Reader Success Story: Becoming an FBG

We get so many inspiring emails from readers, and today we’re sharing another reader success story with you! Read on for Megan’s inspiring story. Check out more of her fit adventures here, and feel free to share your own weight-loss story here!

I was a very active kid growing up. I was always running around the backyard as a wee lass (and rolling around in mud).  When I moved to a new town and started second grade, my parents signed me up for organized soccer for the first time.

I still remember that first practice, making my first new friend in my new town, who I’d be close friends and teammates with all the way through high school. Her dad is actually still my dad’s accountant. I also started playing basketball and softball. I played in rec leagues, on school teams,  travel teams, summer leagues, fall leagues, winter leagues. Indoor leagues, outdoor leagues.

By the time that I was in seventh grade, I was playing some sort of sport almost every day of the week, year round. This only ramped up when I made it to high school. I was basically a Fit Bottomed Kid without even knowing what that was.

Sure, I took some breaks in there. Mostly when I was forced to. There were two ACL surgeries, in eighth and ninth grade. There were numerous sprains, strains and other ailments (never a break though, knock on wood).

I also ate like complete crap. We’d always have three nutritious square meals a day, but my parent’s house was also stocked with junk food, soda and juice. Still is to this day. I don’t think I ever voluntarily drank a glass of water growing up. But it didn’t matter because I was incredibly active all the time. So I was a totally normal weight, and generally very healthy. (Although, being bigger than all my stick-thin friends, I didn’t think that. That’s a story for another day, though.)

When I went to college, I suddenly decided that I only wanted to drink water and eat granola bars and go to the gym all the time. All things that I had never really done before. So, I went to Sam’s Club, got bulk-sized packages of water, granola bars and animal crackers, and Cup O’ Noodles soup (I now know that those are actually not at all healthy). I made a point to go to the gym for almost an hour every day, I walked everywhere, didn’t drink a ton of alcohol, ate salads.

I distinctly remember being on the recumbent bike for 60 minutes at a time several times a week. How I didn’t die of boredom, I don’t know.

But nevertheless, with my new “lifestyle” I lost weight and was generally healthy.

Then, I entered the real world. Long days of work, long commutes and short lunch breaks led to a lot of expensive, unhealthy meals and very little exercise. Chipotle and Au Bon Pain became my good friends. The woman who made salads at ABP knew my order by heart. It included lots of cheese, Asian noodles and salad dressing, with a side of bread and lemonade, and not a lot of veggies.

The gym was something that I paid $100 a month for but rarely ever set foot inside.

So, work and lack of exercise, coupled with a few serious bouts of depression, and depression medication, and a general lack of desire to do anything good for myself, and a third ACL surgery, led to a very sedentary, very unhealthy lifestyle for me. I gained weight, sure, but I also just did not feel good in my body.

For years.

Until something suddenly changed in my mind.

Right after I got married, my husband and I decided to start using The Fresh Diet, a diet-meal delivery service. The meals were portioned out for us, and cooked with healthy, fresh ingredients. And they were actually good.

Sure, I was starving at first, but I eventually got used to their portions (which were normal-sized portions, and not the mega portions I had been eating). I got used to eating good, fresh food and even started enjoying some foods I never thought I would (hi, quinoa and beef). I started losing weight, but more importantly, I started to feel good in my body again.

That’s when I decided to add exercise back in to my life. I don’t remember how the decision was made, but it was decided that I would wake up at 5:15 three mornings a week and go to the gym (which is thankfully right in my building), and I’d get some form of exercise on the weekends, too.

I made that decision cold turkey.

That first Monday morning wake-up was brutal, and it took a while to get used to the schedule. But, with my past life as an active person to lean on, as well as a multitude of exercise apps for inspiration, I eventually fell right back into the rhythm of an active lifestyle.  Before I knew it, I was signing up to complete my first ever mud run. It was slow and it was painful, but it was for a great cause, and I had a blast.

It’s been more than two years since I rediscovered fitness. In that time, I’ve completed five mud runs, numerous 5Ks, 10Ks and two half marathons. I’ve also hiked, biked, run, lifted, rollerbladed, flown on the trapeze, paddle boarded and walked my dog more. I’ve pole danced and kickboxed and rock climbed and yoga’d. I’ve started a collection of workout DVDs, have at least 50 go-to workouts saved on my phone and have a small pile of workout equipment in the corner of my room. I also have two full drawers worth of workout clothes.

Yes, I’ve lost a few pounds and my clothes look better on me. No, I’m not the skinniest person out there. Yes, there are days when I wish my stomach were flatter or my thighs were smaller or my arms were more defined. But, I know that those arms are now strong enough to carry all of my groceries into the apartment by myself in one shot. And I know that those thighs have taken me through many many miles on the road.

But, most importantly, I’ve gained a new found respect for my body. I’ve gained confidence in myself. I’ve learned to fuel my body right, to give it what it needs and wants. Sometimes that’s chocolate and donuts. But more often than not, it’s fruits and veggies and protein.

Ultimately, I’ve learned that to make my body happy, to make it perform at its best, I need to balance. The good and the bad. The active and the lazy. The healthy and the not-so-great-for-you.

Apparently, life is all about how you balance it.

Megan, you are truly an FBG! Yay! Did any of Megan’s story resonate with you? Let’s hear it in the comments! —Jenn