With Thanksgiving coming up these Meatballs have so much to be thankful for. First off let me say thank you so much for the birthday wishes, flowers, cards, paleo desserts, mixed cd’s #thankskelly, gifts and facebook love!!!  It really was the living best day of life! Being thankful has really become a theme for us over the past couple of weeks and I love it.  Life is so much easier and perspective is so different if you live in a constant attempted state of grateful.  With this theme in mind we wanted to continue thanking our weigh in photo shooters!  So tonight was Cara Dempsey night at our most favorite place on earth Coquette. Cara said fries were her weakness so what better place to go! Right away we ran into some of my favorite clients… the Wicklines!!!  Shout out to Jen, Ryan and the fam!!!

We had the best conversations and sooo many laughs!!! We talked families, fierce conversations, exercise, holidays, what to do for the next shoot and even budgets.  It has been so nice getting to know Cara better!!!  We ordered three  entrees and shared them…our favorite!!!  Jenny got Beef Bourguignon…#imablogger

Dempsey got the Scallops…

And shocker I got the Steak Frites…

WE all avoided the yummy bread at all cost!!!

#sooohard

Everything was amazing and we mapped out a plan for the weigh in shoot!!!  So exciting.  You guys, it was so f-ing cold outside that we decided to go get a Starbucks treat!!!  But the walk there was brutal! Why is it winter already?! #babycold

This will warm us upppp!!!

Cara thanks so much for helping us out!!!  We can’t wait to work with you again! Xoxo

Our next segment is a little get to know you sesh with our dear buddy Sandra!!!  She has been so incredibly instrumental in our journey to fitness and wellness.  She has taught us how to take care of ourselves physically and believed we were capable of more than we ever thought possible.  It feels so nice to feel strong!  Talk about empowering!  So we want for you to get to know our amazing trainer a little bit better!!!  I mean look at her…why are you not already seeing this woman!

1. How and when did you find fitness?

I was a dedicated athlete in high school and active during college, but I struggled to find a place for fitness after college when I entered the workforce. Plagued by unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits, my weight spiraled out of control. I hit my breaking point when the scale reached 160 lbs and my 5’2” frame was wearing a size 14. Fortunately, I found my way back to a healthy weight through healthy eating and exercise. I exercise because I love what it does to my body both physically and mentally. Proper nutrition affects the way you feel throughout the day and gives you the energy you need to get through that workout. I can truly say that I FEEL better today than when I was in my early 20’s.

2. What was your biggest weight struggle in the past?

My weight spiraled out of control when I was in my late 20s due to unhealthy eating and lifestyle habits. For years, I always found it a struggle to find a “diet” that would work for me and become a lifestyle. Today, I follow a very clean diet eating lots of proteins, vegetables, fruit and nuts. I stay away from processed foods, grains, and I try my hardest to avoid gluten. This past year, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease, and I’ve been struggling with the fact that I’ve actually gained weight despite the clean eating. It is certainly a mental struggle but I’m going to keep pushing hard and continue eating clean because I truly feel better eating this way.

3. How do you set yourself up for success?

Three things: 1) Surround yourself with positive influences and those that reflect who you want to be and how you want to feel. 2) Plan Ahead. Portion out your proteins and healthy snacks and prep your veggies, salads, and fruit ahead of time so you don’t get tempted when you are hungry. 3) Make your workouts an appointment on your calendar. If you don’t make it a priority, it will get pushed further into the day and sometimes never get done.

4) How have your recent health issues affected your journey?

We are all on our own journey to good health. I eat clean and exercise so that I can feel strong, have energy and feel well. Unfortunately, in the past year, I became excessively tired, irritable, moody, anxious and even depressed on occasion. To make matters worse, I was gaining weight despite eating a clean diet and training consistently. It was determined that my thyroid gland was underactive (Hashimotos disease) and that I have high levels of metals, particularly mercury and lead, in my system. These metals are blocking my thyroid gland from making hormones and getting my metabolism going.

To address this issue, I now follow a strict Paleo-type diet. It has actually made me more disciplined because I hit a breaking point where I was just so tired of feeling bad. To be honest, I actually enjoy eating this healthy and cannot see me ever going back to how I used to eat before. While my weight is still an issue, I have to keep reminding myself that I am human too. Just because I am a trainer, sometimes there are outside factors interfere with your fitness journey. You can’t let them get in the way of your overall goal. I know I will overcome this. I am too strong to give up now.

http://www.innovativefitnesstraining.com is her website and (919) 601-3140 is the best way to contact her.  If you are struggling to find the motivation to work out or you simply just don’t know how, call Sandra.  She will literally change/save your life and do it all with a smile!  We love you more than you’ll ever know Sandy!  Now, onto the ass kicker and the most exciting news the meatballs have had to date!  You guys…thanks to our blogging buddy Melinda…WE ARE GOING TO BE ON WRAL FOR A SEGMENT WITH BILL LESLIE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…I mean could this week get any better!?  He is coming to the salon to interview us on Monday morning but today they sent a super awesome camera man, Tom Normanly to shoot us working out with Sandra!  And boy did she give it to us today!

Tom was so fun and you could see him shimmying to the music that was blasting over the speakers.  He told us after he got his shots that he was on his own journey and had just lost 100 pounds!!!  Incredible Tom!!!!  We are always amazed at how universal this struggle is and it’s so inspiring to meet other people in the same journey!  Xoxo Tom!  We don’t know when the segment is going to air but as soon as we do we will post it!!! Now like I said Sandra really upped the anty today!  So here is a montage sans words bc I think I blacked out for most of this!

I’m sweating just looking over it again…and we did all of this for two rounds!!!!  Then we died!  Jk…then we jackassed around!

Best day ever…we’ll keep you posted on our first tv appearance!!!  Love y’all and thank y’all so much!