Case of the Wednesdays is composed of several wonderful women on their journey of creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We invite you to follow our journeys and share your own experiences!

[The name of the group comes from the group's founder who posted a "Weight Loss Wednesday" on her own personal blog. She had such an overwhelming response from her readers, she decided to create a larger network of women on the same journey and to have posts throughout the week.]

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Jenn Week 1

Hello blog world!
I am Jenn a 31 year old wife and momma to a 5 month old little boy and 3 fur children.  I currently work part time out side our home as retirement specialist for Nationwide. 

As for most women the size of my pants and the number I see when I step on the scale has always played a factor in my life and how I feel about myself on a particular day.  I never truly had a weight struggle or problem until about 5 years ago when I decided  to quit smoking.  I was so determined to quit that I was willing to do anything, even pack on the pounds.  I like to say I put down the cigarettes and picked up Dairy Queen blizzards!  Once I was about a year into my quit I felt comfortable taking on the challenge of loosing the weight.  But I wanted this time to be different then the times I had dieted in the past.  I didn't want to loose X pounds for a vacation or other event that would eventually creep back on.  I wanted to change the way I viewed food and exercise.  I wanted to make another life style change.  And that is what I did.  I slowly lost all the weight I gained from quiting smoking plus some.  During the summer of 2011 I was at the lowest weight I have been in years, probably close to high school weight and the fittest and most healthiest as well.  All my hard work had paid off.  Eating right and working out on a regular basis was part of who I was, it was second nature.   In October of 2011 I suffered a miscarriage.  Through that process I gained about 10 pounds.  We were blessed to get pregnant with our son very soon after that, we found out we were expecting that December.  Throughout my pregnancy I continued to eat well and exercise regularly.  I was able to drop all of the pregnancy weight before Harrison was 2 months old. However, I still have those pesky 10 lbs from the miscarriage that I'd like to see gone along with 25 more.  Now, that is a lot for me.  I feel like this is a new level I am trying to get to.  Also, I am soft people! I am sure it makes me a lot more comfy for snuggles with the baby but this momma is not having it. Time to tone up!

My go to source of exercise for the past 3 years has been running.  Recently I was diagnosed with a knee injury that will prevent me from running at all in the near future and the long distances I have been accustomed to training towards are a definite thing of the past.  When I received this news it was a major blow as running has become a passion for me and a major outlet for stress relief.  Also, it was easy with the new baby, bundle him up, put him in the jogging stroller and off we'd go.  I even got accustomed to taking our youngest dog with us. 

So this leads to what you can expect to see from me on this journey.  I am determined to find a new fitness passion.  I'll be going out there and trying all sorts of new things, boxing, yoga, pilates and reporting back on what I thought of the experience. (Get ready to laugh at me, I won't mind at all)  I'm even going to drag a few friends along for the ride. As I am still trying to find a way to balance everything there may be weeks that I don't get out there to try a new class.  Sometimes I may only be able to fit in some at home workouts.  I have found lunging while wearing Harrison in the Baby Bjorn creates quite the burn.  The goal is to keep moving and find new ways to spice things up.  Another love of mine is cooking.  I hope to share new recipes from time to time or an old stand by that I was able to make more healthy.  I'll be keeping track of not only pounds lost but inches as well.  I will warn all of you out there my grammar and spelling will not be perfect.  But if you want to follow me on this journey I can promise it will be an honest and transparent one. 

I don't have too many photos of just me but I wanted to put something up to document where I am starting.  This was part of our session for our Christmas cards, taken in November.


I am so excited to be part of this project and can't wait to see what unfolds for all of us.

3 comments:

  1. I am so interested to see what you do in place for running...I am actually not a huge fan of running but I know its a great way to burn calories. Would love to know what else is out there to change my routine up but make the most of the time I have to work out.

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  2. Jenn, I am also a runner and love it! I have also suffered many injuries throughout the years. During those times or even when it's to cold outside, I have taken up Spinning. Is that something that you could do with your injury? I think it's a great alternative and gives great results. I am currently pregnant with my 3rd and have used Spinning as my way to burn that baby weight off fast. Good luck! I hope you can find something that works for you :)

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  3. I too am a runner and have a 4 month old!! Getting the itch for weather that allows me to bring baby in stroller..... no time for getting to the gym :(

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