Me: well....the highlight reel....

 I was literally begged to blog - I literally suck at it so bear with me ;) 

so much more to come I PROMISE

Where to even start?! Mostly I get asked how tall I am - funny story, I was measured once (middle school) and stuck with that, turns out I lied all these years I am not 5'6" I am actually 5'7" which I am pretty proud of at the moment because most people shrink with age ;)

Senior year homecoming 1998

Growing up I was always an average girl maybe even skinnier than most.... post high school I had a rocky start to the real world and put on some weight from a size 2 to a size 4 with boobs even!

Work party January 2005

I started dating my husband at the young age of 20 he was a noodle too... tall... 6'3". We were struggling college students and we had time to play tennis, roller blade, basketball, swim and workout. I never thought we would be anything but tall skinny noodles ;O All that changed when we got married and I got pregnant(immediately) it was my new lease on life to EAT, and I ATE everything and did nothing I was working full time newly married and very pregnant. I gained weight so quickly that I had pains beyond my wildest imagination the whole time, some-days I couldn't walk because of the strain of the weight on what was once my small frame :( the morning he was born 5 weeks premature I weighed in at 205 pounds I cried, but chalked it up to normal baby weight as my OB never said it was un-healthy?!! Imagine my shock when I delivered a tiny 6 pound 11 ounce baby boy....I wondered hoped if there were 10 more coming....The labor was fast but the routine of a typical hospital birth had it's toll on me. I gained so much fluid weight that I couldn't tie the shoes I had walked in with...I suffered baby blues, continued pain and had damaged my sciatic nerve due to weight. A few weeks after he was born I couldn't stand wearing any more of the hideous high water maternity pants so I broke down, finally left the house and ventured out to buy pants - and I did buy one pair, a size 14! mind you I was a size 4 when we got married WTH! It still wasn't enough to convince me to do anything about it, being thin always came naturally to me so I thought with time I'd recover....and over the next couple years I did a little but never completely.

Um not noodles! January 31st 2005

July 2005 - 5 1/2 months postpartum ;/

It wasn't till last may when that little baby was now 7 years old and I have since had a second baby which I sailed through that pregnancy (education and trauma will work wonders for a second pregnancy) only gained 35 pounds and had a natural drug free delivery (craziest moment of my life!) Anyhow LAST MAY after discovering MamaLaughlin I decided I should re-evaluate my body, sure I was content, but being a "fat-skinny" girl was no longer going to cut it. I was 30 soon to be 31 and I decided to take baby steps I worked out at home (damn Jillian) ate better and got more active, riding bikes, swimming the norm summer stuff.

Summer 2012 145-148ish

Life  overall had been stupid stressful last year and in January my husband and I decided to join a gym(hoping to reduce stress). We became ADDICTED.... I have lost 14 pounds since last May and gained some impressive muscle for a noodle! Putting me first took years and I have never felt better and my kids are so inspired by me and my friends have been inspired to start their own fit journeys and complete strangers have been my biggest cheerleaders (you know who you are MLFC'ers ;) I have no goal YET other then to be in the best shape of my life, to discover muscles I didn't know I had, to look good in ANYTHING or NOTHING ;) and to inspire others to do the same! I never ever thought I would be anything but a noodle fat or thin....

1 year post the most stressful year of my life( a whole other post!) and April 2013

I have so much more to say I don't even know where to start but that's me in a nutshell! I hope to answer all your questions about how I got my "guns" or abs and what I eat because honestly I love food and lying to myself about how I am not a binge eater ;) small steps ladies....You'll get there....where ever that is -

 Just like Mama L if your inspired be sure to pass it on, a little hard work and a lot of dedication is all you need to feel and look good :)

~Rachel aka Fit Rachel (finally!)