Here Goes Nothing!

Welcome to my little spot on the web!

First things first, I should probably properly introduce myself to you and give you a little insight to my blog. My name is Jennifer (Jen for short). I am a 30 year old born and raised peach that's still living and working in Georgia. I have been married to my husband, Jason, for 3 years, and our only child is our awesome pup, Guinness.

I graduated from North Georgia College and State University in May 2006 with a degree in Physical Education. I have been active ever since I first gripped a T-ball bat in my hands at the age of 5. I have played softball, basketball, track, and even dabbled a bit on the JV baseball team my senior year of high school. I did not immediately choose my major upon entering college. It wasn't until after having a talk with my grandmother did I realize what I wanted to do.

All through college I was able to maintain my fitness level. Having a gym to access right on campus as well as intramural sports to participate in really made it easy. It wasn't until after I graduated and began dating Jason did I let my fitness level and healthy lifestyle slide. We weren't nearly as active, didn't have the best diet, and both gained our fair share of weight.

I tried a number of different methods to lose the weight I no longer wanted on my body - I bought a bike that ended up at Goodwill...I sparingly used the fitness center in our apartment complex unless the couch felt like a better choice...I even went on the hCg diet, where I did lose 25 pounds but gained it all back...nothing was working for me...and I hated the way I looked and felt.

During this past Christmas Jason approached me and said that he wanted us to make a change in our lifestyle - to be more healthy in both our diet and exercise levels. We began taking daily walks with Guinness around the neighborhood and I found a wonderful website with tons of comfort foods that had a healthy twist to them. I was able to lose ten pounds and Jason lost twenty, but then I plateaued...and gained about six pounds back. I began to feel like a failure...again. Why am I letting this happen to me?

I have a wonderful group of friends that I will refer to as my 409 girls. We came together on TheKnot while planning our April 2009 weddings (hence the clever name 409). We have kept in touch since our weddings and have even had meet-ups and a huge get together in DC last May. These women are truly amazing and I'm thankful to have their friendships. A few of them are fairly active and are great at motivating those of us that need a little push. A few weeks back, one of my friends, Amanda, mentioned that she wanted to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon next February. I did some research and it looked like an AMAZING event geared towards women and their determination that we can accomplish anything. I decided then and there that I would accompany her at Disney.

So here I am! I decided to blog about not only working towards my goal of a half marathon, but my goal of getting back to a healthy lifestyle. My decision to share my story and my journey with those that have stumbled across me as well as those that I bribed to follow the blog (just kidding!!) comes from 1) holding myself accountable, and 2) possibly helping someone find that motivation they were looking for to jump start living healthy.

So ladies (and gents)...let's do this!

Jen