fresh starts

Hey there. My name is Melanie.  I'm a thirty something mom from Utah. I'm not being vague about my age on purpose: it's just that I never remember how old I am. I'm convinced that after 30 its all the same. But, according to my less than stellar math skills (after I sit here and calculate for longer than I'd like to admit) I figure I am 36 years old. I have five children that I really enjoy (75% of the time). They occupy my days and most of my nights. I have a husband who I enjoy (85% of the time). We've been married 16 years and I plan to hang onto him for another 60 or so.

I have a life story. Unfortunately, it's generally uninteresting so let me give you the cliff notes:
My husband Brian and I were married young.

See? Although this picture may suggest it, I was not a teenage bride.  I had been out of the teen years for an entire two months, thank you very much.

We had our first baby really fast because we like being overwhelmed and underprepared. (By fast, I mean 11 months later. ZOOM!)

Overnight I went from being a kid, to having one. I was not prepared to feel so in love, so happy, yet so challenged and underwater and bored and alone all at the same time. So I ate. Cause nothing fixes a feeling like a Reese's peanut butter cup... or 2...or 10...whatever.   I ate my postpartum baby blues away and that worked well so I ate my loneliness away when my husband was gone nights. (Which was a lot) When I was frustrated or stressed? Yep, I ate. I didn't really sit down to examine this until I was knee deep in kids and drowning in fat. So here I am, over 15 years later,  in the midst of motherhood. Busy, happy, and undeniably obese.


I  have tried and started to lose weight a thousand times. I've also quit a thousand times for a thousand different reasons. I have become very good at breaking promises and commitments to myself. A few months ago I reached a low point where I thought I really couldn't try again alone. I needed help. But asking for help isn't something I do (if you're gathering I have issues at this point, then you get a gold star).
A few weeks back I was scrolling through Instagram when I came to www.jillkfitness.com offering to help a few lucky people get moving and reach their goals. Without thinking, I typed a long winded, rambling email to Jill, not imagining anything would come of it. But Jill must have been caught up in a newborn sleep deprived fog and unwittingly accepted my plea for help. I plan on doing my best to not let her regret it. So starting September 8th, she will be helping me work my butt off (literally) for the last time. And this little blog will provide the highs and lows of it all. Here's to fresh starts!