Motivational Monday: Heidi Ruda

Hi ladies! For today's Motivational Monday, I am featuring Heidi Ruda and boy does she have a touching and amazing story to tell!

"I was a chubby kid. I was always made fun of. I hated exercising. I always ran to the school nurse and came up with whatever excuse I could just so I could skip gym classes at school. In high school I came up with such great excuse that my doctor gave me a free pass to skip the gym all together though all 3 years of high school. You know what I did during my gym classes? Me and my classmate went to the local grocery store and bought beer. And while others would run around the field, we would sip beer. Yes under-aged girls. Anyhow, since I wasn't the only person who was overweight, I always felt like I'm not the "fattest" one of my friends. I would always be the loudest. Because that was the only way how I would get someone's attention. But, deep inside I was so unhappy with myself. In 11th grade I stopped eating for couple of weeks. First signs of anorexia. But that didn't last long. I just loved pastries and chocolate way too much. I couldn't be bulimic because throwing up wasn't appealing to me. So, I ended up binge eating. I was such an emotional eater. Whenever people wouldn't like me, I would stuff my face with a big chunk of ice cream or huge piece of cake. So my weight started to go up and down like crazy. I didn't care. I didn't love myself. In 2009 I was diagnosed with a skin cancer. That somewhat opened my eyes. I started to pay a bit more attention to what I put in my mouth. Yet, at this point I haven't stepped a foot in the gym yet. Who needs the gym, right?"

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"In that November, after my birthday party, going through my pictures, I realized that I have an actual problem. I found myself at almost 200 lbs. That day I stared at my picture and promised myself "I will do whatever it takes to lose weight for good. Love myself. And feel good about myself."

The next day, for the first time, I walked into the gym. I was absolutely clueless. I asked a girl at the front desk how to operate treadmill and I started to jog. Then, each day, more and more I started to read about exercising for weight loss. I came across Beachbody product Insanity. It totally changed my life. I lost nearly 40 lbs. I was able to jump like those people on the videos and people gave me compliments left and right. I started to enjoy myself. For the first time in my adult life, I actually loved what I saw in the mirror. The true me. I fell in love with fitness. And when people started to tell me that I've inspired them, I decided to study personal training and make fitness my profession and my job. I loved it. And I still do. So, when people ask me, what keeps me motivated, my answer is "I never want to go back where I was".

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In September 2013, I became a mommy to a beautiful baby boy and at 4 months post partum I weight less than I have ever in my adulthood life. I was working out during my entire pregnancy even though I was at a high risk of miscarriage. My last workout was 10 hrs before I went into labor. And decision to workout during pregnancy has been the best decision I have ever made. I've actually started training for my first figure competition. It's not about being beautiful or people paying attention to me. It's about accomplishing something that I never even considered possible. I want to show my son how to make healthy choices. Because fitness is a huge part of my and my husband's life and we want to teach him to be involved into fitness as well. And not to struggle with being picked on at school like I was."

You can follow Heidi on Facebook at www.facebook.com/healthwithheidi and her instagram is @fitheidi

If you would like to be featured on the next Motivational Monday, please email your transformation story along with a photo or two to me HERE!