• Home
  • Start Here
    • About
    • Top 10 Posts
  • Train Hard
    • Printables
    • Videos
    • New Move Monday
    • Shed & Share
  • Eat Well
    • Food Tips & Tricks
    • Recipes
  • Live Free
    • Challenges
    • Mindset
    • Spiritual
  • Your Second New Year
  • “Living + Active” Challenge
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Services
    • Coaching
    • Speaking
    • Essential Oils

Clare Smith

Training Body & Soul

{Shed & Share Wednesdays} Casey P.

February 4, 2014

Eeek! It’s been since November that we’ve had a “Shed & Share” story! (If you aren’t sure what that is, it’s real life stories of real life women sharing how they shed the extra weight on their body, and many times, in their lives!)

Shed & Share Wednesdays | peak313.com

This story is super special to me because I’ve actually met her! Casey used to live in Texas and followed my blog while there, but happened to move less than 2 hours from me! How cool is that?! After realizing this through a few emails, we decided to meet up for lunch one day. Such a blessing to meet my readers in person–especially one who is sharing her shed story! She is just darling!

Shed & Share Wednesdays: Meet Casey P! : peak313.com

{The Basics}

Age: 38

Profession: Stay at home mom of three amazing kids!

How long have you been on this weight loss journey? These last two years

Weight Loss:  30 pounds

{Your Story}

What was your “low point”?

I would say my low point was 2 years ago around Thanksgiving when I noticed I was depressed. I just couldn’t feel happy the way I was. I knew what I had to do to change that.

Shed & Share Wednesdays: Meet Casey and find out how she lost over 30 lbs! : peak313.com

How did you get started?

I decided to write my goals down and weigh in weekly. I made a decision to walk 2 miles a day on my treadmill at least four days a week.

What is your workout routine and eating plan?

I still walk two miles on my treadmill and I up the incline every 5minutes. I also work out my abs on those days. I add in weights for different muscle groups on each day as well. (I shoot for four days a week…not always possible haha) I like to find workouts on Pinterest and give those a try when I can, just to keep life interesting.

casey1
Casey and her husband!

My eating plan is to focus on eating real food! Keeping most processed food out 🙂 Less carbs more protein,fruits,nuts and veggies.

Shed & Share Wednesdays: Meet Casey P! : peak313.com

{Help us!}

What are your top 3 favorite resources that helped you along the way?

1.) Prayer! God is my number one resource for strength.

2.) Peak313 has been a huge resource to me!! Such a source of encouragement and motivation :))

3.) My treadmill!! Having a treadmill and weights in my house means there is always a way to work out 🙂 No excuses!!

Shed & Share Wed: Meet Casey P! : peak313.com

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is sitting on the sidelines and waiting?

Just take the first step, it feels overwhelming at first but you can do it!!

What one piece of advice would you give to someone who is in the process but is feeling discouraged?

Each day counts, if you mess up don’t forget to give yourself grace. Just keep moving towards your goal. You will get there!

If you are a parent, how have you balanced everything?

I have a very supportive husband who makes sure that I get to work out with no interruptions…so thankful for him!  We walk together sometimes too!

Shed & Share Wednesdays: Meet Casey! : peak313.com

Casey and her beautiful family!!

Anything else you would like to share?

I gained the weight after a traumatic experience shook my world. I was told I had metastatic bone cancer…I had to deal with the thought of leaving my precious family and that really broke me.  I later found out that it was a benign process in my bones and that I was totally fine. Praise God!! Just after that my husbands job moved us to a new state. I was lonely and still reeling from the cancer experience. So I quit working out, I hid at home as often as I could and ate to feel better.  I was miserable. So I made a decision to work out again. I decided that it wasn’t about how I looked. It was about how I FELT. So I set goals and took it one day at a time. It took six months or so to lose the thirty pounds. Working out does so much for me emotionally.  Being healthy and looking thinner is a nice bonus! I felt like God allowed me more time on this earth, and I would Honor Him by taking care of this body that He has blessed me with.

♥♥♥

Oh, Casey, thank you for opening your heart and sharing with us how God touched your life in this area! Such an inspiration!

If you have a shed story that you would like to share, please email me, clare@peak313.com. I’d LOVE to have you on the blog!!

Share this:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Filed Under: Featured, Good Living, Shed & Share Tagged With: real life, Shed & Share 10 Comments

About Clare

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    February 4, 2014 at 9:52 pm

    My sweetest friend — she’s an amazing woman and I’m so proud of the life she lives inside and out!

    Reply
    • Casey says

      February 6, 2014 at 2:22 pm

      Xoxo That means a lot!!

      Reply
  2. Ingrid says

    February 4, 2014 at 10:16 pm

    This is encouraging to me. I’d like to lose between 20-30 lbs. My baby is almost 8 so that excuse isn’t working anymore, LOL! I know I need to pray, set a plan & take it one meal at a time.

    Reply
    • Casey says

      February 6, 2014 at 2:21 pm

      I’m so glad you feel encouraged! Praying success for you as you set your goals 🙂

      Reply
  3. katie says

    February 5, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    So awesome! Praise God! 🙂

    Reply
    • Casey says

      February 6, 2014 at 2:16 pm

      Thank you and yes!! Praising God along with you 🙂

      Reply
  4. Michelle says

    February 6, 2014 at 11:26 am

    You are truly amazing! I’m praying for that drive, motivation and discipline. Congratulations on being faithful to your goals and to the Lord to be the best you can be! Your story is inspiring to so many. God bless you and your family <3

    Reply
    • Casey says

      February 6, 2014 at 2:14 pm

      Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement!! God bless you and yours as well!!

      Reply
  5. Abby Vostad says

    February 10, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    Way to go girl! So cool to see moms leading healthy lives!

    Reply
    • Casey says

      February 21, 2014 at 10:36 pm

      How sweet!! Thank you!!

      Reply

Leave a Reply to Casey Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • YouTube

looking for something?

post archives

Instagram

Let your complicated, challenging, nuanced situati Let your complicated, challenging, nuanced situation(s) be what forms you. Let it build you into the person God is bringing you to be. It’s not the ability to live life unscathed and perfect that creates a beautiful soul. It’s the ability to feel the heat and pain and come out more tender, authentic, and loving that makes you a person who is set apart for use. A person like this is refreshing and that person absolutely is you. #abeautifulpurpose

(Quote not my own)
I’ll keep this short because I want you to read I’ll keep this short because I want you to read the poem. We can bring our burdens many places nowadays- friends, Instagram, Facebook, text, to gym, to work, to sleep.. you get the point. But let’s make sure we bring our burdens first to Jesus. After the week.. month.. year.. many of us are having, there’s no better time to do this than now. #sweetunfailingrefuge

(I found this tucked in an old book at my family’s 100 year old farmhouse that we were selling this summer 🤍)
•My house was a mess with everyone being home to •My house was a mess with everyone being home today
• I only had ingredients for one batch of soup
• I don’t drink alcohol on Mondays
• Hubs had the sink totally apart in the middle of a project
• The kids were in and out of our deep conversation

Sometimes the quick stop to say hello turns into a therapy session with dinner and wine. Everything was stacked against me – so I thought- but the mayhem is often beauty and normalcy to the person’s life who is spinning. Sometimes “the plan” goes off track... but it’s not off track in God’s eyes.

Living life knowing that the minutes of your day are not yours but for God to use to encourage and be there for people who are hurting changes everything. It changes who you marry. It changes how you spend your money. It changes what you do with your time. Dinner portions may not be what you planned but God always finds enough to fill those who come to His table to be loved on and heard.

If I know one thing – it’s this. People are hurting right now. Some things are private and some are public. What would it look like if our homes became safe places for people to land? For our hearts to enter in the pain? For our embrace to provide the temporary relief needed? We can be people who talk about bringing the kingdom here on earth or we can be people who do what we can with the little we have to be the hands and feet of Jesus. 🤍
I’ve been on a “physical” comeback over the I’ve been on a “physical” comeback over the past few weeks. Between an insane December, Covid recovery, Ohio winters, and the mere fact I don’t have the bounce back that I used to (#thisis40) it’s been a slow go for me to get to feeling where I feel best physically. It’s been discouraging to say the least and I feel like I just turned a corner last week. 

While a lot truly was physical exhaustion, it was more of a mind game I was playing. I had to be my own #hypeman and tell myself to keep chipping away at the goal. I had to tell myself that the only way to the end was through it…no shortcuts. Just time and steady work. I often dismissed the small wins I had because I hadn’t hit the finish line. Well that thinking wasn’t helping me and one day had the “aha”that while I wasn’t yet at the goal, I was BETTER.

Each of us have something in our lives where it’s not what we want. We are on the path to achievement but it sure ain’t there yet. It can be with some of the obvious things such a health or financial goals but I see this often with people regarding relationships. The marriage, friendship, child or community in which we live falls just short of “perfection” and so we just settle instead of putting in consistent, hopeful work, which allows room for the Holy Spirit to work. 

I just want to encourage you to keep chipping away because while things may not be what you want, they can be better. In fact the way we reach what we want is not by snapping our fingers and it magically appearing but by a process or journey which involves ups and downs, straight stretches of boredom, and then finally a renewed energy as you see the end in sight.

What have you given up on achieving because it hasn’t come to fruition in the time you wanted? Remember… things can be BETTER. And that counts for something. 🤍
I was recently telling someone my journey or where I was recently telling someone my journey or where I am today in regards to what I do for a living... the crazy road I’ve travelled over the last 10 years to get me here. It’s changed a lot and if you’ve been here online with me, you have seen it! If you would have asked 18 year old Clare what she saw herself filling her days with at 40 years old, it would be about 5% of what I’m doing. Goodness...none of this was even around when I was 18!

I look back and see all the twists and turns. All these tiny moments and conversations. Many open and closed doors. Things that I thought were just random or not a big deal, but in hindsight, they were a huge deal. I appear to be a very type a “has her stuff together and a plan” type girl but the truth is, I am (was) taking everything day by day.

All I know is that everything I stepped into prepared me for the next thing. Many times I didn’t even know it! But I look back often and am like, “ohhh, God, I see what ya did there!” 

My encouragement to you is this- no matter what age you are- trust the path you are on. Let peace be your guide... not some assumed plan an “expert” or author told you. Sure- be wise with your time. Put in the work with diligence wherever your feet may have you, but be open to the nudges of where to go.

Maybe I’m crazy but living a life of faith in God is one of the most exciting and fulfilling things. I don’t know what He has for me in 5 years let alone 1...and for whatever reason, that thought alone gets me up and helps me live with a holy anticipation. I trust Him.  I live less with resistance to the unexpected now. God is indeed preparing you for what he has prepared for you. What a loving Father!
We all know this but it’s so easy to forget. Rem We all know this but it’s so easy to forget. Remember that seeds are buried and “in the dark” before anything springs forth. Our journeys in life can often feel like that. Do the daily work. Tend your “heart garden.” Time is on your side. And when it’s time...it’s time. 🤍

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians‬ ‭6:9‬
A few years ago I was the speaker for a women’s A few years ago I was the speaker for a women’s retreat in the Chicago area. I just finished a session & a lady ran up to me asking if she could ask me a few questions. She was early 50’s, striking in appearance… fit & confident. She started telling me that she resonated with my health/fitness message & wanted some encouragement on starting “this late in life”, but as we continued talking, her demeanor changed & tears started to fill her eyes.

She told me that was she was struggling with something that had been weighing on her since she was 18…the decision to have an abortion. The tears were streaming down her face, the clear guilt she carried from it weighing heavy on every part of her beautiful stature. Not many knew about it. Her current husband did not…many friends did not. She felt it was keeping her from this life she saw that was just within reach. The more she sat in silence, the heavier the chains felt. She needed to speak and I watched the tears fall like visible chains.

We chatted a little longer, prayed & hugged, & as I walked away I couldn’t help but think of many women I’ve encountered with this same story but I would’ve never known. Walking through life seemingly fine, yet carrying a deep wound inside, questioning every bit of her worth and ability to make a difference. Heartbreaking. 

If you relate to that woman, I want you to know that you are loved & seen. Your past, as hard as it has been, has formed & shaped you into the woman you are today, & a woman that God greatly desires to use. He wants your broken, fragile heart. He will bind it up and heal it. He will walk with you in the shadows. He will lead you beside still and soul-quenching waters. There may be many words you can attach to your situation but there is one more powerful than all that I want you to keep remembering…RESTORATION. Jesus is renewing and reviving something within you that will bring light to yourself & others.

For the rest of us who may not have this as a part of our story, let’s remember that we are walking amongst those who have & that we are to be healing arms, not ones of judgement & legalism...but ones of compassion & grace. 🤍 DM me if you need prayer!
This came up on my Facebook memories and I just fe This came up on my Facebook memories and I just feel it’s always applicable! There is always something in our lives that if we could just “get our hands on” would work to our favor. We dream about what it would be like if we got that thing/person etc. We think about the 2 tweaks that need to happen for it to occur. We pray about it. Perhaps obsess over it.. sound familiar?

But we also start to resent our current lives. We stop living in what God has fully given us. We live everywhere but the here and now and alongside that dream of yours comes a side dish of anxiety and sadness. So then we get our hands in it, perhaps without God’s “OK” and then we see a mess unfold. We’ve all been there. If only we had waited. 

This is the grind of living in reality. We are pulled from living what is before us into living into a dream we have deep within. Here’s the cool thing. We don’t have to choose.. reality or dream. It’s not an either/or but both/and. We can live fully here while also giving energy to our hopes. The difference is how tightly we hold into those things and how much they get elevated in our hearts.

If you are here this morning I just want to encourage you that you aren’t alone! I truly believe with everything I am, that God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) I believe in His sovereign timing. I believe that the work He started in you (and everyone else in your life) will be completed. (Phil1:6) Keep praying, stay faithful to where you are now, walk in the “peace path” and hold onto Jesus. He will lead you. 🙏🏻
Follow on Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • YouTube

© 2021 · Clare Smith · Design by Heart & Arrow

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.