First Post of the Year: I'm Up In The Gym Just Working on My Fitness.

It's sad that this is my first post of the year. I've been MIA lately and when that happens, it's usually because something else is taking up the small amount of free time that I have. In this case, it's true again.  I've started on a health/fitness journey to see if I can finally get to the place where I've always wanted to be.

Here is my take on this subject. Women are beautiful. No matter what shape, size, or chapter of their life they are in. Because most likely, women will go through many different versions of themselves and their bodies. Women's bodies go through so much and I think it's sad that it's not more understood or accepted by not just others, but US.
If you glance at my instagram and see the photo below, you might be inclined to think it was all easy for me. But I too had to put in a lot of hard work and eat good.

Below: top left is me 39 weeks pregnant with Scarlett, top right is me 2 1/2 months after Scarlett. Botton left is me at ONLY 36 weeks pregnant with Maxwell (could I get any bigger!?) and me 4 1/2 months after Maxwell.

I have been through many of those body chapters myself. When I was 24 I ate whatever I wanted, I worked out a lot because, quite frankly, I had no kids and I mountains of free time. I had rock hard abs, the perkiest butt and some toned legs to kill for. My body has always been somewhat of an athletic build. Very little curves. Then I got pregnant with Scarlett and I gained the best booty I think I ever had. I LOVED my body post-Scarlett. My boobs were fuller, my waist went back to the size it used to be almost instantaneously and I was really enjoying my curvy figure. A new mothers dream, right? I was a first time mother and learning to multi-task life with a new baby. Working out took a back seat for a bit. And that was okay. I needed that time to figure it all out. Shortly after that I lost a lot of weight- probably due to breastfeeding, and of course the curvy figure started to dissipate. I became a very skinny girl despite the fact that I ate everything in sight. Good-bye curves.

You see, it's always been hard for me to gain weight. I've heard it a hundred times...."Oh, such a problem. Must be nice to have a problem like that." Well, if you are saying that, it's most likely because you've never had that problem. It's not all it's cracked up to be. In the same breath, it is similar to struggling with losing weight.  I would eat and eat and still I was as thin as a rail. I would force myself to eat even when I wasn't hungry just so I could try to maintain my weight. Not to mention if I worked out....the wind would take me away!

About 1-2 years after Scarlett was born, my hormones must have settled or maybe weaning had something to do with it, but I was able to eat normal and gain a little bit of weight, bringing me back to pre-baby weight. I started working out and got in pretty good shape. But I was never 100% where I wanted to be. I still wanted to have a little more weight on; a few more curves. I just didn't know HOW to do that. Mostly I would just do work out videos at home or a group fitness class.

Then, Maxwell came along and good Lord, that boy made me hungry 24/7.  I gained weight with him like I had always dreamt of. Of course, the grass is always greener, right? I got to a point where I couldn't even fit in my maternity jeans and I thought, I gotta slow down on this eating thing. This was a chapter that I had never experienced before. I worked out religiously with this pregnancy and it proved to me that every pregnancy is different. Not all pregnancies are as easy as my first was. I struggled to stay fit throughout my Maxwell pregnancy despite working out and loading up on mostly all good foods. After I had him, the weight took awhile to come off. It didn't slip away as it seemed to after I had Scarlett. But I was okay with that as well. I never beat myself up about it. I did what I could to work out and I made sure that I ate a lot. Breastfeeding was really hard to keep up with. I had to think about the nutrition I was eating all the time. I couldn't eat enough and Maxwell nursed double what Scarlett ever did! Then, about a year 1/2 after Maxwell was born, as he weaned and I started to go back to my normal weight, my skin began to sag, my muscle became invisible, and my butt? Where the hell did that go!? I ramped up on working out and I found myself getting in shape again.

Below is me at at 39 weeks pregnant and then me 2-3 months post Maxwell. 

So now, almost 1 1/2 years after Maxwell, I started this mission to be the "chapter" of myself that I've always wanted to be. A healthy, toned and fit me. I'm not just doing this for looks, although, that IS a big part and there's no reason to deny that. Every girl likes to feel her best no matter what her idea of attractive is. But I'm also doing this because it's my BIG goal and I want to feel healthy. I've been following a plan that I found through social media and I really liked it. However, I've had to alter quite a bit because I can't eat the same way that someone would who is trying to lose weight. I also needed to change up some of the workout routines that they gave me because I know what I am looking for as far as results. For me, my goals are to build a booty, tighten the skin in my stomach and leg area and overall gain tone. This is where a lot of these diets, work-out plans and fitness regimes go wrong...not one person is alike and what works for one, isn't going to work for another. And so I started this quest to find the best method for me. I combined advice from a trainer, a workout program and things that have personally worked for me, to make a plan that I could be confident in. My thought as I started this was merely just to help myself. But after seeing results in just 2 weeks, I started to think about sharing it.  It's no doubt that I have found things that work for me and things that are useless.  I sat down one day and thought, wow, I've really tried so many different routines and workouts, I should really put this all together and share it. So that is what I've been up to in my free time. Blogging isn't as frequent, social media is quiet...but I can assure you that when I'm done with this, it will be worth it for myself and maybe for someone else too. ;) The great thing about what I'm doing is, it's interchangeable according to what you want for results. AND it isn't so severe that you can never indulge. I've had more people ask me for my workout routine or how I stay in shape, than any other question ever in my history of blogging. You can read my first two pregnancy posts on staying fit the first time HERE and after the second baby HERE. 


 Although I've been working out for very long time, I started this dedicated & strategic process just over 3 weeks ago and I'm not quite ready to give all the details yet because, well,  they are simply not ready. I need to go through the 12 week process and put everything together as I go so that I'm confident it works and that it is valuable. I still plan on sharing my progress and a little of the plan along the way. The FULL workout details will be put together for you at the end. But stop back by to see posts every now and then on progress and maybe a photo/video or two.

Below....on the left is me after Christmas & holidays, eating whatever I want and drinking too much, on the right is me 2 weeks after starting my workout routine and eating better....I was really pleased with the definition I've gained in my butt/leg area in only 2 weeks.