Looking Good (for a mom)

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I had the most amazing experience this past weekend at the Hardstyle Kettlebell Certification (HKC)! After a year of training with kettlebells under the watchful eye of a Russian Kettlebell Challenge (RKC) instructor, I decided I wanted to take a bigger step. Instead of just working out with kettlebells, I wanted to prove I had what it takes to be certified in their use and instruction. For me, that meant attempting the HKC, a one-day course that provides in-depth instruction on kettlebells, and certifies attendees to instruct others in the kettlebell swing, squat, and Turkish get-up... Read More

There seems to be a rather common reaction when I talk about my schedule and how I stay healthy.  That reaction? “I could never do that.” One friend even called me Superwoman. But I don’t have a cape, and Superwoman I’m not! And I didn’t go from my old lifestyle to my currently lifestyle in the blink of an eye, either. It was a long, drawn-out series of small, manageable changes... Read More

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Just over a year ago, I wasn’t yet a blogger. I was going through a Turbulence Training Transformation Contest, and tweeting about my meals and workouts. I was posting a lot in the forums on dailyburn.com, trying to help answer the questions of people starting out, just like Susan had helped me when I was beginning my journey... Read More

I’ve been asked to start blogging regularly for the on-line home of MomSpace magazine, MomSpace.com.  Over there, I’ll be known as “Healthy Mom,” and be blogging original content about health and fitness, as well as my own story, just like I do here.  So be sure to check both sites as I won’t be cross-posting here at LGM every time I have a new blog on MomSpace... Read More

I’m one of those people for whom eating sweets and sugar doesn’t satisfy a craving, but actually creates one.  I know I’m not alone.  Many other women deal with the same issues. The problem is that if you have a sweet treat one day, you’re more likely to have one the next day, and the next day, and…well, you get the idea.  And it’s confession time: it’s been happening to me! My daughter had her birthday, and we had an ice cream cake. I ate some of that.  Then my husband made some chocolate chip cookies. I ate one on two separate days.  Then my daughter baked a cake with her babysitter on her afternoon off from school.  I broke off a small piece today and ate it…and that’s when I realized I needed to come clean. You see, I don’t even LIKE cake!.. Read More

As you know from my post Of Martha, Blogging, and NYC, I traveled up to New York City earlier this week to be in the studio audience for the taping of The Martha Stewart Show along with a number of other bloggers (many of them from right here in the Philly area). The show’s theme was blogging, and we were all supposed to be blogging live from the audience.  I actually decided against bringing my laptop, as I’m simply too verbose to write the kind of post I’d like to write from my iPhone in just an hour (along with many mandatory clapping breaks), so I hope you don’t mind that it’s taken me a day to regroup and get this post up. I really want to share my experiences going to New York, seeing Martha live, and spending a day away from my home and normal routine.  Of course, I’ll share tidbits of how I tried to stay healthy along the way! (And even for me, this post is pretty lengthy…epic even!).. Read More

Well, it happened. I turned 35 yesterday. As is my tradition, I took the day off of work and went shopping for clothes. This was a particularly important task given my weight loss. I used to have a pretty robust wardrobe, but all of those items are now too large for me. I did some shopping last year, but really needed at least a few more purchases to round back out my work wardrobe. It was great to be trying on clothes without getting frustrated about everything making me look fat. And, I came home with quite a lot of great things!.. Read More

One of the challenges of transforming your body and life is that it takes some time for your mental image and perception of yourself to catch up with your physical reality. Just like it took looking at myself in a picture, instead of in the mirror, to see how fat and out of shape I’d become, it’s taking time for me to see myself positively in the mirror now that I’m fit. Likewise, it’s taking time for me to think of myself positively... Read More