My name is Rachel and I live in southwest Virginia with my husband and two boys. I work full time in a business office; and in my spare time I love to blog, read, scrapbook, exercise and spend time with my family.
I haven’t always lived a healthy active lifestyle. After having my second baby in the summer of 2010, I reached my highest weight of 250! After having my gallbladder removed a year later (after several years of misdiagnosed gallbladder issues), I was finally able to get control of my diet and exercise. Since that time, I have lost almost 100 pounds and have kept it off simply by starting small and being consistent!
I started walking daily and counting calories and have since progressed to doing about 60 minutes of walking, cardio or strength training daily. I enjoy trying new workout programs at home and being involved in my many social networking fitness sites and groups. I have completed many workout programs like Turbofire, TurboJam, Les Mills bodyPUMP, Jazzercise, Chis Freytag Slimdown, Leslie Sansone walking dvds; to name a few.
Last year I met my goal of running 13 races in 2013, which included running my first half marathon!
For the year 2014, I want to increase my strength training to 3-4 times per week to become stronger and more toned! To accomplish that goal, I have started P90x3 program and will continue to do Kettlebells, free weights, and bodyPUMP throughout the year.
I currently work out about 6 days a week and have rest days on Sunday. I do cardio, pilates, yoga and walking at home and outside. I attend Jazzercise class once per week. I do strength training with kettlebells, hand weights, resistance bands and weights couple times per week. I mostly work out alone during the week, but on the weekends continue to stay active and have fun with my kids.
I log all my food daily so I don’t over eat-or at least try not to. Some days I do better with my food logging than others!! I drink protein drinks in the morning after I workout and I pack and make my lunch and dinner. I rarely eat fast food and sugar, and I drink lots of water! I eat small portions and I eat often.
I like to eat healthy and count calories by using the MyFitnessPal app to keep me on track. My husband is a great cook who makes healthy meals for our whole family and supports me with every race and fitness endeavor I take on.
I love to blog about my workouts and exercise products I find/review, as well as post daily on instagram and twitter. I hope to be able to inspire others by my actions and words, and especially show others that eating healthy and exercising needs to be a lifestyle commitment, not a temporary quick fix.
Visit Rachel at www.crafts-n-fitness.blogspot.
