Hello my lovely followers!
I am so happy to be here, in this safe place, where I can share my heart with you on issues that matter to me most.. and that is my faith, my family, and health and fitness.  I'd love to take a minute to share a little about me and why I have been led to create this blog. 

For as long as I can remember, I've lived a mediocre life. As a child I was always shy, uncomfortable in my skin and never felt like I belonged. Despite growing up with loving parents that took us to church on a regular basis I knew I was missing something. After falling away and loosing myself completely after high school with alcohol, parties and bad decisions I found myself completely broken, dropping out of college and moving closer to home. I went to a new church, and for the first time, learned about Jesus. Not the religion version of Jesus but the real, heart changing, relationship version of Jesus. Man did it improve my life! I found a wonderful man, got married, and had two beautiful boys. You'd think that's when the happy ever after came... Not so much. 

After the birth of my second son (2nd C section mind you..) I began suffering from major self esteem issues. For the first time in my life I looked in the mirror and hated what I saw. At some point, I had lost the person I used to be. I remember one day looking in the mirror feeling over tired, burnt out, and once again completely broken. This time I was doing it right, after all I had taken all the right steps, but motherhood had taken it's toll on me, my body and my self esteem. I knew I had to make a change but my goals seemed so far away; nearly impossible to achieve. I remember the day I squeezed into the workout clothes in the back of my drawer and forced myself to go to the gym. I remember looking at a young girl who was super fit doing her thing and something clicked in my head. I wondered what my body was capable of looking like. I had never challenged myself , I had never pushed my limits and I definitely never stuck with anything long enough to get results. It was at that point I knew that if I wanted something different I would have to DO something different, and for me that was running.

I used to make fun of runners. I used to joke that the only way I'd run is if a bear was chasing me. I thought they were crazy but something was stirring in my heart that this was the right step to take. I began with the couch to 5k program and promised myself I wouldn't quit. For some reason, this time was different than the rest, this time I found strength amongst the struggle. Each day that I checked off I felt better and I began to feel my confidence slowly starting to return. When I started watching what I ate the weight continued to fall off. I lost 17lbs over the 8weeks and 45lbs over the span of a year. What is even more incredible to me is the transformation that happened on the inside as I branched out and started running longer distances.

Early into my running I began listening to christian music while I ran. I found it to be so motivating and the lyrics of overcoming fit so well with my challenging runs. Before long I found running to be my worship time, my time with God to pray, be thankful, and fully rely upon him for strength. It was during these runs that I found the true meaning of having a relationship with God. Along this journey, there have been many highs and lows for me. There are days where I struggled and felt so far away from God and then days where I nearly broke down in tears because I knew without a shadow of a doubt he was there with me, lifting me up and giving me strength to continue on. God has been leading my life on an amazing journey and in January of 2012 I finally prayed and asked God to have is way with me, to use me for His glory, not my own. It was a scary prayer because I tend to want to be in control of everything. Giving God the reigns was huge for me. A few days later I was invited to be a health and fitness coach from a friend I new online. The thought had never crossed my mind, but my heart was telling me YES.. that I needed to do it. 

It's been an amazing year of blessing other women through health and fitness. I have seen so many wonderful transformations, on the inside and out, but for every 1 success story, there are many more that were stories of struggle and of defeat. I've heard women pour their hearts out to me about their insecurities, their self hatred, or simply their lack of time to take care of themselves. I've encouraged and supported broken women and my heart just pours out for them in my prayers. I know that if they commit to me and do the work I can help them loose the weight they want to loose, but often times their hurt is so much deeper than that. I KNOW that God can fix all of that, that he has this amazing plan for them and it doesn't involve self hatred. God is freedom! Freedom of food addictions, body image issues and insecurities. GOD is the ANSWER and that is why I'm here. God is transforming my life, my body and my heart and I know he wants to do that for you as well. I'm here to hold your hand and encourage you as you find out who you are in Jesus Christ!  Lets Begin... <3