Well alright then. Do you wanna know what's humbling? Taking some "before" pictures before beginning a workout/eating program.
Over a year ago I started making small changes, that turned into big changes, and I was succeeding! I was eating better, working out in a balanced way and I was seeing results. Then Oct 2014, about a year into it, I went back to work. I get into really bad habits when I work. I don't eat well, I skip breakfast, I drink more soda. I had to make some changes to how and when I worked out, and then I stopped strength training too. With all of that, I lost sight of where I was headed.
I finally made a decision, with my husband, to try and turn it all back around. After hearing a lot of people talk about their success with the 21 day fix from Beachbody, I started looking at it a little more carefully. I thought it was just another one of those gimmicks...lose weight by cutting out foods and working out a ton! We randomly ended up watching an info-mercial about it one day a couple weeks ago and made the decision to go ahead and purchase the kit. It seemed pretty legit, but I still wasn't sure.....I figured there was still some major calorie cutting that was gonna happen and I was anxious, but I was assured I could still run while doing it, so it couldn't be too bad, right?
When everything came in the mail I opened it up and flipped through the book. To my surprise, it wasn't cutting out foods. At least not real foods. I'm still going to get to eat. A lot. It's essentially a kick starter back into eating clean! Well this I can handle. That's what I was doing before, but this is supposed to help with better portion control as well.
As with everything, I'm a bit of a skeptic. But the fact that this was working for me in the first place gives me high hopes that I'll get back to where I was before and help keep me on track better with the support of my husband and the accountability to a group and coach.
But that brings me back to those infamous before pictures. The first thing I did after I had my husband take them was think, ugh, gross. Look at my stomach, look how I stand, my arms....
I believe in the power of taking a before picture, it helps to monitor progress so well, but in that moment I (we) have to remember to love ourselves through the process. I am a mom. My body carried three beautiful, and gigantic, babies. I have a lot of responsibilities, I don't get very much or very good sleep. I haven't always taken great care of myself since having them, but I'm trying, in my imperfect way, to do so now. I'm stronger than I was about a year and half ago, and with proper nutrition, and balanced exercise, I can be stronger in 2015 than I was in 2014. It's not a race, it's a learning process, and I will relearn it as many times as I need to in order to stay healthy and strong. But through it all, I will do my best to remember to love myself.
Pictures found on Pinterest, two link here and here, but the other one goes to a private blog so I can't link it back.
