Well, as most of you know by now, I love working out. But I didn't always love it. Before I had kids, I HATED exercising. I thought it was the worst thing in the world. But, I also had an extra bone in my foot by my ankle that caused so many problems and it hurt to even walk 10 feet. I got that removed 6 years ago when Max was a baby (okay, he was 1. but that's still a baby. 😉 haha) and I could finally enjoy doing things without it hurting. I was doing fine with working out at home but I still wasn't enjoying it. I would get super lazy and I just hated it. Over 4 years ago when Hazel was 7 months old Daniel asked if I wanted to get a gym membership. I hesistated a little and thought he was crazy for even asking that question... haha why would I go and work out there when I wasn't even enjoying it at home.
I got the gym membership and it took me a week to go back and actually do a workout. I didn't know what I was doing, and I just walked around a little bit and just went on machines but I kept going back. When I first started I went at bedtime when my kids went to sleep. I turned on Youtube and found a person to workout with there. That was fun and it seems crazy that I did that when I definitely could use youtube at home, but I was enjoying my me time without kids interrupting me every 5 seconds. 😉🤣 I started to love working out.
The gym became my happy place but I was getting tired of going at night because I wasn't able to hang out with Daniel so much, so I started going to the classes and the first class I went to was Insanity. I LOVED it. I thought it was so fun! So I did more classes and just fell in love with working out. I did classes and some days did my own thing from youtube.
A couple years later, my kids started school at different times then the classes at the gym so I wasn't able to go so I went after I dropped them off (Max went all day. Hazel still came with me. The kids area is amazing!) and I found Sydney Cummings on Youtube. I love her!! She is a certified personal trainer and posts a video every single day so I did that for awhile...
Then in March of this year... Covid19... the dang pandemic hit and the gyms had to close. I was so sad. I didn't know what I was going to do because I HATED working out at home. But, I knew my sanity needed it and I knew that if my kids needed a happy mom and my husband needed a happy wife then I needed to make myself workout at home. At first I hated it and I missed the gym but I kept doing it and started posting videos on facebook and then little by little I have people telling me that I am inspiring and awesome. I went back to the gym in June after 3 months and it felt so great to be back. But, the virus didn't seem to be slowing down and there were tons of people getting sick... So I made the hard decision to freeze my account for awhile and work out at home again. It sucks and it's not my favorite thing in the world but I'm doing it.
So far, I've talked about working out but I haven't mentioned the other part of losing weight... eating. I LOVE eating. I was eating all the time and I wasn't losing weight at all. A couple years ago I tried low carb and I hated every second of it. But I lost like 15ish pounds from that and I was excited but then Daniel had his stroke and I gained it all back and then some. I kept eating and eating and eating and then July 5th I got on the scale and realized that I was 10 pounds away from being at the weight at the end of both of my pregnancies. I was very unhealthy and I knew I needed to change and when I have said that I got too impatient and stopped eating great and gained weight again and then I kept repeating that over and over again but somehow on July 5th something clicked in my brain. I stopped eating all day, I started to drink a crap ton of water and when I do eat I eat less than I normally did. Here we are on September 5th and I've lost 15 pounds and my body has changed. I look in the mirror and am excited and happy with what I see instead of feeling crappy. Somedays I want to go back and eat all day but when I do I feel awful and wonder why I did that for a long time. haha I'm stronger and feel better when I don't stuff my face. haha I'm feeling so good and have made so much progress but I still have a ways to go and this time I'm being patient. :)
There are questions that have been asked from friends so I will answer those! :)
How do you keep your motivation up?/How do you stay motivated?:
-If I don't workout and make time for me, I get grouchy and my family does not like it when I'm grouchy. haha
What keeps you motivated to work out at home?:
-This one is kind of the same as the first question but since this virus hit I haven't been going to the gym like I mentioned. It's been hard but since I don't have the gym and my account is frozen then I have to work out somewhere and my sanity needs the endorphins and my kids and husband deserve a happy mom and wife.
How do you find the time and space to workout especially with kids at home?:
-Great question! I send my kids up to quiet time (and now that school is starting I will probably do it while they are at school) and do it then. They interrupt me sometimes and it's frustrating but I still get it done. My living room is small but that's where I do it.
How much water do you drink a day?:
I drink a gallon. Well sort of. haha I have a 25 ounce water bottle and fill it up 5 times so I drink 125 ounces every day. (a gallon is 128.)
When do you think you will be back at the gym?:
-Hopefully soon! But I'm not sure. I know this virus won't ever be gone but I'm hoping once it slows down a lot I will be back.
My excited face when I realized that I haven't eaten out, and started drinking more water and eating less that I was down 6 pounds in 10 days. :)
10 pounds down in a month!
It's pretty exciting seeing your body change!!
I can tell that I'm getting stronger when I can do a 2 minute plank instead of a 30 second one. haha
The next picture I haven't shown anyone except for my husband and one other person so I'm a little nervous... but here goes. eek It basically looks the same from January to July but you can definitely tell something is changing from July on and it makes me so excited!
I'm excited to see what happens when I keep going! 💗
