House of A Writer

Today we embark on a new journey to fitness and beyond. I Jsack Mom and Tracy on the Rocks are teaming up and are in it to win it! Follow us as they embark on individual fitness  challenges. We will log our personal results, our struggles and more importantly our wins! Getting fit isn’t easy- especially when you’ve fallen off the wagon! But we are determined!!! 

My Story:

I looked in the mirror tugging at the extra skin left over from two emergency cescarean sections. Looking at my body that housed my children not with respect, but with disgust. This body used to be strong, and now I wake up everyday in chronic pain. I cringe as I get out of bed each morning and slowly get my son up for school. After a old back injury of a bulging disk five years, ago mornings are the worst for me. 

My youngest is up and breakfast is served and we eat together I set him up with a cartoon. I get my yoga mat and settle in to do my yoga routine. I do this so I can move throughout the day.  I wish this was relaxing and zen but the pain doesn’t allow me to feel that until I loosen up. I don’t talk about my chronic pain it’s just something I’ve lived with. So now I’ve decided after surviving life I want to thrive so the fitness challenge began. So let the Q&A begin!

What is your history/background with fitness? 

Jsackmom: I remember doing my first Jane Fonda workout in the 80’s and I loved it. Compared to what they teach now it was contraindicated scary aerobics but no one knew the difference back then. I embarked on a fitness career after high school when I took my training to teach general choreography aerobics, step aerobics, weight training, and personal training. I ended up teaching for seventeen years as well as yoga for ten years. 

 Tracy on the Rocks: Unfortunately, my relationship with fitness has been a sordid one over the years. My mom’s side of the facility struggles with weight and my grandmother was morbidly obese.  Weight issues definitely run in the family. I have never loved working out and when I am working out regularly, it’s not because I get some great high or rush out of it…it’s because I’m very conscious that it’s good for me and that I should do it. 

 Have you always struggled to stay on track to be fit? 

Jsackmom: I was always really active playing sports in and out of school. Fitness and weight gain didn’t become a problem for me until I was sixteen. I moved a long ways away from my family to live with other family members. I was very homesick and depressed so I gained the “freshman fifteen.” I ended up losing it all with the Fit for Life plan written by Sam Garcia. Then I moved back home to my former province and became serious about working out regularly at the gym. 

 Tracy on the Rocks: It pains me to admit, but like many adolescent women, I didn’t like how I looked starting in Jr. High and into high school. But, the first time I gained a bunch of weight was in college.  I worked my butt off to get back in shape. The short answer is yes. I will get at a good weight and be on a great streak of working out and eating healthy for a few years.  But, it’s been a pattern that I’ll gain weight and then have to work really hard to take it off again.  I really want to find a healthy balanced lifestyle so I don’t “Fall off the wagon” every couple of years.  Side Note-To my point that I’ll stay on a good streak for a couple of years, here’s a post from my blog from 2 years ago about working out.  It is one of my most popular posts and I think you might find it quite amusing. 

 Who is your biggest inspiration to getting healthy and fit? 

 Jsack Mom: My inspiration is my children. I want to be fit and healthy so I can keep up with their activities. I’m classified as an “older parent” with two young children in my early forties. I want to teach them healthier ways to eat, think, and live. My husband and I will be those parents that are keeping are children’s minds and bodies fit and active with physical literacy. 

 Tracy on the Rocks: I wish I had some answer here that made me seem less shallow.  But the truth is, my pants stopped fitting and I don’t feel very good about how I look right now. I kind of hit rock bottom with tipping the scale and having to buy new pants so um yeah it was glaringly obvious that I needed to reel it in.. 

 Is this about not liking the numbers on the scale or for health reasons? 

 Jsack Mom : I personally don’t own a scale so I weigh myself once the year at my Dr’s office or a friends house. My clothes are my deciding factor of whether I’ve put on weight. I had a health scare back in December and I had to get a complete blood panel to rule out diabetes. I’m happy to say that I’m healthy and my Dr told me to keep doing what I’m doing. My pain level has increased and I need to address that as well. I don’t sleep a lot with my youngest son’s sleep disorder. I very rarely feel rested so my body doesn’t feel refreshed or healed. I need to do more than have stress and anxiety be my chosen weigh to shed pounds. I don’t have a great balance right now and I’m feeling the adverse affects of late nights, poor eating choices, and sleep deprivation. I’ve been researching for the last while about the affects of losing sleep and it scares me. I don’t want to be a statistic!!!! 

 Tracy on the Rocks: It’s about both.  What I said above is true, feeling bad about the number on the scale and having my clothes not fit…that’s a reason for sure. I saw a friend a couple of weeks ago who has lost a lot of weight recently- I can tell he is feeling good about himself and that was probably ultimately the catalyst.  I was jealous- not in a malicious way, but envious nonetheless- of how what he had done and I wanted to remember how it feels to not be ashamed of how I look. That said, I also care about being healthy and fit.  I care about being more active. I care about having a healthier lifestyle.  I care about balance- right  now I have many of the other areas of my life balanced: career, friends, family, writing….and the one area that’s really hurting right now is my fitness. I notice that usually it’s one thing that I let go unattended. When  I had a job I hated, I would use working out and my blog as an outlet for my stress. So while my blog and fitness were doing great, my career was not.  I hope that this last go of it will be my way of finding balance in all areas. I know it won’t be perfectly balanced but I’m working on not neglecting one area too much for too long. 

 What program are you doing? 

 Jsack Mom : I’m doing the Beachbody program complete with workout, meal plans, shakeology, and fitness challenge group.  With them and my coach they keep me motivated, supported, and accountable for my daily check in’s. 

 Tracy on the Rocks: I am incorporating exercise into my schedule including boot camp and fitness classes. I am also trying the Medifast meal plan. 

 What was the deciding factor for choosing that program? 

Jsackmom: My health, motivation, and my pain level has increased so I need to get that in check. Plus I’ve spent the last few months getting to know my amazing coach before I signed up. He’s a great motivator, supportive, fun, and energy I wish to bottle and sell to make my millions. His experience with the program and how honest he’s been about his and his wife’s own personal journey has been the deciding factor in a long list of positives. 

Tracy on the Rocks: Boot camp and yoga are paid for by my work and they are right at my office so I have no excuse.  I also have a bunch of co-workers who go and who can hold me accountable and shame me if I don’t show up haha.  As for the Medifast, my friend reps it and honestly I am just lazy. I needed an easy “grab and go” solution because I am sososoos busy and I just don’t have time right now to shop, prepare and cook health meals all week. I opted for just shakes and bars for convenience. I didn’t realize that there is a whole diet/restricted foods business to go along with it. I recommend you do a little research before diving into a system like I did though hahaha. #lazybones

 What are your ultimate goals with this challenge? 

Jsack Mom : My goal has been to