Macaroni Kid Family Fitness loves to celebrate moms and dads who have taken the leap to better health because a healthy parent is a major step towards a healthy family!
Want to share your journey with us? Send an email to jennys@macaronikid.com answering the seven questions below, include an image, and you could be our next featured parent!
What is your name and what town are you from?
Lauren Schulz from Cincinnati, OH
Who makes up your family?
Myself (28), my husband Ronnie (29), daughter Madison (11) and daughter Rylee (2 1/2).
Briefly, tell us your struggles.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have struggled with my weight. I was never a small girl. I remember thinking back to 4th/5th grade and weighing over 100 lbs. That was one of the first times I remember feeling fat. My mom cooked at home, but it was the way she cooked that was awful. Everything was fried in bacon grease and vegetables were from a can loaded with butter and salt. I was a teen mom at the age of 16. I was never an athletic child growing up. I played no sports. Food has always been a comfort and yet demon in my life all at the same time. My weight fluctuated and hovered between 170-200 lbs. I tried crazy diet pills and drinks to speed up my metabolism. I got desperate to be "thin."
What was the turning point that made you change the way you care for yourself?
I had my second daughter in May of 2012. I weighed in at 236 lbs at delivery which was sad and eye opening. I thought nursing would help drop the weight but I still ate ridiculous calories thinking my body needed it. It wasn’t until my youngest was starting to toddle around and I was size 18 that I realized, I don’t want to be the mom who is too embarrassed to run around and play with her babies at the playground. I didn’t want them missing out on things because I was too ashamed of myself. What kind of girls would I be raising if I never showed confidence? It was heartbreaking. I knew I had to change my life, not only for my own sanity, but for them. I want to be around for them when they are older. I want to shamelessly frolic at the water park and not feel ashamed. I want to fit on the rides with my kids at amusement parks. Those things might seem small to most, but they were huge to me.
What actions did you take to become healthier?
The first thing I did was start logging my food. I knew this was the root of my problem. I was over eating sweets and greasy bad foods. I downloaded My Fitness Pal on my iPhone and began logging what I was putting in my body. Once I got my caloric intake in check, I then began to research clean eating and the concept behind it. I also started walking and doing at-home fitness programs. Being a full-time-working-mom, I didn’t have the time to invest in the gym. I needed convenience and, to be honest, I was afraid of the gym. With the help of Beachbody and programs such as Turbo Fire, I am successfully down 85 lbs. from when I had my second daughter. When I finally looked at my life and realized it’s not about being skinny, it’s about being healthy and fit, that’s when it clicked!
How have you implemented (or plan to) your new habits with your family?
I have changed the way our family eats. I slowly eliminated things from our grocery shopping each week/month. We cut out a lot of the junk and focus on eating clean whole food. I am teaching my family that treats are given every once in a while, and they should not become part of daily consumption. I encourage my girls to come in the basement and workout with me and, when the weather is nice, we take walks. I will continue to educate them on why we eat certain foods and how they can help fuel our bodies. These are things I never knew of, or understood growing up.
