2016 Will Be Brought To You By......

......the word serenity. Let me explain. Instead of New Years Resolutions I pick a word to focus on for the year. For the past couple of years I have picked consistency, and while it is something I can always improve on, it was time to broaden my horizons with a new word. I decided on serenity because it is something I need in my life. My life is chaotic....I have alot of things on my plate, but instead of being the spaz I tend to be I would love to be more serene. The definition I am basing this year on is "the state of being calm, peaceful and untroubled". I long to be seen as an oasis in the middle of the craziness of life. This week, and yes I realize it is only Tuesday has been a test for me. Yesterday I had a busy day. I led my No Excuse Mom Group in the morning, after that I was heading to our community college to take a placement test, because after a 19 year "break" I am going back to school and finally I was holding our PTA meeting, did I forget to mention that I am a PTA president? The workout went awesome so I headed to the college. I was being tested in Math, Reading Comp and Writing. I am not a Math person, so I wasn't expecting a high score but I really thought the two English sections would be a piece of cake. I took the tests got my scores and headed down to advising to register for a class, I am starting out slow and only taking one class this semester. I had a surprise when it turns out my Writing score was 2 points shy of what it needed to be to take the first English college level course. She suggested I try again the next day and see if I could pass. I left the office distraught. Its a blow to your pride when you are not as good as you think you are! I will admit I was not feeling serene at all.

By the time I got home I was actually feeling more serene about the whole thing. Only 2 points away after a 19 year break....not bad! Besides I was going back the next day and that was that. The PTA meeting went better than expected so by this time serene is my middle name. Then I go back today. I had an action plan on how I was going to do better. I felt confident, I was ready. However, I got a point lower than I did yesterday! My first reaction wasn't serene or anything close to it, but I stopped and took a breath. The fact that I am taking a "remedial" English class isn't a bad thing. By taking this course and filling in the few gaps I might be able to CLEP out of some of the first level English classes. I love to write, and improving it will only make writing papers during my college career better. So while serenity is not my first reaction yet, it is only January!

The Tale of Two Pictures

Hello Everyone! My name is Kate, and you can see by my picture that I really do wear red lipstick....just about everyday.(this picture is not one of the ones mentioned in the title) I am a 37 year old mother of three and over the past few years my life has gone through a complete transformation and I thought what better way to share the transformation than with a blog!

About three years ago the internet erupted with this picture: I was turning 34 at the time and my youngest was turning one. I was weighing 210lbs. I saw that picture at the exact right time. I was unhappy with my weight, but very very full of excuses! I have had asthma since I was 3, so alot of physical activity was never encouraged because of my breathing problems. I struggle with hypothyroid which makes it difficult to loose weight, depression, and all the other "mom" excuses (no time, gym memberships are too expensive, what do I do with my children). People had different reactions to the picture, mine was always positive. I ended up joining a gym for a short time, but then got involved with the No Excuse Mom movement that started after the picture. The NEM (No Excuse Mom) groups promise that the workouts would always be free and kids are always welcome. What more could you want? ( to see if a NEM group is located close to you check out: http://www.noexcusemom.com/locations/) I also started attending a functional fitness workout group as well and found out that lifting heavy things is fun! I started learning that a fit bodies don't all look the same. I also started seeing food as fuel for my body to use to do the things that I want to do. Slowly, but surely I started dropping some weight and loosing some inches, but more important I was crushing my excuses....I was running..something I NEVER thought I would do. I was loosing weight despite my hypothyroid and I was finding time to workout. I started developing healthy habits exercise became a way of life. I missed it when I wouldn't work out! I really couldn't believe it. About nine months after the NEM group got started Maria Kang announced a contest for NEM groups to submit a picture and one would be chosen to grace the front of the NEM 2015 calendar. I am a photographer so I offered to take the picture, however my leader was adamant that I should be in the picture. UGGHHH.....I really didn't want to. To be in the photo we had to be in a bathing suit, and while I was proud of the changes my body was making.....bathing suits still weren't my thing. After alot of encouragement I decided to participate in the picture.

Low and behold our picture won!!! I am excited and really didn't expect anything else to happen from the picture. However, in November the group was contacted by the Dr. OZ show and were asked to appear and surprise Maria Kang....the only caveat....we had to be in our bathing suits! I figured since we were already on the front of a the calendar, national TV is the next logical step! It was an amazing, magical, surreal time. After the show we got to meet up with a bunch of other NEMs from the New Jersey, New York area. We all ate lunch together with Maria. It was amazing to meet women that I had only interacted with online. During lunch I shared with Maria that my children's school had asked me to run an after school club focusing on nutrition and exercise. We chatted and she asked me if I would be interested in spearheading the No Excuse Kid program. A year and a half later after that conversation I had run two successful NEK clubs and am now the Program Manager. I lead a NEM group myself, since we moved. I am also heading back to school the end of this month working towards a degree in Exercise Science. Those two pictures really did change the course of my life and helped me to find my passion. Does this mean that life is nothing but roses and unicorns? Oh no! I still struggle. I don't always make good food choices and some days I skip working out to take a nap! The difference is, is those times are not my normal. You might be thinking, is blog going to be all health and fitness-y? The answer is no! I am just going to share all aspects of my life journey. 2016 promises to be a year of changes and new beginnings. I can't wait!