The entire year of 2015 has been a theme of change. I began the month at my absolute heaviest. I escaped the stress of work by stuffing my face with packages of oreos and bags of chips. It was horrendous. By March I decided something had to change. I had no direction to go but life never really has a set path. You are given an opportunity and it is ultimately up to you to decide. Is this where my story will be? Am I willing to settle? All my life I have been asking myself, am I willing to settle because it's the easy way out? For a while that was what I did. Over the years I took charge of my life and now have the most amazing marriage and chose a career path I am proud of. So naturally I decided that my health needed to also change for the better.

My starting weight here was 237 pounds! eeek!

So in March I went to the gym almost every day and began clean eating. By the end of the summer I was able to cut down my carb content to nearly nothing. Just enough to have energy to burn, because that is what carbs are for. I was able to accomplish many things I never thought I had the capacity to do. I ran in TWO 5k's which my best time was 36 minutes. That was a huge accomplishment for me because running for a while was the bane of my existence. I wanted to make it a goal to do however because I knew I could. Other accomplishments was I was able to build muscle like I never thought was possible. I learned the basics of sports nutrition and medicine to be able to build muscle. If you know me, I never ever had any sort of muscle in my arms. To be honest, I was down right puny. I wanted to be able to prove to myself that it was something I could do, and I ended up finding my true passion in lifiting. I can do squats and dead lifts all day if I was given the chance (and until my legs give out). When I started lifting I could only squat with 45 pounds and now can squat up to 70 pounds. Also doing bench presses. I could only do 20 pounds and now can do up to 50 pounds. I still have a long way to go but having a goal has been the best way to push me harder. And so thanks to lifting, cardio, and proper eating I am able to be down a total of 50 pounds! 

Finishing my first 5k Color Run August 2015

Joe and I and an anonymous lady finishing the Rise and Shine 5k. My second 5k and Joe's first.

Recently I joined the Beachbody family as a coach to even further my health journey. I have always heard about the great benefits but was honestly didn't want to feel pressured into doing it. But I am super happy I signed up. For a while now I have been wanting to help others with their own health journey because I have been there. It's intimidating to have not a single clue where to start, and when you do start you wonder if you are doing it right. It took me at least six months to really start results and boy was I getting super impatient. What I really like about Beachbody is when coaches run various challenge groups (which I will running a clean eating one in Janurary so look out for that), you have access the on demand works (which I LOVE because when you can't make it to the gym you feel lost) and the shakeology products (which is so yummy and they really do make you feel full). Plus they have so many options for work out programs, There really is a program there for everyone. In early January, I will be fully focusing on my coaching with Beachbody so stay tuned!

Recently receiving my coach stuff, shakeology, and Body Beast workout program

This year has surprisingly been not only about my health journey but very recently Joe and I took on a completely new job opportunity which will land us in Florida. We accepted a house parent position at a Golf Academy which they include our housing, meals, insurance, gym, etc. I won't go into grave detail about the job but the two biggest reasons why we joined was the money we will be able to save and for less work then what we do now. Of course moving out of state is going to be hard. We have been super fortunate to have our friends and family understand our decision to move. We are honestly looking at this situation as an adventure vs settling. Recently we have been doing a lot of talk about what exactly we want to do with our careers. Is being a house parent something we want to do for a long time or go back to "normal" 40 hour weeks? I have been so fortunate to be able to work with my spouse and that is something I want to do as long as we both can. There are so many job opportunities out there for couples and it is honestly the best way to travel and see new places without having to pay for it. You actually get paid for it! But of course, depending on the job, you and your spouse will log in longer hours. You don't work 40 hour week's, it will more range from 80-100 hours a week. The profession is not for everyone but for those who enjoy it, then it will be perfect. We all deserve to be able in our job profession right?

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After this year coming to an end, I am looking forward to what next year will bring. I will be able to have more time with this new job to REALLY focus on my health and physical fitness. I want to able to end the year of 2016 with the same satisfaction I feel now. I have a very good feeling that will be possible!

My current weight is 188 and going down!!

"Strength grows in the moments when you think you can't go on but you keep going anyway"

Things have been continuing to go very well with my health journey. This past week alone my husband, Joe, and I have been building up our very own home gym in the basement of our work house (considering we "live" here ten days at a time). We have been becoming increasingly productive with work and life which, at time, leaves us less time for the gym. Such as our weekends on, not even one of us can go to the gym when the kiddos are in bed because the gym closes at 7pm on weekends. Also winter is coming which will make it harder to go to the gym. We have been very fortunate enough to have family friends donate a nice weight lifting bench and a Boflex machine. We have also added our personal TV to play fitness videos (I LOVE the Les Mills On Demand service), our personal elliptical, dumbbells, yoga mat, our Gold's Gym Barbell with 100lbs weights. The home gym is already proving to be a major asset to our health journey. We have been talking about next adding a punching bag and some good floor mats to cover the concrete floor.

We call it "The Locker Room"

Every day I am finding it easier to live this healthy alternative lifestyle. I am not even thinking about snacking at night which has been my latest big success. I am also really starting to notice changes with my body. I can feel and see my pelvic bone which I forgot was there since two years ago. My arms are becoming more defined which is a first in ever. My stomach has even become smaller in size which has been my biggest insecurity when I gained all the weight. It has also been a major confidence boost to hear about how much I have lost from friends and family. I am so far deep into this journey I know 100% that there is NO turning back. My husband, Joe, has been my biggest help. He has adapted to this lifestyle so well that he is making sure that he gets his fitness in everyday as well as making healthy choices. When you have your partner to join you on your journey, it makes things a million times easier. We have been doing awesome at encouraging and pushing each other to do better and more. So far we have both lost a combined weight of 80 pounds, so it is defiantly working!
I know I promised to write about our hiking adventure on Mount Jefferson on Oct 10. Unfortunately we were not able to hike it because it ended up snowing on the summit. We were still able to hike on a mountain but this time it was Bubble Rock which is located in Acadia National Park. The mountain itself looks pretty cool which sits right beside Cadillac Mountain. Despite choosing a different mountain that only had .4 mile trail to the summit, it was at a steep incline up, so we had a good share of scrambles on the way up. When we reached we top we not only had an awesome view of the park and Jordan pond we saw the infamous bubble rock. What is really cool about this huge rock is that is sits right on the edge of the mountain. It looks like you can just push the rock off the ledge but it's not that easy. There are actual teams of people that come and try pushing the rock. A cool history fact is that back when the glaciers were around the large rock was placed right on top of the mountain. It is proven that the make up of the rock is completely different then the rock in the mountain.

Just a small portion of what we had to do

The top view over Jordan Pond and Acadia

"Bubble Rock" looks more like a "bubble butt"

It has been a little while since my last post. I have been rather busy with life. The good news is that I have remained active and losing the pounds! I want to first announce that I am officially under 200 pounds!!! I honestly cannot count how many times I have doubted myself on being able to lose the 35 pounds to get where I am right now. I was ready to accept that I was going to be a 200 plus gal, but I had to dig in deep and stick with this. I have been known for starting projects and not finishing them. My fear was that I wasn't going to be able to stick with a strict health regiment and have history repeat itself. But that is not how my story is going to end. My health journey has no end and when I change my thought process to this, it makes it easier to keep going. Every day I am always facing personal challenges. Such as.. Am I doing enough cardio? Am I able to stop snacking after 7pm? When am I going to be able to do this without even thinking?

The past two months have been my greatest with my fitness and health. I completed my second 5k in under 37 minutes which has been my best time so far. The 5k was the Early Rise n' Shine which the fee was covered by my work so my husband and I both signed up. This was his very first 5k which we both finished at the same time. I will have to say that the greatest secret to my success is to have someone to do it along with. We both gained the weight and now we are both losing the weight. It just makes sense right?

Joe and I finishing together

Group photo with the amazing people I work with.

My next major fitness goal will be this weekend where my parents, sister, myself, and Joe will hike the Caps Ridge Trail on Mt Jefferson. This is a 2.5 mile hike one way which sounds easy right? I wish but that would make a terrible fitness goal. Not this 2.5 mile hike is 2,700 ft elevation gain. The summit elevation alone is 5,712 ft. This trail is surprisingly considered the easiest because it only has moderate exposure plus it is the shortest in distance. What it lacks in distance makes up in literal climbing. I recently learned the hiking term "scrambling", which is pretty much a step down from rock climbing. It is a very physically demanding hike and I am super excited and scared. I am excited but really enjoy hiking. I love the amazing view you get at the top and the sense of accomplishment you feel when you reach back to the bottom. I am terrified because 99% of the hike is on a steep incline and a large portion is above the treeline so we will be fully exposed to wind and cold. I am hoping the weather will remain good and have a good view at the top. Considering Mt Jefferson is the third tallest mountain in NH plus being next to Mt Washington, there is a chance of being in the clouds. So let's keep our fingers crossed!!

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I have honestly never been so proud of myself and what my body has been able to achieve. With Winter coming, I am afraid the holidays and the lack of being outside will hinder, but I cannot allow me to fall into old habits. Just not an option! Joe and I have been slowly building up a home gym in our basement. So far we have a weight bench that was donated by family friends. We purchased a barbell with weights. We also have yet to set up a weight machine that my grandparents gave us and we need to pick up a Boflex machine another family friend is giving us. So I have a good feeling that we will good plus we still have our gym membership to Planet Fitness. When there is a will there is a way!!

Our bench and barbell

This past respite weekend was a fall back. I sinned bad, well at least it felt that way where I gained one pound. I know it's only one pound but gaining anything at this point is just hard. I also know I need to not be so hard on myself because I am human and I am not build on perfection. It is something I really need to accept. I just feel like if I use that as an "excuse" then it will allow me to fall back even further behind. That was what happened last year when I tried. I know now I am much further on my journey then I was a year ago.


On a lighter note, my husband and I joined our work's weight loss challenge for this month. Everyone pitches in $15 each and who ever loses the greatest percentage of weight wins all of the money. I have never done any sort of weight loss challenge so this is very exciting. I have recently found out online weight loss challenges (such as DietBet) people can pitch in money and win larger amounts of cash for winning. Sometimes it's even if you lose a little. You do need to provide proof of the weight loss like a picture of the scale with a code word like "carrot" to prove authenticity.


I am learning so much about myself every day. I do know ever day I am learning how to love my body instead of being so ashamed of it. I know there is a movement going around to eliminate body shaming. I think that is awesome, but I also know that where I am at right now is not where I want to be. And that is because my body isn't in the greatest shape I know it deserves to be. It's an intense balance. I have been doing more research on the topic of self love. A gentlemen name Ralph Smart has a really neat YouTube Channel called Infinite Waters (Diving Deep). He does a very good job explaining how to practice self love (Provided below). I highly reccomend those who want to delve deeper into themselves and get to learn what they truly need from life and how to achieve it.

So yesterday I participated in my very first 5k which was the Color Run. It was SO much fun! I guess they really know how to live up to their catchphrase "The Happiest 5k On Earth". One of my personal goals was to do my first 5k, and being it being my first I wanted to make it count! I also was super nervous about feeling like I couldn't keep up with the general crowd. When you are just starting with running, you don't want to be setting the bar too high. Running is something that I am really learning how to properly do THIS year. What I mean by properly do, I mean how to run consistently without having to feel like I am going to puke or pass out. The previous months I have been slowly building my endurance by running a mile or two at least once a week (outside) and utilizing my warm ups at the gym by using the treadmill. I am not a fan of the treadmill due to getting bored but it has helped a lot.

Our Before Picture

I did the Color Run this year with my parents and my sister where we entered as a team. Our team name was "Brave Hearts". This was to represent the personal struggles we have endured. We made team shirts which each ribbon was a different to represent our own cause. My mother survived a heart attack last year which is why her ribbon was red. My sister's and dad's was silver to represent my sister's struggle and perseverance with Dyslexia. Mine was blue to represent my husband's battle with Testicular Cancer. I really liked having our own meanings because it gave me an extra sense of motivation.

Starting line

Pre-run selfie

When we arrived to the starting line there was music pumping and the energy was infectious. The weather was cloudy and sprinkled off and on. There was still a very good turn out. When they started the run, they allowed people to run/walk in waves so it would create less chaos. One thing I didn't really like with the run was that it began with a hill. Luckily after that there wasn't too many hills. They had various color stations where they throw color at you as you run. That was a lot of fun. When I finished I was given my color packets and medal. I don't know what my time was because they don't time you but I would have to assume it was 35 minutes. I did have to take a couple walk breaks because of some of the hills. Something I want to work out for the next 5k (which I am signed up for one in September).

Post Run

When you finish you get to do the "after party" which they play music and have color throws. Once again the energy was amazing and I seriously couldn't stop dancing. I haven't had so much fun a long time and I was incredibly proud of myself for doing it. I wasn't perfect and didn't have the best time but I DID IT. I honestly never thought I could ever finish a 5k let alone do one. I can see how it can be addicting because you get a "runner's high" once you are able to get going. Also it can addicting when you want to always strive for improvement.

So this past weekend was a success. I was able to eat healthy and active. The weekend was our weekend off and has always been struggle for me to eat healthy. We began the weekend by going to the beach with my mother and sister. My mother, sister, and I went to walk up and down the beach. The Maine ocean water wasn't too cold but the waves were big enough to knock you off your feet.

My sister and I. I am not fond of this picture but instead of feeling gross I am using this just as another motivation to make better choices

Our deformed sand turtle

On the way back we stopped at The Cabin in Bath, ME. They specialize in their pizzas and other Italian dishes. We order a seafood pizza which was a white pizza topped with cheese, calamari, shrimp, and clams. I only had two pieces. On the same day my husband, my sister, and I went to the Skowhegan State Fair. The smell of the amazing fair food was completely overwhelming but by some miracle I was able to resist it all. We rode the rides and people watched.

Before we went to the fair!

 The next day I participated in my first BodyCombat class which was held at All Out Fitness. I never attended a group fitness class and a friend, who is also an instructor there, recommended coming. I absolutely loved it. I loved working out with other empowering women and not feeling uncomfortable for not knowing the choreography. I have never really been coordinated but I was able to catch on to the basics. The next few days my arms were pretty sore. I love feeling sore after a workout. It makes me feel like I was able to push myself a little further. I went to the Les Mills website (which is the company behind the group fitness workouts such as BodyPump, BodyCombat, BodyFlow, and Grit Training) and they have an on demand service for those who can't make it to a live class (like me!). I am going to at least one class every respite but since I enjoyed it so much I decided to sign up for the on demand service. The first ten days are free and then you pay a monthly fee of $12.99. Honestly I feel like that is a really good deal and just another way to give new life to my work outs. One of my biggest fears is loosing interest in working out because I am doing the same thing over and over again at the gym.

So the best news about this weekend other then remaining active and eating healthy (well at least WAY better then any other weekend) was I lost 3 pounds!! That is a first for me because I always either gain a pound or just maintain. It seriously gives me a new form of motivation. The kids will be on their last stretch of summer vacation and I am already planning activities to do such as hikes and biking trails. I also much add that my husband has been doing an excellent job with controlling his own eating and managed to lose over ten pounds in two weeks (lucky guy!). To have your partner to help you stay motivated and make healthy choices!!

My goal for this week is to slowly add in some on demand Les Mills classes on top of my gm work outs to add some more physical fitness. I am also focusing on having less processed carbs and substitute with healthy carbs.
Love the life you live!!

~Rachel

This work rotation has proven to one of my most successful with my weight loss. In a week I have lost five pounds. I have been able to up my work outs and cut down on my evening snacking to nothing goes in my tummy past 7pm. I have been asked what are things that have been working for me and I figured it would be perfect for a post, right?

So here we go..

Five Things That Have Worked Well For My Journey

1. Cutting down on the snacking

• My BIGGEST struggle with my weight has always been the snacking. Ever since I was in high school I loved to snack but would justify it by having small meals. Being in high school I had a higher metabolism and as I got older it started to creep up. When my husband and I began our current job as Therapeutic Parents, that was when my snacking was at my absolute worst. When the kids went to bed, I would be stuffing my face with a package of Oreo's. And it didn't end with the Oreo's. Oh no, on the stressed out days it was a feast of carbs and fat. Before I really knew it I ballooned to 235 pounds. That was when I finally came to my senses and decided to make the change. I slowly cut back and like I have said before now my snacking ends after my post workout yogurt.

     2.  The Balance of Strength and Cardio

• The first few months going to the gym, I seriously had no clue what I was doing. I kept thinking, should I focus on the cardio because I have heard its the fastest way to lose the weight? Doing research didn't help either. I would read how cardio was the fastest way and then also read lifting weights was the real way to burn the fat. So I decided, screw it I am doing both. I began to do cardio one day and the lift the other. Now I make it my goal to at least run 3 miles outside and make up for the rest of my weekly cardio at the gym. And do my lifting. I personally love to lift more then cardio, but I feel like I need to do both. 

Today was a really good day. I was able to surpass my daily goal for activity and made the perfect health choices. However, weekends on the job I find to be easy to do this. I still need to relish in every small gain I make with my journey. And I feel GOOD. I have my good days and my down right low days with my journey. I am happy to say and I am gaining more good days then the latter. Today I took a client on a hike on a local trail. We were able to do 8 miles today which was a nice added bonus plus doing the gym this evening. Since my legs were feeling sore (they were already sore because I did squats on the smith machine the previous day) so today I focus on the upper body at the gym.

Our little hie we did today. The weather wasn't too hot plus the shade made it enjoyable.

My day today. Super happy with myself.

Yesterday was my wonderful mother's birthday. She is one of the most important people that is in my life. I was brought into the world a Navy Brat and so for the first six years of my life we moved around from Virginia to Florida to Maine. Since my dad was over seas off and on due to the Navy, it was just Mom and I. When I was six my dad retired the Navy and four years later my sister was born. Last year she survived a pretty close call when she had a heart attack, That was incredibly scary. What was even scarier was her heart was healthy as well as her arteries being clear. She had a heart attack due to a small tare off an artery. I am so thankful she was able to fully recover and is healthy as a horse today! It really gave me a huge wake up call to make sure my own body is healthy because you are given one chance. Tomorrow it can go away and you may never know.

My Momma and I from our wedding. Oh ad my husband, Joe, photobombing.

So for the next week I want to keep maintaining what I have been doing these past few days. Remaining active and healthy eating. Sounds easy right? Oh how I wish! I will be off the clock Thursday so until then I know it will be easy. Its always the weekends off things are put into the test. My husband has been making his own healthy changes so that always makes temptations easier to resist when you have someone to do it with! 

So today (8/7) has been my second day of practicing my Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar). Yesterday I noticed I had a huge burst of energy. I am not sure if that was a coincidence but I was able to notice a difference. Usually no, pretty much always on days when the kids are in school I will take a nap. Well for the first time I just couldn't settle down to sleep. So instead I was able to get stuff done, which was really nice. I am curious to see today if I will feel the same. Today is Friday which means the don't have summer school so it will be the perfect way to notice if there is a difference. I really enjoy doing sun salutations because of the sequence and it allows my body to wake up because I get up at 5:30 am which is unheard of for me. I am not a morning person and probably never will be. But when you wake up with a deeper sense of motivation, anything is really possible.  I also had been doing some reading on the benefits of doing Sun Salutations. Some of the benefits include..

Today was my first run with m new Fitbit Charge HR. I finally received my Fitbit yesterday after waiting patiently for a few days. Patience was never my strong suit. The past few days we have been staying at my parents before hitting it back to work because we currently don't have a home. We live at work more then our time off plus work covers our hotel stay which has been helping us save money for a real home. I decided today that I needed to do something for physical exercise to test the Fitbit out, and running is perfect. I did 3.62 miles on my parents road. The weather was good. 75 degrees with low humidity. The only downside was the lack of shade of the road, so I am pretty sure I am going to have a sunburn on my face.

My post run selfie. So HAWT lol

I really liked the breakdown of the exercise that gives me a better sense of my run. I can see where my intervals of walking to running to walking. That is pretty cool. I have heard that one of the negatives to the Fitbit HR is that the heart rate monitor can be more inaccurate during a workout. I checked mine through out my run and it appeared to be accurate.

So yes, I feel like I am really going to like this neat gadget. I also like tracking my sleep and the challenges you can do with your friends. Might be too early to say this but I would highly recommend getting the Fitbit Charge HR if you want to get a better look at your work outs and daily life.

Oh and if you do happen to have a fitbit account feel free to add me! Just use my email rpoulin91@gmail.com or Facebook if we are friends!

I have been making it a personal goal of mine to due at least a weekly check in on what's going on in my life in regards to my journey.


Things have been progressing lately. On Thursday (7/23) I was able to squat up to 80 pounds with the smith machine, which was a good jump from normally dong 50 pounds. I have been really enjoying using the smith machine because I honestly feel safe with how you can't really fuck it up. You have the guided bars to keep the barbell in place and then the hooks and guard so if you do drop it you won't be what the bar falls on. The past few weeks I have been really enjoying any sort of strength training. Not only I have been really noticing some results physically but mentally it gives me a huge boost to my self esteem. I leave the gym thinking, holy shit there would be no way for me to do this a year ago. You really have to  take in the small moments of victory because if you focus so much on what you can't do you just end of restricting your level of success,


I do have a confession to make. These past two respite rotations I have been finding myself snacking more and working out less. Our weekends off are Friday-Monday and it is only every other weekend. I end of telling myself that I have been "good" for the ten days we are on and so I splurge. Luckily I haven't been gaining any weight but it has slowed the losing process. I do have realized that we all have to be realistic and never fully cut out the food we crave. That is what sets us up for failure, and I cannot afford to lose again. I guess that's where patience becomes that special virtue and is also something I lack. Luckily it hasn't caused me to give up and instead I am using it to motivate myself to be better.


I am very excited for our extended time off which begins tomorrow (7/27) and lasts ten days. The first few days we are spending in the Acadia National Park area. We were fortunate enough to find a nice camp ground in Searsport ME which has access to private beach. I am not only excited to get away but it gives me a chance to be more active on our time off with hiking and exploring. Plus the camping experience has always be a favorite activity to do in the summer time. I will be posting pictures when I return!!

So I am going to set myself a goal for this week. To STAY active and healthy during our time off but still have time to relax. Oh dear god the balance can be so hard! One major thing that motivates me every day is how I am really beginning to love my body and what it can really do. I seriously wish everyone was able to feel this way because we all deserve to love who we are inside and out!!

~Rachel

It has been almost two months since I have been consistently on par with working out and eating right. It has been exciting, hard, and enlightening.

I have tried dieting and working out last year, around this time, and couldn't keep up with it. My excuse was my life and job was just in the way. But really it was my lack of confidence that was in the way. I began to really despise the person I was allowing myself to become physically. I allowed myself to fall into the cracks of the average over weight American. You know, when you get married, land a stressful job, you end up gaining the emotional baggage (literally).

I'm unsure what exactly sparked me to make the change and to be fully committed but it all began with shaping up mentally. In April of this year, I began to meditate and do yoga.

I have struggled with anxiety for the past few years and for two years I took Prozac. It was a way to manage my anxiety and to live my life. It also contributed my weight. I wanted to manage my anxiety in a way where I no longer needed medication and still be mentally happy. I hated feeling like I needed to be on a medication to feel like my mind wouldn't go in a million directions. My biggest struggle with anxiety was being up all night thinking about the next day. I also wanted to do this in a way where it is safe (you have to wean off any SSRI or else your symptoms are mentally unbearable). So slowly for two months I began to lower my dose week by week. As of two week, I have been off my medication and I feel great!

Through out being off Prozac I have been exercising at the gym and cutting down on my food intake (no evening snacking and smaller portions). So far I have lost over ten pounds, which the most I have lost ever. With every day I am finding it easier and simple to eat healthy and exercise. I do have to admit that it is freaking hard to find out what to eat and what not to eat. Do this, not that. I tried juicing because of the amount of success stories. I tired juice fasting for four days and could barely do just one day. Eventually I found what worked best for me and my body. I think that is the biggest advice I can give anyone wanting to make a life style change. You need to find what you enjoy eating and doing because this isn't going to be something you do for only a month. In order to lose the weight and keep it off, you need t change everything and stick with it!

I am learning so many different techniques with lifting weights and using the cardio machines. A good friend recommended taking pre-workouts to help get to most out of my work outs. I purchase Cellucor's C4 a month ago and I love it! I get that little umph to push myself that extra mile and I highly recommend it to anyone who want the most out of their work out.



So there you have it. My rambling about how I am changing my life for the better! Please feel free to leave any comments. I am planning on recording more of my journey, so stay tuned!!