Sam's transformation, half marathon in Chattanooga

I know this is kind of older news but wanted to record it because it sort of leads into Sam's new running life.. This past January, Sam decided to enter a transformation challenge online that would be over a span of 12 weeks, ending in April. There were many reasons for this goal-- the biggest one being that he wanted to make a permanent lifestyle change to lose weight, live healthier and be more active. It ended up being a great change for our entire family. We didn't do any crazy strict diet but just became much more aware of what (and how much) we were eating and what unnecessary things could be cut out of our daily intake. We also started cooking much healthier meals on a regular basis. I think when we chose to make the lifestyle change as a family, rather than just a "diet," it made a big difference.

Anyways, here are Sam's before and after pictures and I think he is a freaking rockstar for all the work he put into getting his body healthy and strong. He looks awesome!! (I lost a little weight too but found out I was pregnant at the very beginning of April so a lot of good it did me, haha).. He also became much more active and exercising every day was fun for him, especially when he discovered trail running (mostly thanks to my bro-in-law Neal taking him on a night trail run when we were in DC back in March).. He's been running regularly ever since, and LOVES it. 

So a few weekends ago we took a little overnight trip down to Chattanooga for Sam to do his first half marathon trail run. They did the Still Hollow Half Marathon. His friend Jason came along so he would have a running buddy and they both did awesome!  It was a learning experience for sure but they had a lot of fun and are already looking forward to their next run in November. Here are some pics from our weekend:

Sam at the halfway mark, Ivy hanging out with lizard while we wait:

 Almost done!!!

Finished! (Jason came through about 4 minutes later and I didn't catch a pic of his finish, dangit!) Pic on the right is how they both felt afterwards, haha:

After some fluids and popsicles, they were feeling much better, lol:

We went to lunch and visited some fun parks and waterfalls downtown.. Such a cute city! (Jason took off with a friend to the aquarium so we hung out downtown for a little while, then headed back to Knoxville):

Watching the river boats go by: