In my last post, I mentioned that one of the things that I learned in the last 7 months was that it’s important to embrace your post pregnancy body, but to not let it be your excuse. I decided that I wanted to share my ongoing fitness journey with others.

I’ll start out by saying that I am not an expert in anything. I can suggest things, tell you what I’ve tried, and what I feel has worked. Personally, I don’t follow any set diet or workout plan. Doing strictly anything always messes me up. My method is trying things out, switching things up, and making things work to fit my lifestyle. It’s amazing because I typically excel in never finishing what I start and falling off the wagon. I have been great at quitting in the past. So what changed?

I got married. I had a baby. I quit my job, and I moved to a different state… So honestly, some things got harder, other things got easier, and I just ran out of excuses. I always had all these reasons I could come up with to put things off. I’m tired, I have no time, I have too much to do, I’m sick, I will start tomorrow, next week, next month, next year… It’s like I couldn’t commit to anything. I didn’t want to be held accountable, but I still wanted the freedom to complain about it. I wasn’t happy with myself because I knew that I really wasn’t even trying. I knew I would feel better if I simply put in the effort and made a decision to make my health and wellness a priority.

So here’s a quick overview of what I have found that works for me and the majority of it doesn’t include a diet or a meal plan:

I stopped comparing my progress to someone else’s.

Sometimes a person’s fitness journey and progress can be really inspirational and encouraging. It might be just what you’ve been waiting for to kick start your desire and motivation. It could be exactly what you needed to start believing in yourself. But along the way, your journey and your progress might be different. I say this because I can’t tell you how many before and afters I have seen that have made me question how I was doing things wrong or why don’t I look like that yet. Why is my progress not as impressive? What I’m trying to get at, is that everyone’s body is different and sometimes there are certain things in play that can help or slow down your evolution. It doesn’t mean that you’re failing or doing things wrong. Your body is your own and it’s going to show progress at its own pace. So when I see someone else’s progress, I think that it’s amazing and I celebrate them, but I don’t compare because I should be proud of my own accomplishments without feeling like the effort I am giving isn’t enough. This leads me into my next bullet point.

 

I take several pictures to keep track of my improvements and to use it as motivation.

I take a ton of selfies. I don’t share several of them because they are mostly just for my own eyes. Usually, I take at least one picture during my workout and some in the mornings. Then, I’ll look at them all later and make note of the changes or non-changes that I’m seeing. I compare my week to week and month to month and I make sure I acknowledge every little bit of progress I made and use it to keep going or to work harder. I am probably the least patient person that I know and I itch to see more results. It can be a bit discouraging when you expect to see something exceed what you’ve been visually seeing, but the best things in life take time. Somebody smarter than me once told me that. My progress as much or as little as it has been from week to week, still keeps me moving forward. Even when you can’t see it, your body is getting stronger and it’s going to keep helping you work to meet your goals.

 

I don’t over analyze the gym or my cheat meal/cheat snacks.

I know when I have gym days. I usually take 1-3 days off and make a commitment to at least three gym days a week, no matter what. I can tell you that I have stuck to my routine since the end of January for this long without giving it up because I am not so strict or hard on myself anymore. I used to guilt myself so badly when I decided to skip a  gym day (for whatever reason)  and then one day of putting it off would lead into another and so on. In my mind, since I had already “messed up” my schedule for the week, why even bother? Not very logical right?

I don’t do any of that anymore. I also don’t think about working out for very long. I just put on my clothes, gym shoes, get in the car, and drive there. If I dwell on it and think about how much I would rather stay on the couch to keep watching my long list of TV shows (which is all the time,) I won’t go and I will start to fall into bad habits again. When this does happen though, I do my best to shake it off and go the next day or workout a bit harder when I do go to make up for my laziness/procrastination. Also, by setting my very realistic goal of three workout days a week, I am able to stay on the wagon and remain consistent. The main goal is to always go back.

If you don’t have a cheat meal at least once a week, you are the strongest person I know. I would fly off the handle, so fast, if I couldn’t occasionally eat what I wanted to. I’d love to tell you that it’s only one meal a week, but it’s usually not. Sometimes there are treats in between. If I want something really badly, I let myself have it (not binge, portion control,) and then I make more of a push with cardio that day or the next time I’m at the gym. I let myself have the freedom to eat from what I want, but I keep in mind the calorie intake and decide if it is worth it to me. Sometimes it is and I don’t find myself obsessing over the one thing that I “shouldn’t” have and other times I decide to save my cheat snack or cheat meal for something else or something better. One day won’t undue days, weeks, or months of work, but unfortunately days of bad food decisions can/will. It’s not fair, but that is how it goes. Nevertheless, don’t deny yourself of a little something that can keep you from unraveling until the next cheat meal/snack. If you have better discipline then I do and it doesn’t trouble you, major kudos and carry on.

 

One size doesn’t fit all and that’s absolutely fine!

My body is a combination of things that doesn’t always reflect the size that it needs. Some clothes just don’t fit right, even when it’s my size.  Some smaller and larger sizes can sometimes shock me when they do fit and other times my size is simply not available. If a piece of clothing doesn’t work out, it just means that it wasn’t meant for me (which also helps me save money), but there will be other things that are. So I buy what fits my body shape the best and what makes me feel comfortable. When something that I was really looking forward to trying on doesn’t, I always try to immediately take it off without giving it another thought. Your size doesn’t tell people everything that they need to know about you, but how you choose to wear what fits you, can say a lot. What I am trying to say is that you shouldn’t hide or hate or let the idea of the “right size” or the “right look” hurt you. Be your own person and express yourself in a way that makes you feel good.

 

I found a fitness routine and diet plan that works for me.

If you’ve been waiting to find out what it is that I actually do in my routine/meal prep, I’m sorry. It’s really not that impressive. Like I said before, I am not an expert. Consistency and commitment in whatever you choose to do (in my opinion) is the main thing that matters. But, here is my alleged fitness routine and diet plan:

When I first started working out again, post pregnancy, I used a workout plan given to me by a friend. If you are interested, send me a message and I’ll email you the PDF. It is mostly focused on heavier weights and strength training. It recommends a warm up and some cardio, but mostly leaves you to decide how much or how little you want to incorporate into your workouts. In the beginning, I was doing thirty minutes of cardio (stair master, spin bike, or treadmill on incline) and then following this workout plan every week. Essentially it was divided up by abs/core, arms and shoulders, and legs/calves/glutes. It was challenging and I really enjoyed the workout, but after a few weeks I started dreading the cardio portion. I am truly not a big fan of it and so I decided to cut it down to ten minutes before my strength training/weight lifting workouts and focused on what I was actually looking forward to working on in the gym. Then I heard of an app called BodyLove by a very popular certified trainer that I follow on Instagram, Anna Victoria, and I decided to download it. It’s not free, but very reasonably priced if you plan to use it. She has some ebooks on gym and at home workouts, as well as a meal plan that I had also purchased in the past (all great, highly recommend), but the app was a game changer for me. It shows the workout as you’re doing it, times you and your 30-60 second rest. It divides the circuit workouts into three rounds of each exercise and it has three different levels depending on the intensity you’re ready to take on. It’s similar to the first workout plan I was using in the way that it’s divided up, but there are three cardio and ab days a week. The rest is legs and glutes, arms and shoulders, and a full body workout. It encourages a day of rest. You can upload your progress pictures, find stretching/cool down exercises, take extra challenges, and pause the workout itself at any time. It checks off the workouts you fully complete. I pick and choose what workout I want to do on whatever day. It’s that easy and accessible. I follow the workouts to the best of my ability and when a certain exercise is still too challenging for me, I do a modification.

Every time that I go to the gym, I face a challenge. Sometimes the biggest one is getting there. The way I overcome and push myself while I’m there goes beyond my physical capacity. If I am ready to give up mentally, my body catches up real fast. It closely follows my thinking pattern. I know this because as I’ve said before, I don’t really ever look forward to cardio, specifically running. I had been avoiding the treadmill for years. I’ve walked by pretending to not know why it’s there. Recently, we started “talking again.” We discussed our past and tried to figure out why it didn’t work out between us. We blamed one another, but ultimately I met it halfway. We agreed that we needed to move forward and that I would  make the time for it on the days of my choosing and at my own pace. It promised that it wouldn’t throw me off this time around (as it has so many times before. I’m not kidding.) I’m happy to say that so far it’s been going well, better then expected. On these challenging cardio days, my reward is that it’s a shorter workout (30-40 minutes.) This allows me to really tap into all my energy and focus.

Diet wise, I tried intermittent fasting. I ate within an 8 hour window and fasted for 16 hours. It wasn’t very difficult to do because of my morning schedule with Jude (which means I usually put off eating until lunch,) but I didn’t really feel that it was as effective as I wanted it to be. I heard about Keto from word of mouth and I looked into it. I liked that there was a bit of emphasis on eating fattier foods (avocados and bacon were highly suggested), but the lack of carbs scared me. The majority of what I ate beforehand always had something to do with bread, beans, cereal, pasta, pasta, and more pasta. I had been trying to figure out how I’d decrease my carb intake for a long time and this seemed to be the right way to go about it. It did not disappoint. I can’t tell you if I actually lost weight because I haven’t stepped on a scale since my post pregnancy check up, but I felt amazing even after just one week. I had so much more energy, felt lighter, didn’t get bloated anymore, and I was still having my cheat meal/cheat snacks once a week. I don’t count macros, but I do make sure I keep my carb intake (if there is any) under 20 grams six days a week. I really enjoy eating healthy fats and it’s helped me eat more vegetables then I ever have before. I found something that doesn’t make me feel like I’m missing out on anything and I get more energy as a pay off.

 

To the ones who still struggle and have people/things going on in their lives that don’t help:

Mentally, I fight to find the motivation to go to the gym more then I don’t. It’s a habit I have to work at maintaining every single week even after months of doing this. I have to keep focus and self talk/yell in my head to push myself further in my workouts and to not quit until I’ve finished that last set or mile. I sweat profusely. I rearrange my outfit because it rolls down, hikes up, and makes things pop out that I don’t want to share with the world. I look at the clock a million times. Sometimes I don’t make it through that front door and I know what its like to feel terrible because of that. I have avoided mirrors at many different points in my life. I’ve put things back in my own closet because it just doesn’t fit me anymore and it’s embarrassing. I’ve had people in my life make comments about my body. It’s amazing how much one person, one situation, just one simply remark can affect you and change how you see yourself. I don’t pretend to be in anyone else’s exact shoes, but what I’m am trying to say is that I know none of this is easy.

My humble advice is to eliminate whatever it is in your life that doesn’t serve a purpose and that keeps you from moving forward. You probably already know what it is. If it’s a person, a place, certain foods, get rid of it and move on.  Do whatever you have to do to make this happen. The best thing you can do with all that hurt, pain, embarrassment, and struggle is face it head on and put all of that energy into something that is just for you. Practice self love and keep yourself moving, eat things that make you happy, but also that make you feel good and healthy inside. If you try some of these changes and you start to feel weak, like it’s wearing you down, it still hurts, its hard to breathe, remind yourself you’ve been through worse because I am sure you have and you’ve survived it. You are that strong. We all are.