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!