If you follow me on Instagram (which you do, right?) you’ve probably noticed a lot less sugar and a lot more sweaty selfies. That may have something to do with my lack of recipes lately. I feel like all I ever eat now is chicken. Chicken and Chipotle. (Do you know that a barbacoa bowl + white rice + corn salsa + cheese is only 530 calories?!)
I had a wake up call about six weeks ago and decided it was finally time to take my body back. Let’s face it, making tiny humans is a lot of work, and really takes a toll on the ol’ bod. (Tiger stripes anyone? Yep, me too.) Specifically for me though the biggest casualty was my core. I suffered from diastasis recti after Isabella, and worse again after Sophia. I also have an umbilical hernia which I can’t get fixed until we are done with the making of tiny humans. Good thing they’re really cute right? For months now (okay, 18 months now) I’ve felt “stuck” that there was no point in trying to get back in shape or lose weight just to gain it all back + 40 pounds with another pregnancy. (Even though, logically, I knew getting in shape would do nothing but benefit going into pregnancy.) I rode the emotional roller coaster all the way from denial to trying to not let it bother me to borderline depression.
So one day, as I’m standing in the kitchen out-of-nowhere-ugly-crying to my poor husband who probably just came in for a snack and would have turned right back around if he knew what kind of whackado meltdown he was walking into, I decided to do hard things. I put on my running shoes and I ran two miles. I dug my weights out of the closet. I downloaded an app to log my diet. And with the support of my husband, we budgeted right then for me to hire a trainer.
For six weeks now I’ve been working out twice a week with my trainer, running multiple times a week, attending bootcamp classes, participating in trampoline fitness classes… doing hard things. I am giving 100% and working harder than I have in years. Is it hard work? Hell yes.
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…” ―Theodore Roosevelt
But we can do hard things. If you’ve been putting off taking time for you to get healthy or get strong, ask yourself why? Is it time? Money? Commitment? Are you afraid to do hard things? I am not the type of person that can work out at home with fitness DVD’s. More power to you if that works for you but I need someone in my face pushing me. Or I need group fitness so I can try to be the best. It’s just what works for me. So that means setting aside the money, and time, each week to make that happen. And most importantly for me that means needing the support of my husband to be on board with this. My poor, unsuspecting, already amazingly supportive, husband who probably would have agreed to anything to get out of the kitchen that day. 🙂
My point is: find what works best for you and make it happen! Buy a DVD, watch a free YouTube video, check out a book from the library, scour the dozens of fitness blogs out there, join a gym, join a rec center, hire a trainer, go for a run, curl some cans of soup… do whatever hard things you need to do. More than the pounds or inches gone (not “lost” right, because I have no intention of “finding” them again…) I am most happy about the way I feel. I feel strong.
Follow my journey with me on Instagram as #EmGetsStrong for motivation, tips on where to pick up cute workout tanks, and, of course, adorable pictures of my tiny humans. I plan to throw in a few update posts here as well- maybe even a before/after update picture?
What hard things are you doing right now?
You can download the printable here.
p.s. If you suffer from diastasis recti check out this post from Tone & Tighten with tips and even a free exercise plan to download. I’ve been doing this and am amazed at the results so far.
p.p.s. If you are local to the DFW and need a trainer I highly recommend you check out GL Performance!