Former Fat Girl of the Week

Former Fat Girl of the Week is a place for us to come to celebrate and learn from the success and achievements of one another. Former Fat Girls of the Week are regular women like you and me, living normal lives, but are extraordinarily inspirational. This is their time to shine, and I hope you are as inspired by them as I am.

Name: Carrie
Age: 30
Occupation: Operations Technician

How often do you exercise?
We shoot for 5 days a week - but it doesn't always happen!

What's your favorite workout?
I'd probably have to say Running Outside

What 5 food items are "must haves" in your kitchen?

• Turkey Hill Diet Green Tea
• Chobani 0% Honey Greek Yogurt
• Breyers Double Churn Fat Free Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream (& Sprinkles!)
• Cabot 50% Reduced Fat Individually Wrapped Cheese Squares
• Ground Turkey Meat

How about one of my Fav lunch recipes??...it is so simple brown ground turkey, add a jar of salsa, a can of great northern beans (rinsed), and a bag of steamed brown rice - mix and enjoy!! We'll make this once a week or so - perfect protein and carbs and a lot of flavor (heat!!)

What motivates you to do what you do?
My Daughter - I want her to grow up and see how active we are. I want her to WANT to come to races with us, and run with us and play outside and be active. I want to be around a long time to watch her grow, live and love life!

Also - ME - I want to be healthy for me, I want to enjoy doing things I can do because I am healthy, I want to love the way I feel and no be inhibited by thoughts of others or thoughts of myself.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Well...I'd think it would be making it through Charley's labor...but nobody wants to hear that story :) So I'd have to say completing my first triathlon 5 months after having Charley. It wasn't pretty, but I did it! And seeing and hearing all of the comments from people who were at the race about how I was one of the few women to have done the race with such a young baby, was such a great feeling. And that Charley and Jimmy were there to cheer me on...was the best part :)

What's your favorite motivational or inspirational quote?
It might have to be one of the ones from my blog: "If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."-Thomas Edison

Last 5 songs listened to you on your iPod:
OK here are my current top 5 workout songs...I love fast beat songs that I can run in tempo to...they get my speed up!

• Lollipop - Mika
• I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) - Pitbull
• Here It Goes Again - Ok Go
• Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas
• Say Hey - Michael Franti Spearhead

What do you love most about your body?
That it is shrinking..HA! :) um...I love my legs...there is the picture [shown below] from when we did our climb a few weekends back...I saw that picture and was like..."I have great leg muscles!!" and Jimmy said - "yes you do and I love your legs" :) me too!! And I remember thinking when I was training for our half marathon how lucky I was to be blessed enough to be able to run - that my legs were strong enough to carry me 13.1 miles...and boy did that feel good!!!

How do you find balance in your life?
This one is hard, with a 16 month old - there is a real struggle for balance. I am a big planner (just ask Jimmy...I can tell you what we will be doing in October :)) and I try to plan out our days...well then we come home and Charley has a fever - so no gym that night. Or she is cranky and tired, so we need to get her to bed early. So these days balance has to be flexible. I need to spend time with our family - but I need time for me.

Some of the days that are toughest are when Charley is with the sitter all day - then we come home only to take her to the day care at the gym for an hour or so. I feel like a terrible mother - but I just keep reminding myself, that me being at the gym is making myself a better mother for her. And her seeing us go to the gym all week will be good for her when she is old enough to go - she'll think it is a normal part of the day - not a chore.

Lately though, some things have not been in balance - my ME time (blogging has suffered a lot and this bothers me). I have also been trying to set up an Etsy store - and might finally get around to it this weekend...there are things I want to make for Charley, oh and our house needs to be majorly cleaned...but when I get stressed about all the things "I want to do" I think...if I were to die tomorrow, were people going to remember...damn Carrie's house was messy...NOPE! They hopefully will remember all of the fun times, my wonderful family and friends and how I loved and lived life....and that is what matters.

So if the balance I have makes me happy with how I live my life. I'm doing good.

Thank you Carrie for being an incredible inspiration to me! You are an amazing wife, mother and friend, and are setting a great example for your daughter to follow! Please don't forget to visit Carrie's blog and her brand new Esty store!!



xo,