Picture of me a while ago	A more recent photo

I gained 10-20lbs with each of my four babies that I just didn't know how to get off.  I tried and I tried, but nothing seemed to work.  My husband desperately wanted me to lose weight.  I desperately wanted to lose the weight.  I wanted my husband to be attracted to me again.  I tried every diet and every exercise plan, but nothing worked.  I just continued to get fatter and fatter.

Finally, just before my 30th birthday, I started having health problems that were related to my obesity.  Combined with my own conditions with my family health history which is riddled with heart disease and obesity related problems, I was in serious trouble.  My doctor told me that if I didn't lose the weight, I wouldn't see my children raised let alone my grandkids.  I wasn't even 30 yet!  The thought of another woman marrying my husband and raising my children scared me to death!

I got moving.  I started walking three mornings a week with a couple of friends.  The social aspect of the walking helped me establish an exercise habit that lasted longer than any of my previous attempts.  I finally lost a couple of pounds. 

It wasn't enough.  That spring, I was in a park with my kids and I got to talking with another mom who was there.  She asked me when my baby was due.  I wasn't pregnant.  I went home and started researching fun runs.  A couple of months later, my husband, son and myself ran the Rex Lee run in Provo Utah.  I would like to say that I enjoyed it, but I didn't.  It hurt.  I came home sore and with a solid case of shin splints.

My first fun run

I continued to run a bit, but because I didn't like it much I didn't do it enough for it to change my fitness level at all.  It did turn out to be a lot of fun for my kids.  They love running the fun runs.  We try to do one a month as a family.  Usually they come home with a shirt and sometimes a prize.  It gets them so excited that they really want to come home and train for a while.  About the time their excitement level starts to die off, we enter another race and they get all excited again.  As it turns out, my oldest son is quite the runner.  He is 13 years old and will run his first marathon this fall.

A friend of my husbands was involved in triathlon and was trying to tease my husband into trying it with him.  My husband is a runner.  He can do the biking and swimming, but what he really loves to do is to run, so the idea didn't really appeal to him.  It got me to thinking, though.  I can swim.  I hadn't been on a bike in years, but you never forget, right?  Maybe I could train for a triathlon?  Maybe with all three sports I could get in enough exercise to finally lose the weight?  Maybe with all three sports, I wouldn't have to run so much?  I decided to give it a try.

I signed up for and raced two triathlons that year.  I did the Saratoga Splash and Jordanelle.  I had a lot of fun at the Saratoga Splash, but my first open water swim in Jordanelle reservoir was a little scarey.  It was my first time in a wetsuit in the open water.  There were no sides or bottom of the pool to see and the water had tons of icky green floaties in it.  Ew!  Gross!  The wetsuit constricted my breathing a bit and so I thought that I was going to drown.  I forgot how to swim!  By the time I finally got finished with that 800 yard swim, 45 minutes later, I was ready to quit.  Then I saw my four little munchkins on the banks of the reservoir cheering for me.  They were so excited for me that I just couldn't quit then.  How could I face my children as a quitter?  I waved to them and got onto my bicycle.  I figured that I probably wouldn't be fast, but I would finish.  That was a life changing experience for me.  I ended up having a good time at that race and came home and made my schedule to include some triathlons the next year.  I finally had a fitness activity that I could be passionate about and would keep me moving.

Me coming out of the water at  Saratoga and  at Jordanelle Triathlon

I lost a few pounds with triathlon that year, but I couldn't seem to lose anymore.  I worked and worked, but it just seemed to be stuck.  Finally, I gave up on trying to lose weight.  I just wanted to be aerobically fit and to compete well in the triathlons.  Apparently, my body liked to be fat and I wasn't going to let that discourage me from having fun in the races.  So, I decided to hire a certified personal trainer to help me get faster.  It was fun.  He treated me like an athlete.  I am sure that he knew that I was just a fat housewife who was playing at triathlon, but he didn't let me know that he knew that.  I am sure that he also knew that the best way for me to get faster was to get lighter.  So, along with the speedwork that he was having me do, he also had me doing weight training and turning in my food and exercise logs for him analyze.  It was amazing!  The weight really started coming off!  I was getting faster too.  Now, I may never win a triathlon, but I also won't come in last like my first couple of races.  Running still isn't my favorite sport, but at least it doesn't hurt as badly as it did before. 

The most important thing has been that I now love the feeling of a healthy body and I love to do what it takes to keep it that way.  My husband told me that somewhere along the line, the old Kelly died and a new Kelly was born.  He is right and I love it.  I love the way I feel.  I love the way my husband looks at me.  I love the fact that my children are forming great health habits that may help prevent them from falling to the same obesity curses that plague my family.  I love that they think it is fun to run on the treadmill and to eat their veggies.  I love it that they are proud of me.

My four little darlings.  Staying a healthy active mom for them is a really big motivator for me.  I know that my example now will have a positive impact on future generations.

I want to share this feeling with others who have struggled in the same way that I have.  I know what it feels like to be overweight and not feel like you have any power to change that.  It is frustrating.  In the last couple of years, I have done all that I can to study hard and to give myself the tools to be able to help those around me.  There is nothing that makes me happier than when one of my clients catches the fitness bug and gains that sense of power over self that I have felt.