New Orleans or Bust

This week we headed to our annual business conference for coaching, it's the most 'overweight' I've been since I attended one of these conferences the last 3 years, but it's also been the most cathartic trip so far.

How can a business trip be cathartic?   Simple, when you do something that gets at every fiber of your heart, a business trip is a trip with your closest friends and not a group of colleagues. 

We started every morning on the rooftop doing our workouts and starting the day with positive intentions.  What other job makes this a non negotiable?  None that I can think of.  And that is why I love what I do.

Recently my sister posted this, and it really sat with every fiber of me.   We all have terrible things that happen, no one has a perfect life.  No one goes through their life without pain and tragedy.  What matter is what you DO with it.

At one of the larger halls, there was a speaker that said you are great because of your challenges, not the other way around.   Challenges are the same as fitness.  Fitness tears at our muscles.  Leaving them worn and tattered and as they rebuild, they get stronger.

Worn and tattered, I am working to rebuild each day and as a result I get stronger.

This photo is hard to see, but this photo was up on the big screen in the New Orleans Superdome in front of 20,000 others.   This is a before photo of me at 240lbs after my 'hardest hard' getting through having a newborn and losing myself.   And on the right is me 18 months later, a new stronger person. A new more confident person. A happier person.

Both photos were taken before my miscarriage, before the death of my son Thomas.   Both photos are before I hit two new levels of 'hardest hard' - but the woman in the photo on the left, is the reason I am strong enough to keep getting up, keep living life, never give up. 

What I learned along that 83lb weight loss journey was more about inner strength than the physical changes.  And I learned it because of community. 

...this community.   My closest friends I didn't know before I started my journey 3 years ago.   But they are the ones who keep me going even on the days I want to give up.

Together we are stronger, physically and emotionally and mentally.    These lovely ladies and I spent every morning during this trip working out together, getting up and not giving up together.

Because of this group of people, and countless others not in the photo...I am a stronger person.

They comforted me when I cried.   

They laughed with me when I didn't.

This this trip was hard in many ways.   The first night as I waited to walk across the stage to be recognized for my business accomplishments, I saw several mothers walk across the stage holding their newborns.

That was hard.

I was supposed to be holding MY newborn.  I was supposed to be doing the group mommy & me workout with Thomas.   

This was supposed to be a special trip with my baby, the same little guy who worked out with me for 9 months straight.

The tears came and went over the week, but they were mixed with many joyous times as well.

Having a career that's built on personal development has been huge.   Sharing struggles, whether it's divorce, stillbirth, sexual abuse, mental illness, or any struggle in between, has given me the ability to feel less alone.

Having friends to workout with even when my body is similar to my 'starting point' 3 years ago reinforces that my mind is very much different.

And beyond the friends I've met, the trainers I've worked with are a big part of this.   This man in particular is one of my favorites.   I have had the chance to hug him and talk to him on several occasions.    I don't know him personally, but I have thanked him and cried with him.

He is a trainer for thousands of others, but when he trains me in my home, he speaks directly TO me.   

He knows what I need, when I need it and it's not just about pushing through a workout.  He pushes me through my emotions. 

And as always, I will finish this blog post up with some food tips.   This is some of my food from a week on the go with only 1 mini fridge between 4 adults.

Most of the week I made wraps with veggie burgers, lettuce, tomato, red pepper, hummus and avocado.  Today I will eat the same thing on lettuce (my new plan calls for much cleaner sources of carbohydrates, beans/legumes/potatoes) 

We also had this daily snack - a staple at home, a banana on half a wrap with PB....portable and filling!

My newest newfound snack is a new children's smoothie that has a mix of fruits veggies and healthy snacks.   Just like shakeology it's formulated to give us a lot of the nutrients we are missing, but it's got a simpler array of ingredients specific to growing children.

Another favorite on this trip was these quinoa cups (also something you could easily make at home to save the prepackaging).   Quinoa plus roasted red peppers, and we topped it with fresh avocado from a local market!

And while most of our meals we had packed from home/going grocery shopping, we did find an amazing local vegan restaurant called Seed (I highly recommend if you are ever in New Orleans!).   We actually went back 3 times to try different things.