“Hi! I’m Marisa and I’m a mom of two beautiful little girls 2.5 years old and 10 months old. My journey with food, health, and my body started back in 2017 and it has been anything but a straight line.
Over the last 7 years I’ve tried my hand at bodybuilding, Spartan races, wrestling,DEKA/Hyrox races, and a few 1Up challenges. From the outside, it probably seemed like I was doing well, but on the inside it was turmoil. My struggle with food began after I first lost weight and competed in a few bodybuilding shows. I will forever be grateful for learning how to count macros, however, this cost me my relationship with food.
When COVID happened, I felt so lost with my health and fitness. I gained 30+ pounds and was struggling mentally with my food. That’s when I found the 1UP Nutrition challenge for the first time. I joined the summer challenge to give myself a goal again. I lost a few pounds, but I was still struggling. Over the next year, things got better, my weight evened out, and my relationship with food kept improving.
Then I was sidelined with a serious head injury that permanently altered my sense of smell. This made my relationship with food even harder, foods I once loved tasted different now, and I had to start over once again.
Luckily, I met my husband during that time. Together we worked on my relationship with food and decided to start our family. I was feeling good with food and workouts when I first got pregnant, but pregnancy was not easy for me. I was so sick for both pregnancies I couldn’t work out at all. I ended up gaining 65lbs the first time, lost it all within a year, got pregnant again and then gained it all back.
Originally, I wanted to join the new year’s challenge this year, but my second daughter was only 5 months old, and I still didn’t feel like it was the right time. Then, I made the decision to join this challenge with zero expectations of placing, just an attempt to lose some weight, get a routine back in my life, and let my girls grow up seeing their mom as a role model.
I started this challenge at one of my heaviest weights ever, almost 190lbs. That first week I was exhausted, and honestly a bit scared. Tracking food and being hungry frightened me. But I found I wasn’t even that hungry! I was tired, breastfeeding a baby, chasing a toddler, and running on 4 to 6 hours of sleep. I remember thinking, why did I start this now? How could I possibly ask my body for more when I already had nothing left? But once I found a rhythm with food and small amounts of training through the 1UP app, I actually had more energy, which was awesome. It’s amazing what the right food and supplements can do for you!
My weight fluctuated constantly and while I knew that was normal, it was still hard to see my weight not moving some days. On top of all of that, about halfway through the challenge, I woke up with vertigo. I only had that one other time, and it was very scary and I honestly thought I wouldn’t be able to workout or stick to the plan for days. With the help of my husband, I listened to my body, took a full day of rest, and thankfully was better the next day and eased back into the workouts again.
Then, all of a sudden, we were at the end of the challenge, and I was down over 20 pounds. More than any number, I started to feel like myself again. My clothes fit better, I now have more energy, I have a routine, and I’m still continuing my journey. I have more to lose and want to see how far my fitness can really go.
So if you’re just starting, or restarting after life got in the way, just remember results that last take time and will challenge you mentally and physically. There’s never going to be a perfect moment to start, no matter what your before looks like. Just stay consistent, don’t try to do more than your life allows, and if you get derailed, that’s okay. Give yourself grace, and keep going. That’s the whole secret. I hope I can be an inspiration to you, even just one person makes everything I’ve been through worth it.”
