About

     Hi, I am DeeAnn and I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to stop by and check out my blog.  Let me start by getting the usual stuff out of the way. I am a 48 year old stay-at-home mom of two teenagers, one tween and a very, energetic Jack Russell terrorist.  I am married to a wonderful man who is a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps. We now live in Virginia, but that is subject to change at any time.

    I wanted to start this blog because I wanted to share with you my tips on the fastest and easiest way to get that bikini body you have always wanted in just a few short weeks.  I can show you how in just as little as 10 minutes a day on a special exercise machine I have found how to help you drop those unwanted pounds and you will still be able to eat whatever you want.  Now, if you don't have 10 minutes a day to invest in getting in shape, not to worry.  I will also share with you a miracle pill I have found that will do it for you.  It is just that simple.

    Just kidding.  I hope you did not buy into that load of crap above because there is no such thing. We have probably all fallen for one or more of these gimmicks at sometime or another.  At least one of us have tried the fad diets like the cabbage diet or the apple cider diet.  We bought the latest celebrity endorsed equipment like the "Buttmaster" or the "Gazelle glider".  Maybe you tried the supplements like sprinkling powder over your food or drinking some weird tea. I know I did some of these only to find out it was a waste of my time and money. You may get some results from these but that don't last and they do not make you any healthier.

    I started my bad dieting roller coaster back in the 90's with the "perfect" diet pill...phen fen.  Remember those.  I had always been pretty thin throughout high school and college.  But in my mid-twenties I moved in with my boyfriend and we started cooking at home every night, and not light healthy meals either.  He was Italian and I was Texan, so it was pasta and garlic bread and chicken fried steak and cream gravy.  We were young and so we thought we could eat what we wanted. Well needless to say the weight started to pile on and the clothes started to get tight. So a girl in my office was doing phen fen and told me about it.  So  I went and got the perfect little miracle drug (this was before we knew about the bad side effects that could kill you but I will not go into that here). Well let me tell you those two little pills will take some weight off of you fast.  In no time at all I was looking good.  I was THIN!!!!  I didn't even have to exercise or eat right or anything. However, there's one little problem, at some point you have to stop because you have lost all the weight you need to and you just get tired of taking pills. At least I did.  Here's the thing though, when you stop your metabolism slows back down, slower than it was before and you start to gain the weight back, and not just a few pounds. I gained it all back and more within a year.

    Let's speed forward a year or two.  By now I am married and starting to have babies.  With the first one I started at about 150 lbs and went up to 180 or so.  With the second child I started at about 158 and went up to 190 and with the third I started at about 165 and went up to 200 lbs.  I was busy raising kids, eating what I want. If the kids had mac and cheese and chicken nuggets so did I.  I had a husband that loved me, told me I was beautiful every day, so I just wasn't worried about my weight at the time.

   Now through the next 10 years or so as the kids got older I yo-yoed around with my weight.  I would get depressed when I went to try on clothes and nothing fit so I would decided right then and there I was going to go on Atkin's.  That would last a few months and I would lose 20 or so lbs and feel really good for awhile.  But Atkin's is not something I can live with for a long time. I would start to feel deprived of things like fruit or bread.  So I would slowly start eating the  things I missed thinking "it is just one meal, it won't hurt". Next thing you know you have stopped the diet all together and gained it all back. Plus you're eating worse than before because you felt like you hadn't had spaghetti or an orange for so long that now you are going to make up for that and eat it all.

    Also, though out those years I would do the gym thing.  I would join and gym and go for the first  few months and slowly taper off till I was not going at all but still paying that stupid monthly fee.  I will admit though that there was one time the gym worked for me.  When the kids were still little I could go to the gym and and they had childcare that would keep them for up to two hours while I worked out.  That was a God send to me. I went EVERYDAY just to get a break.  I found Les Mills Body Pump there also and started taking the class and I loved it.  I lost probably 30 lbs during that time and it stayed off and my body looked awesome.  Then my husband got assigned to Okinawa, Japan and we moved and no more Body Pump and no more childcare at the gym.  So I got my husband to buy me a treadmill that I put in the house thinking that would work.  But it just wasn't as fun as my Body Pump classes and I would walk for a month or two then stop. Start back up later and stop again, all the while trying to do Atkin's or South Beach or some other diet AGAIN.

    So let's just say that this diet, treadmill thing went on for quite awhile.  I have a range of clothing sizes that fit which ever stage I was in.  Fat clothes for the pre-workout phase, mid-sized while I was working out and just a FEW pieces of skinny cloths for when I would lose some weight.  But only a few because the weight comes back pretty quick when you stop.

    Now I am going to fast forward to when I turned 47.  I went in for my check-up at the doctor.  When the nurse took my blood pressure it was so high they told me I could not leave the doctor's office with out taking a blood pressure pill.  I kinda knew in the back of mind I probably had high blood pressure but didn't want to face it and didn't want to be put on medication.  So after the doctor talked with me and explained how high of risk for stroke or heart attack I was, it scared me to death.  I was only 47 with three kids and I didn't want to die yet.  So I knew I had to do something and my Atkin's, treadmill exercise plan was not going to cut it.  That is when I saw a television ad for P90X and after listening to Tony for awhile I decided that was for me and ordered it.

    Well, let me be completely honest here. I am a Beachbody Coach now and I don't want to discourage anyone from ordering anything or trying it.  However, when I got P90X it just was not the right program for me at that time.  It was a little more intense than what I wanted. So I went back to Beachbody and I decided to go with Power 90.  Still a Tony Horton workout but a little less intense.  So I started it and it really started to work.  I started to loose some weight and my cardio level was increasing.  But I still wanted a little something more in my exercise routine and I wanted to add some strength training.  That is when I saw an on-line ad for an fitness program that I knew was going to be my turning point. Can you guess what it is?  That's right, my favorite from all those years ago.  Les Mill's Pump, except now it was on DVD and I could do it at home.  I was so excited I ordered it that day.

     I started my Pump program the day I got it and I finished the whole schedule.  I lost about 28 lbs.  But it really wasn't about the weight. It was about the muscles I made, the inches I lost,the strength I gained and the fact that I followed through with it.  I enjoyed it and and that made me keep at.  During this time as I improved my fitness I also started eating better.  I now try to eat as clean as I can and throw in a little cheat meat once in a while because hey, everyone needs a treat now and then.  I found a great Beach Body coach during this time who had an incredible story of her own while doing Turbo Fire.  So I am now starting the 9 week Turbo Fire program and enjoing that too. I still throw my old buddy Pump in a few times a week just because I love doing it and I miss it.

       I really wanted to share my story with you because I know there a lot of you out there that have been through this same type of thing.  There really is not a miracle drug or diet.  It takes hard work and eating the right foods.  I would like to take you along on my journey to get and keep fit and healthy.  I will share my tips and healthy recipes with you and do my best to keep you motivated. I call this a journey because there is no end.  You don't get to exercise and eat right and then one day stop because you got there.  This is a lifestyle you have to adopt too. So get out there and find a workout routine you love.  If you don't already have one, Beach Body is a good place to start considering they have something for every one at every fitness level.  So come along with me, let's get moving and remember.... Don't be the same, Be better!!!!!!