My Fresh Start

Back in 2008 I decided to get serious about getting healthy. I started my journey back to health weighing in at 306.2 pounds. Over the next two year I lost a total of 106 pounds.

One person I owe a lot of my success to is my coach, Bob Mitera of Kokua Multisports. We met working ourt at the Foglia YMCA and I knew we were a good match.

This is me and Bob a month after we started working together. We were doing a 5k.

Over the next couple of years Bob and I worked together towards my goals. He was my coach when I did my first olympic Distance triathlon. It was a rough day out there and he found me on the run and walked with me to encourage me. He then ran ahead so he could be there when I crossed the finish line.

He was there for me throughout my whole ordeal with figuring out my Crohn's diagnosis. We learned together my limitations and race nutrition. He was there for me and helped me train for my first half marathon, which I ran to raise money and awareness for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. I hope that some day they can find a cure.

October, 2012 was my 2 year anniversary since my diagnosis . It's been a rough couple of years. I was on meds that caused me to gain some of my weight back.

In 2011, we moved from Illinois to Massachusetts. It has now been a year since the move. In that year I have suffered from depression, injuries, and have let old habits creep back into my life.

Off and on over this year Bob has been there for me. The reason I say off and on is due to back to back injuries. We would talk on the phone and he would send me workouts when I could work out.

Despite his effort to help me I just was not able to overcome the mental and physical obstacles that were blocking my way. Over the past two years I have gained back 100 pounds. I feel really ashamed about this and was turning to food to comfort me, which only made things worse.

As you can tell my blog has a new name. I am hitting the reset button and starting fresh in my new healthy journey. I have a theme verse for this fresh start. It is Isaiah 43:18, "Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past." Also, the Bible says that "Love keeps no record of wrongs." I am good at forgetting what others have done, but not for myself, so I have decided that I love myself and I need to not keep records of all the wrong things I have done in the past. Today is a new day and today is my fresh start. There is no looking back.

Part of my fresh start is getting a new coach here in Massachusetts. I will always be grateful for Coach Bob and everything I have learned from him. Bob, not only were you a great coach you are a great friend. I look forward to seeing you in the future at the finish line of Ironman Wisconsin.

Because I am basically where I was in 2008 I knew I needed the accountability of meeting in person weekly with a coach. It's never easy to say goodbye, but I am grateful for all I have learned and know it will be a great foundation for the next chapter in my fitness life.

A couple weeks ago I was taking a walk and saw a sign for personal training. It was on the door of what looked like a studio, so I decided to take down the information and see what it was about. I emailed to get more info and Justin responded. We have talked and both feel like we are a good match for each other. One thing that is cool is that Justin will either train you in studio or at home.

We have opted for in home training since i recently acquired a home gym. He will be coming on Monday, November 5th. We are going to talk, make a plan, look at the home gym, workout a little, and by the end of the session I will have a plan for moving forward. Justin is also a nutritionist, so look forward to working with him on an eating plan as well.

For those of you who know me, you are probably wondering what are my thoughts on what I want to accomplish? What races am I going to do? Do I have a goal weight? Is an Ironman still in my future.

The first and foremost thing I need to do is get this weight down, get injury free, and healthy. In my mind, and this is before sitting down with Justin, I want to take triathlon off the table for the time being. I will start with small races and slowly move my way back up. Do I still want to do an Ironman? Of course I do. I am still planning on doing Ironman Wisconsin. Do I have a year picked out? No. I will know when it's right. Do I have a goal weight? I don't have an exact number because I just want to be healthy. I used to set timeline goals and when the time would come and go and I hadn't reached my goal, I would beat myself up, so I will make goals, but I will probably not put a date with that goal. These are my thoughts as I head back into this.

I'm really excited to move forward and will be blogging again.

Here are a couple of pictures of my new coach off of his website. His name is Justin Killeen. His business is Pioneer Valley Fitness and I'm really looking forward to meeting with him on Monday and getting this party started.