonight so I will let you all know how it goes when I post tomorrow.

BLOG INFORMATION

I started this blog because I wanted a place to share my story and to help keep myself on track with my fitness and life goals. While doing this I hope that someone with a similar story will be helped by my struggles.

In this blog you will see information about my successes, failures and the things I love in life from my Zumba classes to the books I read and more.  Please feel free to comment and let me know what you are up to but be nice with your comments because other will hopefully be reading them too and that could include my children.