Hi. I'm a 31 yr old military wife, full time student and mom to 4 (12.5, 10, 9, 4.5). I had 3 kids in 3.5 yrs, middle 2 are exactly 14 mos apart. In 2007 we were going home for a visit so I diet and exercised, lost the last 20 lbs and went from 175 to 155. Had baby #4 in '08 and gained 70 lbs, lost 50 lbs in 6 mos but then slowly gained back 15 over the next yr. We moved in 2010 and I was no longer walking the kids back and forth to school (2 miles/day for me) and I packed on 20 lbs over 9 mos. In 2011 my husband was deployed for 6 mos, I walked and then started jogging (my break from the kids and a good stress reliever). Went from 205 when he left to 177 when he got home. Stopped running over the winter and gained it all back last year.

He deployed again this spring and I made it my mission to lose 40 lbs this time. Plus I'm going on vacation to visit a photographer friend in Nov so that's even more motivation I'm a full time student so I really needed the stress relief and quiet time that running gives me. Since May I've lost 17 lbs, going from 205 to 188. I started running again, sucked at first but now my times are better than before and I enjoy it (most nights...). I try to run 5 days/wk, Sun/Mon/Weds/Fri, I also have a 1.3 acre yard that I push mow so that's another 3-4 hrs of cardio/strength exercise. I use an exercise ball, dumbbells and resistance bands too, mostly just to work the kinks out from running and mowing, and to tone my upper body.

I use MyFitnessPal to keep track of my diet and exercise. I've cut out all junk food and make good choices, was very surprised to see I was only eating 800-900 calories per day. On days I run for an hour and mow for an hour I was burning over 1000, so now I track everything and stay within my calorie goals.