This is why I began a new season in my life...

A New Season...

I started this transformational journey back in February 2018 after packing on a very unhealthy 40lbs due to inconsistent eating, workouts, and a lot of stress.

It happens...life!
2017 was packed full of 18hour work days, building a house, and 7 months of traveling the world.

Coming home in March of this year from a 3 1/2 week long trip down to the Polynesian Islands I knew I had to make a change. Weighing just shy of 170lbs and a couple of high blood pressure readings, I decided this is not how I wanted to start my 40's.

I first started with reducing my calories and slowly increasing my workouts when time allowed, the first couple of weeks dropping 5-7lbs. I definitely started feeling better but it wasn't until April 30 is when my life really changed. I had a good friend that told me I needed to get my shit together, which was hard to hear. She will never know how grateful I am for those words.

Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to realize you need to fix you. I had a lot of self-discovery over the past few months and realizing how much I needed to work on personal Cindy, the side of me in which I had never really touched since I was playing professional tennis back in my teens. April 30 is when I had to face myself for the first time and it wasn't pretty, but the date will forever be my personal anniversary.

I needed consistency and discipline in my life and I didn't even know it. I started reading every self-care book I could get my hands on and every day I took time for myself which is something I have neglected for as long as I can remember. I'm a firm believer you can't fix the problem until you acknowledge you have one.

Through the years with work, I have neglected so many things in my life... most of all being present.
Friendships, family, being a team player in my marriage and most importantly taking time for myself. By mid-May, I had dropped 30+ pounds and I was feeling so much better.

I wake up each day put make-up on and dress for the occasion even if it's just downstairs in my office. I realized very fast the discipline was good for my mental state, helps to stay focused. I knew the kind of person I had been through the years and I was on a mission to change not just for others but more importantly for myself. I knew I wanted to be a stand-up person, someone you can trust and respect and somehow along the way I lost that.

My days of tennis, all the training I did back then... the motto I lived by was if I did everything in my power to prepare, no matter what happened during the match I would have no regrets. This is the same motto I'm living my life by each and every day.

I realized in early June I haven't set personal goals for myself since before I was married almost 20 years ago and something I have always wanted to do but I never could fully commit to was a bodybuilding show. I started lifting weights at 11 years old and fell in love with how strong I felt.

Weightlifting got interrupted just like most everything else in my life because of my diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis, so I haven't really lifted weights for 15+ years. I'm thankful for the day in May when my husband asked me if I wanted to train legs with him at the gym. It was a good day, one that lit me on fire again. Sometimes we lose the fire in our bellies and we need a goal to get up and grind.

I started to really love what I was seeing in the mirror, a shape that I desired but couldn't acquire with my cardio workouts and calorie deficient meal plans. Consistency is key! Early June I knew I needed a goal and I knew I wanted to compete. I signed up for the OCB Natural Bodybuilding Show-Bikini division here in Gulf Shores. On July 19 I made it Facebook official and announced it to everyone.

I'm doing this... not just a one and done thing, but a lifetime commitment to myself. I finally feel like, after the heartbreak of losing tennis due to illness, I found my jam again. We all need to find our jam, something that lights you on fire and you are willing to change for.

I hired a coach, my good friend Christian Simmons. Being a personal trainer I have always specialized in helping people lose weight and having a better quality of life. The timing and meal plan to pack on muscle are out of my comfort zone, so I hired the best. I am trusting the process and it was scary as hell at first, going from 1000-1200 calories to 5-6 meals packed full of protein, carbs, and fat. I am beyond excited for the OCB Battle on the Beach show Oct. 20, more so just to prove to myself anything is possible and people can change.

Since embarking on this journey, I realized so many things about myself and what I am capable of;
First of all drinking black coffee :) I sure did love creamer in my coffee, Second being able to stop drinking every day... living at the beach is sheer willpower, and the list goes on. The baseline is, I needed to clean my shit up on every level of my life.

Every day I find small things to celebrate, today was a big one for me. 7 1/2 years ago I had a surgery to fuse my right wrist due to deterioration from having this disease.

Never in a million years did I think I would ever be able to lift weights again. Boy, was I wrong! With the help of bi-weekly injections of Humeria and eating a Gluten/Dairy/Gluten Free diet for 10 years, it has helped me reduce the inflammation and pain in my joints and overall achieved a better quality of life.

Today I impressed myself with these elevated tricep dips and I wish my good friend who performed the surgery was around for me to say "Thanks from the bottom of my heart!" Love you always, Dr. Frederick Meyer.

I hope you will follow along with me on this journey... A big shout out to my husband, Jason Ross, and my big brother, Chance Lane for your continued support!

Cheers to a new season.

 #followyourfire #ilivehappy #idolife #strongissexy #bodiesbycindy #orangebeachfitness #girlbebrave

www.cindylaneross.com
www.girlbebrave.com
www.orangebeachfitness.com

xoxo,
Cindy Lane Ross