Hi! I’m Mary, a former hardcore lazy girl who stumbled upon a crazy exercise program and changed her life. Not only did I lose over 25 pounds, I found out that exercise makes you feel really good. Like happy good. It also led me to push myself in other ways….ulitmately ending up here!
I’m a mom to four, lazy girl turned exercise person, really into clean eating (but used to eat ice cream for dinner), stumbling my way through all those roles and more. Trying to find “balance” when I’m not sure what that means. Feeling slightly stunned about being 42, but mostly ok with it. Though not liking some of the transitions that come with it- like the people around me- young and old- getting older.
Sometimes I feel like everyone around me is perfectly at ease being an adult and moving through life efficiently, but I suspect that’s not true. I can’t be the only one who feels like a hot mess 90% of the time, can I? So I’m figuring out how to be a grown-up (though I have qualified as a grown-up for some time now) without necessarily fitting into a mold so perfectly. As I struggle along, and try to figure things out, I’d like to share them so you can commiserate or feel like, “Yeah! I’m gonna make a change, too!” or laugh at me or maybe feel better about the state of your living room right now.
So how do you grow up and be a good person and feel fulfilled and nurture your children and raise them into happy, productive human beings and be there for your husband and be a good daughter, sister, aunt, friend and keep your home home-y and clean and eat healthy and exercise and work and contribute to your family and feel confident and set a good example for your children and all of that and more?? I don’t know. But I’m striving to figure things out…
So here are some things I’m sharing about here:
- Fitness Stuff. I’m kind of obsessed and love to talk about different types of exercise and all the good stuff that comes along with it. Keep in mind here that I was never an athlete, never played soccer, never took swim lessons, never played on any kind of team, smoked cigarettes in gym class, cried many times for feeling so uncomfortable (and at times humiliated) during gym. I would roll my eyes at exercise people. And always felt slightly suspicious of them. Then I did that exercise program in 2012, lost over 25 pounds and became so passionate about exercise and nutrition that I decided to become a health and fitness coach. And start this blog.
- Clean Eating. Again, a little obsessed. But again, not always the case. I have a crazy sweet tooth and am prone to emotional eating, binge eating, and that kind of unhealthy thing. So it’s not always easy. I also have four kids who do not share my obsession with said clean eating. No perfect bento box lunches for my kids. I’m doing my best. But I really felt inspired to start sharing about clean eating when I realized how little most of us know about nutrition.
- Easy Recipes. Think quick and easy weeknight recipes, not recipes to impress the in-laws or anything. They’ll be healthy and easy and usually fast, but Barefoot Contessa I am not.
- Motherhood & More. I put motherhood first because it’s where I’m at right now- my kids are young enough (5, 8, 10, 13) where I still feel like they’re my primary focus. But, I’m also a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and lots of other roles. And sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to balance this mega-important role with all the other ones.
- Personal Development. It might sound fluffy or woowoo, but I love it. And I believe it’s important to keep growing as a person. Plus, I think it’s important to find ways to help us manage all the stress that we have in our lives and find time to take care of ourselves. Time to stop and think and breathe for a minute.
- Challenged Homemaker. I am a disorganized mess! But I’m a Virgo. So I feel great inner conflict. I’m always looking for ways to be more organized and clean, things that don’t come naturally to me. Plus, we’re home a lot! I’d like to make this home a place we all want to be, where my kids want to have friends over, where I can relax and not constantly feel like there’s so much that needs to be done.
I’m excited you’re here and I hope you’ll be back to visit often!
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