Michelle’s Story
My story begins August 7th, 2015. I will always remember this day.
My, now husband, and I had gone to Halifax with our two daughters for a night to watch the Buskers festival. It should have been a great time, it was a beautiful getaway; but, inside everything was not okay. My youngest at the time was 6 months old, and I had postpartum depression and severe anxiety. In fact, it crippled me from being able to do the simplest of every day things. To make matters worse, I had gained about 50-60 lbs. Things were so bad at that time, that on our way back from our trip, I had decided that I had had enough. I gave myself a date, and if I didn’t feel better by then, I was going to commit suicide. I decided that date would be September 7th, simply because it gave me 1 month , and it was going to give me a chance to see my oldest start her first day of Grade 1.
On August 11. 4 days later, I started going to the gym with my best friend, Melanie. She also wanted to lose weight, so we committed to doing this together. My husband took me on a hike in Fundy park, something we both very much enjoy doing, and he actually ended up proposing to me that day. So, this was going to be my new motivation and I would fight my mental health issues, while getting in shape for my wedding. To make things ever more exciting, we decided that instead of having a big fancy wedding, we would go to Peru and hike to Machu Picchu. Another goal! Be in shape enough to hike!
September 7th, came and went, and I never even realized it. And not long after, I got an itch to start running. It was mid September and I knew Legs for Literacy was at the end of October, so I found a 6 week training plan, and eventually completed my first 5k. My friend Melanie and I kept going to the gym, weight lifting and doing cardio. We tried classes and discovered the joy of Yoga.
Fast forward to today, about a year and a half in and I am still ridiculously crazy about running. I run almost every day, hoping to complete my first full marathon at the Legs for Literacy this year. I’ve even started considering trying a triathlon in the future.
In total, I have lost 65 lbs yet gained so much more. My biggest victory is that my children now have stronger mom who promotes a lifestyle of healthy eating and physical activity.
I will admit that I still struggle with anxiety some days. Learning to live with it will take a great deal of work, I know that. I am determined to do this for myself and my family because we all deserve a healthy and happy life.
If you have Instagram, please take a look at my account. @runfastermommy. I am promoting the fit tag #100fitdays where I encourage my followers to find a way to be active every day for 100 days. I just started my 3rd round.
Oh, and by the way, the hike to Machu Picchu was amazing!
