About 18-20 years ago I started to baby-sit for this wonderful family at church that had 3 of my most favorite girls in the world.
We rode bikes, went swimming, played with their dog, watched some movies, and just well...had fun.
What made it even more fun was that our two families were good friends so we spent good time together.
I have enjoyed watching these girls grow up. After going away to college, I didn't see them as often and every time I would have an opportunity to see them - I just felt like they grew up so quickly.
The three sisters now are obviously all adults and they are all just so lovely, talented, kind, educated, and beautiful women.
The reason I'm sharing this with you is that the youngest sister, Stephanie, has blessed my life in more ways than she'll probably ever know.
Steph is a nutritionist and a personal trainer. She's also a wife, mom, chef at heart, motivator, & excellent encourager.
When I first started to change my eating habits, I secretly started looking at what she was posting on Facebook for meal ideas…oh and looking at her Pinterest boards. I think I even emailed her a couple times for some ideas.
After giving birth to Natalie last March, I was ready to get moving and really change my lifestyle. I reached out to her about helping me do meal planning and tips on working out after I was cleared by my doc to do that.
She immediately helped me out. She asked me lots of questions to get to know what I was eating, what was available here (big issue for me!), how my back was doing (I had lots of back pain during my pregnancy), how much time I had to dedicate to workouts each day, what exercise equipment (if any) was available for me to use here…and the list went on.
She was so detailed in asking me questions and helping me get started.
I'll add this part too. This is for anyone that might feel embarrassed about asking someone for help. Not once…never once…did she make me bad for my previous choices in unhealthy eating and not working out. She just joined me where I was at and encouraged me.
I love that. That was so special to me. There was grace.
Besides just helping me plan menus and sending me workouts, she taught me about nutrition. She helped me figure out how to read labels, know portion sizes, and things like that so that I had all the information at my fingertips to do this on my own.
I've been working with her for almost a year now and I can say that she has been an essential key to my success. I couldn't have done all this without her.
Very thankful for her.
I talk with her weekly and ask her all kinds of things. Sometimes it's random. Today, I asked her for a clean version of Oreos (Andrew requested them). Other times, I've shared how things have stalled out and I need a jump start.
She immediately responds each time to encourage, share information, and brainstorm ideas with me.
And all this - from across the ocean.
So many times I have wished we were in the same city so that I could workout with her.
And, I'll be honest - one of top things I'm looking forward to when we head to the States later this year is training with her. She's already blessing my socks off by taking me grocery shopping when we get back to help me figure out what's available there (and not get overwhelmed by all the choices). We'll be eating in such a different way than when we were there last time so I'll need some help.
I share this post about her because she has been one of the key people in my life who has helped me out on this journey.
Stephanie and her husband, Jon, have a company called "Martin Nutrition & Fitness" and they have a challenge coming up called "New Year New You". It's a 4 week comprehensive fitness and nutrition program to get you jump started into a healthy lifestyle. It starts this coming Monday, January 19th.
Check out more info HERE on the challenge.
I've signed up. Would you like to join me? We can do this together. Keep each other accountable.
Let me know if you do - I'd love to have a friend join me.
Thanks, Steph. You rock. Countdown is on till I can thank you in person and workout with you!
We rode bikes, went swimming, played with their dog, watched some movies, and just well...had fun.
What made it even more fun was that our two families were good friends so we spent good time together.
I have enjoyed watching these girls grow up. After going away to college, I didn't see them as often and every time I would have an opportunity to see them - I just felt like they grew up so quickly.
The three sisters now are obviously all adults and they are all just so lovely, talented, kind, educated, and beautiful women.
The reason I'm sharing this with you is that the youngest sister, Stephanie, has blessed my life in more ways than she'll probably ever know.
Steph is a nutritionist and a personal trainer. She's also a wife, mom, chef at heart, motivator, & excellent encourager.
When I first started to change my eating habits, I secretly started looking at what she was posting on Facebook for meal ideas…oh and looking at her Pinterest boards. I think I even emailed her a couple times for some ideas.
After giving birth to Natalie last March, I was ready to get moving and really change my lifestyle. I reached out to her about helping me do meal planning and tips on working out after I was cleared by my doc to do that.
She immediately helped me out. She asked me lots of questions to get to know what I was eating, what was available here (big issue for me!), how my back was doing (I had lots of back pain during my pregnancy), how much time I had to dedicate to workouts each day, what exercise equipment (if any) was available for me to use here…and the list went on.
She was so detailed in asking me questions and helping me get started.
I'll add this part too. This is for anyone that might feel embarrassed about asking someone for help. Not once…never once…did she make me bad for my previous choices in unhealthy eating and not working out. She just joined me where I was at and encouraged me.
I love that. That was so special to me. There was grace.
Besides just helping me plan menus and sending me workouts, she taught me about nutrition. She helped me figure out how to read labels, know portion sizes, and things like that so that I had all the information at my fingertips to do this on my own.
I've been working with her for almost a year now and I can say that she has been an essential key to my success. I couldn't have done all this without her.
Very thankful for her.
I talk with her weekly and ask her all kinds of things. Sometimes it's random. Today, I asked her for a clean version of Oreos (Andrew requested them). Other times, I've shared how things have stalled out and I need a jump start.
She immediately responds each time to encourage, share information, and brainstorm ideas with me.
And all this - from across the ocean.
So many times I have wished we were in the same city so that I could workout with her.
And, I'll be honest - one of top things I'm looking forward to when we head to the States later this year is training with her. She's already blessing my socks off by taking me grocery shopping when we get back to help me figure out what's available there (and not get overwhelmed by all the choices). We'll be eating in such a different way than when we were there last time so I'll need some help.
I share this post about her because she has been one of the key people in my life who has helped me out on this journey.
Stephanie and her husband, Jon, have a company called "Martin Nutrition & Fitness" and they have a challenge coming up called "New Year New You". It's a 4 week comprehensive fitness and nutrition program to get you jump started into a healthy lifestyle. It starts this coming Monday, January 19th.
Check out more info HERE on the challenge.
I've signed up. Would you like to join me? We can do this together. Keep each other accountable.
Let me know if you do - I'd love to have a friend join me.
Thanks, Steph. You rock. Countdown is on till I can thank you in person and workout with you!
Comments
Post a Comment