You know how it goes, on again, off again, on agian. Weight loss am I right? What a pain in the rear end and I'm not talking the good kind after you did 100 squats the day before. I love to work out. I really do. I'm sure half of you out there are like "Ok, Jakki good for you. I hate it" Even though I love to do it I just can never stick with it. It's so much harder now that I am older and have kids but there really isn't an excuse. You know what else I love to do? Eat. Especially when I'm stressed out I will munch on whatever I can get my hands on and don't even get me started when my toddler is clingy, and my boys decide to turn my living room into a wrestling arena while my daughter decides it's the perfect moment to turn her 10-year-old attitude into a 16-year-old one. Where's the cookies??? The holidays are over and I ate waaayyy too many treats and I feel unhealthy as frick. When I sing my kids to bed at night, and I feel a little winded that's when I know this mama has a problem and it's time to do something about it. I am proud to say that when I was in the best shape of my life, I was working 3 jobs and yet I still found time to go jogging at my favorite park every day. I would bust out a good 5-to-7-mile jog whenever I had the time and I felt great, and I loved it. Now I am a stay-at-home mom and 3 of the 4 kids are in school so what's my excuse? I. don't. have. one. Thats it. I don't. So, now's the time.

So, I did the normal new year's resolution to get healthy but this year but I did it a little differently. I reached out to my friends and asked if they wanted to do it with me. I am a "I need results right away kind of girl" and it just doesn't work that way. I knew this time around I needed their support and motivation. That even though I always thought I could do things on my own I obviously need some help now and again. If I didn't need the help, I would be in the best shape of my life right now. So, I'm not setting my expectations high. I am going to take my time and when I get to my ideal weight I will get there. I was going to start my healthy journey on the 2nd knowing fully well I was going to be eating my nephew's birthday cake on the first.

So, January second rolls around and I take my kids to an indoor water park for their last day of winter break and of course all that swimming gets them hungry. No big deal we stop at Wendy's for a bite, and I eat a bacon cheeseburger. Halfway home I thought to myself oh nooooooo. I just cheated on my very first day of healthy eating. So, I made my new start day the 3rd. I wasn't mad at myself because I know this time around mistakes are going to be made as long as I don't give up is what's important. I also wanted to start off on the right foot so pushing back one day so I can feel good from the start was very important to me. If you don't feel good about a situation, you're never going to stick with it. I texted my friends right away to let them know I cheated already. No keeping secrets even if I feel uncomfortable. Nobody else started either so I guess we were all unknowingly on the same page.

I'm starting this journey weighing 189 pounds. I cannot believe I just wrote that for the world to see. It's not the heaviest I have been but it's nowhere near what I would like to be. I'm not uncomfortable in my skin because I look at my kids and I ask myself what's the alternative? I would have my skinny body back but then I wouldn't have the joy of motherhood and the constant happiness they bring me. If I had to choose between the two, I would take my flabby bye bye arms any day of the week over not having my kids. Here's the thing though, I know I'm where I am because of motherhood but I don't have to choose. I can most definitely have both and I'm going to. Below I am posting a picture of me and let me tell you I had to search through a bunch to actually find a full body photo of myself. I found one though of me and my family and even though I can critique all the things I want to improve I'm proud of that body and all that it accomplished. It's also the beginning of a healthier me. I want to be as real as I can be for myself and for you. I have a love/hate for filters. Yes, they are fun and convenient when you don't feel like putting makeup on but then someone sees you in person and raise an eyebrow at the person they don't see on the screen. So many people get wrapped up in the filtered virtual world, I want to give you reality

I decided that I'm not setting myself any goals. My only goal is to take it one day at a time and try to make the healthiest choices I can. I'm going to get up and moving but if I don't get major workouts in in the beginning that's ok. My problem is more food related than workout related so that's what I'm focusing on more first and I will add more intense pieces in when my nutrition has become more of a habit than a chore. One major thing I have accomplished is drinking more water. I would drink coffee from sunup to sundown and not drink any water at all. That was hard for me so if you need a little more agua in your day what helped me tremendously was this bottle right here. The Build Life Gallon Water Bottle.

It looks huge and intimidating and it is. I fill it up at night so it's ready for my first glass in the morning. I also tried to just drink it out of the bottle, and it was hard for me to finish but when I kept a small glass next to it drinking a little glass here and there before I knew it the bottle was empty, and I still would have a couple hours of my day left! If you straight up hate drinking water like I do, give this a try.

I want to be here for you like my friends are there for me. I want to keep you going when you need a boost. I want to help give you tips and ideas of what's working and what's not along the way and let you know it's ok if life happens and your weight fluctuated this week. As long as you don't give up and just keep going. I'm not giving up this time and I want you to join me. The time is now so together let's just do the darn thing.

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