Inspire Me! Series...another inspirational story!

So happy that I have another inspirational story to share with all of you this week!  

Around the holidays, I know we must find inspiration in ourselves to avoid all of those holiday temptations BUT it's also nice to be inspired by others!  That brings me to this week's amazing story...

Meet Jen @ Runner...Maybe

Before: 2008

After: 2011...rocking a half marathon!

She's a wife and a mother!  And an amazing athlete!  I think you will be inspired by her story, just as I am.  And hopefully you'll stop by her blog and show her some love!  Now on with her story...

My story -

I have been on my weight loss journey for several years. I was overweight before my daughter was born, and although I lost the pregnancy weight quickly I gained some back when I went back to work.   I struggled with the ups and down of weight loss and at times would hit my stride and the plateau for months on end.  Instead of giving up I would find the strength to keep moving to reach my goals.  In 2011, I decided I was going to run a Half Marathon. Something that I thought I would never be able to accomplish. With the help of my husband and family members I ran my first half on Mother’s Day, finishing with my then 3 year old running the final .1 with me.

I continued my love/hate relationship with running and signed up for a second half. I think I realized more about myself this last week preparing for this run then I have the entire year.  Life is about living, life is about finding what you love (or hate) and going at it like there is no tomorrow.  Life is about never giving up on your goals and dreams no matter how big or small they are.

What motivates you?  When I first started losing weight I made a list with things I wanted to do. Go to a movie without feeling strange in a movie theater seat, never shop at Lane Bryant or other plus size clothing again, say good bye to clothing with XXL on them, be able to walk with my head held high because I felt confident, eat healthy food because I wanted to, not because I had to. The list goes on.  My motivation in the beginning came with crossing things off this list.  However now my motivation comes from within – it comes from the want to live my life and to never give up as we are only here for a short amount of time.

If you made a lifestyle change, what helped you make that change?  I have used lots of products, when I got serious about losing weight I hired a trainer. When that got to expensive I went at it on my own. As my weight stalled I received a BodyBugg as a birthday present! I love the BodyBugg and while I am not using it now it really teach me about portion control and getting the most out of my workout.  I would recommend a BodyBugg to anyone who has over 50lbs to lose and is serious about getting it off. The BodyBugg is just the road map; you have to put in all the work.

Are you sharing your passion for healthy living with others? I have been a member of an awesome online community called Modern-Bliss.com. It’s a group of women who chat about our life and everything in between. We have Fitness board which has been a big inspiration for me to not only share my progress but to get encouragement when I am done. I started my blog runnermaybe.blogspot.com as a journal to help keep me accountable, if someone is inspired when they read it to make a change then that is great, but that isn’t why I started it.  I also have a small group of women that I email with on a daily basis. We talk about everything but most of all we are support for each other in our weight loss journey. We have never met in real life but feel like I have known them forever.

And lastly, who inspires YOU? Many people inspire me, but I am most inspired by people who are ‘real’. The person who wakes up and chooses to be happy, the person who smiles at a random stranger, the person who cheers for a runner even if they have to stand in the rain to watch a race, the person who ends the day with Today was a good day no matter what happened during the day.

And as always, please email me at rissarose80@yahoo.com if you'd like to be featured!  I love this series because we are all sharing something in common!  We all have stories to tell and ways to relate to one another!  We are striving to STAY FIT, LIVE HEALTHY and raise a HEALTHY FAMILY!  No matter what's your story, it's worth sharing so please join the series :-)