My health and fitness journey has been on-going since 1998 after my fourth child was born.

Back then, in my twenties, I really didn’t have to worry about my physical appearance. But after child number four was born, things were not as toned any longer.

I wasn’t worried about the sixty pounds I gained during that pregnancy. I knew, if I started a workout routine, I would get back into shape and lose the weight.

Do you remember aerobics from the eighty’s with Jane Fonda or the nineties with Richard Simmons? Denise Austin was another one I tried. I even bought her weight set, which included one, three, and five pound dumbbells. I still have them.

Yep, I did them all. I tried the Beach Body route and P90X too. I really liked P90X. I know I built some muscle while doing these workouts but I didn’t change my eating habits.

I’m not saying any of the mentioned routines are not effective, I’m just saying I never stayed focused on any of them long enough to really make a difference.

As we age, our bodies take on different shapes, especially after having children. Losing weight and keeping our bodies toned is harder than ever.

Through my forties, I started to gain weight. I’ve always told myself, I don’t ever want to gain so much weight to where I am uncomfortable or it causes health issues… I want to stay active and at a weight that I am comfortable with.

The year I turned fifty, was the beginning of what I thought would be the most successful year of my journey. I started working out every day and really tried to focus on what I was eating. I cut out most snacks and cut back on the amount I was eating.

I thought I was doing so well, but when stepping on the scale, the number was not changing, or it would go up and down.

When that number hit one hundred and fifty pounds, I was in denial. There’s no way I could weigh that! The scale must be wrong!

One hundred and fifty pounds might not seem like a big number to some people, but on my small frame of five foot three inches, those pounds showed.

I didn’t realize how I looked until recently when I was looking at photos from one and two years ago. I was in disbelief. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy, not realizing this. I dressed in a way so that you couldn’t really see the weight…well; I thought no one could see it.

It was time to get serious about my health and fitness.

I started working out again. But this time I search YouTube for a “trainer”. Someone I could follow that would help me lose some weight and tone my body.

This is when my TRUE journey began.

These days I feel so much better about my body. I have lost thirty pounds to date, gained muscle tone, lost inches, and have more energy than ever before.

How did I obtain this goal? Read this post to find out.