A little about me and my journey!

Hi there!  My name is Samantha and I live in the beautiful south.  My home state is South Carolina, and I absolutely love it.  It's the perfect area: close to the beach and the mountains!  I'm 27, almost 28, and can't believe my high school reunion is this year! Wow does time fly by.  I have a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education and have tried my hand at teaching in the public schools.  I wasn't completely happy there and it caused a lot of stress, which then caused a lot of weight gain that I was not happy with because I had just gotten down to my goal weight before that school year started.  I ended up gaining about 30 lbs just in that school year alone.  I left the public schools and went to teach 4K through First Steps at a daycare.  I enjoyed it, but I needed something with insurance, so I had to look elsewhere.  I am now a Kindergarten Prep teacher at a center that is part of one of our local hospitals.  I absolutely love it compared to where I was, and with not as much stress I can begin working on my health.

Back in 2012 was when I gained those extra 30 pounds and it put me at 168.  I was so unhappy and almost depressed that I had let myself get to that point.  I constantly felt bloated and nothing I wore felt right.  I felt like I was in a sausage casing, even if the clothes were loose.  I had already heard of Tone It Up before I began teaching and I was using their workouts on YouTube and trying to go by eating right on my own.  I had not purchased the Nutrition plan until during that year of teaching.  I tried to go with it when I got it and still do the workouts, but the stress was just too much and I let myself fall of the wagon.  Fast forward to the next year, I didn't really do anything with the plan until they had their Bikini Series challenge.  I stuck with that challenge and had lost 13 pounds! Woohoo, I was so happy.  But I let myself slide, and get away from it.  I ate whatever I wanted to and made excuses for not working out.  

Here's the old me:

Then when 2015 began, I did the Love Your Body challenge.  I stuck with that as well and was able to lose a little bit more weight.  About a week from it being over, I had awful abdominal pains hit and we couldn't find an answer for that.  I used that as my excuse to not go to the gym (and basically pay $20/month for the rest of my contract for nothing).  Even though I still have those pains some now, it's nothing like it was and I'm no longer using it as an excuse.

So here we are in 2016.  I started the year off with the TIU 8 week challenge.  Halfway through, I had the abdominal pains hit again.  I took about a week off from working out this time, and then got right back in.  Through TIU though, I have met some people who are also coaches.  One I have become friends with and she is the sweetest person ever!  I would love for us to meet in person, but either I need to go to NJ or she needs to come to SC.  She introduced me to the world of being a coach.  It has great accountability and support!

So here I am now.  It's February, almost March, and I am almost 28.  I have never felt happier and more confident about myself than I do right now.  I'm hoping in the future to not only be able to coach others, but to go back to school and get my certification in nutrition and be able to help even more people.  That might even mean a career change, but if that's where I'm headed it's going to be great!  I have been on a health and fitness journey since 2011, during my student teaching and getting ready to graduate.  Five years later, and I am finally getting happier and more confident each and every day!

Here's where I am now:

I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to inspire others, as well as help hold myself accountable even more since I am putting this all out there!