So, people often ask me how I stay so fit. Okay, so maybe no one asks me this, but I have had friends and family witness a change in me over the past couple years. I was recently asked by one of these said friends to write about my health journey. This is going to be a bit difficult because I don't really view myself as someone who should be giving advice on health and fitness. However, through some encouragement from some wonderful people, I'm going to give it a shot. Now, I do not claim to be a fitness professional (insert laughter) and I also do not claim to be a nutritionist(more laughter because of all the cookies I might have eaten this weekend). I have, however, gained a considerable amount of weight and then finally lost it all.
I guess this journey really started during my pregnancy with my, almost four year old son, Westyn. I did what a typical woman does while she's pregnant and I ate everything. I took the whole 'eating for two' saying to heart. I was serious about this. Lets also preface this by saying I was very out of shape before I got pregnant. If any of you have had a child, then you will know how strenuous pregnancy can be on your body and your mind. By the time the nine months were almost up I had gained close to 50, very unhealthy, pounds. I had entered what I like to call.....troll status.... Allow me to show you.
I would love to write now and tell you all about me losing the weight right after Westyn was born and went on to have abs and all that amazing stuff, but sadly that's not what happened. I was so consumed with being a new mom that I didn't properly care for myself. Allow me to show you yet another photo. Bare with me, I'm a visual learner.
Westyn is probably around four or five months old here and as you can obviously see, I do not have abs. Looking back at this moment, and close to the next year to follow, I realize how incredibly unhappy I was. I was so happy to be a mother but I couldn't believe how much my body had changed in such a short amount of time. See, not only did pregnancy leave me overweight, it also left me with stretch marks. I mean a lot of stretch marks. You know those moments in life when you walk as quickly as you can by the mirror so you're not able to catch a glimpse of your reflection. That's where I was.
Funny story, well kind of sad actually, my wonderful sweet Dad caught sight of my stomach not long after I had Westyn. He felt so bad that he immediately went home, researched, and then bought me a very expensive cream to help me get rid, or at least lessen, them. I've now learned to embrace them and love them, but at the time I felt terrible about myself. At the time I thought this was only effecting me, I didn't realize how much it was effecting my marriage. Ladies, if you don't think your husband notices your constant criticism towards yourself, then you are sadly mistaken. How can you expect him to find you attractive if you cant even look at yourself in the mirror?
So finally, I had enough. I had tried some at home workouts but I couldn't push myself in the way I needed in order to make the changes I needed. A friend of mine had recently started working out. This friend was not the workout type. Honestly, in the two years I had known her, I don't think she had ever mentioned a desire to work out. I would sit and listen to her talk about this crazy thing called Crossfit and the way she spoke of it had me intrigued. I went home and talk to my amazingly supportive husband about it and we decided I would give it a shot.
Once again, I would love to say that I went in on that first day and was awesome, super strong, and not at all pathetic. Oh my heavens, was I so wrong. I'm not saying this happened to me, but someone could have went in for their foundations, push too hard, end up puking all over the floor during an attempt to run outside, and then fall in said puke. Okay, okay it was me. At this point I could have thrown my hands up and said forget it because it was too hard, let alone extremely embarrassing. I didn't however, this only lit a fire under me. This was solid proof of how much help I needed.
I got involved in the community that surrounds Crossfit and I fell in love! It wasn't just about losing weight, it was about the people who are there to thrash themselves in a workout along side you! It then took me about six months to finally realize that I couldn't outwork my unhealthy diet. I was still in the mindset of thinking I can continue to eat how I want because I was "working out" now. Wrong! I entered a nutrition challenge at the box that had a nice prize. I am a very competitive person so I went into this challenge with a mindset that I was going to do everything by the book with no cheat days. Obviously my way of eating wasn't working so I might as well give theirs a try. I mean, they have abs so it must work.
By doing a low carb, paleo friendly diet, I was able to lose 21 lbs in 30 days and in a very healthy way. No weight loss pills or shakes or any of the get thin quick mess. I did it through hard work and healthy eating because if you don't change your habits, then you won't change your lifestyle. I did actually win the challenge and was able to go buy some new clothes! This was probably the first time in years that I was excited to go clothes shopping.
This is our announcement picture when we found out we were having Lincoln. I felt amazing, confident, and able to handle another pregnancy. This go around was completely different. I was able to continue doing Crossfit up until the week before I had him, and I actually got much stronger while pregnant!
The recovery time after this C-Section was 100x easier and quicker. Less pain, less fatigue, less time in bed! This was so essential because not only did we have a newborn to care for but we also had a crazy, almost, three year old.
No, I am not trying to get everyone to go join Crossfit (even though it's awesome). I will be the first to say that it's not for everyone. I'm also not trying to make you feel bad if you're still carrying some baby weight with you. What I am trying to do is to give you some hope by telling my story. I want every woman to be confident in themselves no matter what size, so I'm mainly talking to the women who aren't so confident. If you're in a place in your life right now that you're so unhappy you can't bare to look at your reflection in the mirror, then maybe it's time for a change. Feeling better about yourself and your body will flow over into every aspect of your lives. I can promise you, from experience, that your marriage will be stronger if you open up about your insecurities and then work together on making a change. To hear Joe tell me how proud he is of me is one of the best feelings in the world. It's not that he didn't love me while I was over weight, it's that I didn't love me. The feelings I had towards myself created a wall between us, which is something you never want in your marriage. Break free from the insecurities that are holding you back from happiness.
God made you exactly the way He wanted you and He loves you. Now it's time to love yourself.
Like I said before, I am no expert and I still don't have abs but I do know some stuff! So if you need some encouragement or have any questions please send me a message! I would love to help!
Thank you for taking time to read this very personal post. Please share this if it helped you so that maybe it will help someone else.
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