Gosh, my very first time writing on a blog and I have set here looking at the screen thinking, “what in the world have I gotten myself into?!”haha There’s too many buttons to push and what if I click on that one? Oopps maybe I shouldnt! haha Can I put in smiley faces? Would that be cheesy? Oh goodness, Rachel, just tell your story!!
Hi, I’m Rachel! I met Amy at least a couple years ago on facebook through our shared love of photography. I do some photography work on the side and have a facebook “like” page (Rachel Bledsoe Photography) with some of my work and I’m not really sure who found who first.
You know, everyone has a story. In one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11, it starts out, “For I know the plans I have for you, DECLARES the Lord…” I love that! God, has a plan for me and He designed that plan just for me! Has it always been perfect? NO! But it has been perfect to get me where I am today! I truly believe that I have gone through things in my past so that God can use those experiences to minister to someone at any given time in my life that may need to know that they are not alone in their struggle or suffering.
Most of my life, I have been overweight. I love food and for a huge part of my life, I ate whatever I wanted to, didnt matter and I was probably the laziest person you have ever met. It was almost like it never “clicked” in my head that I really needed to do something about my unhealthy lifestyle. Oh I would have times when I would go on a diet and exercise but when the paricular event was over that I was dieting for, I would go back to eating whatever and being lazy.
And then came the day, February 28, 2012, that my Mom passed away. My heart broke into a million pieces. Mom and I were very close. I went through the grieving process and drowned the sadness in food.
When I walked into my Dr’s office on Dec. 30th of that same year, the very first thing she did was write down myfitnesspal on a paper towel and told me to get on this website and start tracking my eating. So I did, because I had finally realized that if I didnt do something about how I was living, and what I was eating, no one else would or could! I had to be the one to take responsibility for myself. I started walking and going to Zumba classes and then I started running. In March of 2013, I decided I would enter some races and then decided that I would train for and run my very first half marathon. (Was I just NUTS?!) Me, run 13.1 miles??? I started training, got very disciplined with my eating and working out and sticking to a training schedule. Who was this person that I was becoming? Sometimes I wasnt sure and really didnt recognize her but LOVED her! On October 26, 2013 I ran my very first half marathon with my 25 yr old Son running beside me, pacing me through the whole race. By the time I had come across the finish line, they were cleaning, almost everyone was gone, but I finished, not under the 3hr time limit, but in the time of 3:03 and I couldnt have been more proud!!
The end of 2014 I began looking around facebook for some “healthy” pages, and came across a lady by the name of Amy M. She shared about her daily life, her relationship with God, and about her workouts she was doing each day. Her and I began to talk about fitness and just alot of things. Amy is a Coach for the company, Beachbody. I ordered one of the programs and before even finishing the second month of it, strongly felt the want to also be a Coach. I had looked around the company, done some research, and really liked what I saw. I saw other coaches on our team openly sharing about their Christian walk and how God has them where they are for a reason. That is very important to me. About 5 years ago, I really felt the calling on my life to work and minister to women in some way. I knew that it wouldnt be speaking in front of a large gathering or anything like that, but I knew that God had put a desire and a passion in my heart to help other women. I love to encourage others, and I love to do what I can to inspire others. God has huge plans for me in this area of my life and as a Team Beachbody Coach. I am excited to see where He take me on this journey and am honored to be one of His children!
Thank you Amy for asking me to blog and thank you everyone for “listening”.
Have a great day Everyone!
Rachel Bledsoe
