Sooo ladies! I’m here to be completely transparent about my body and how I’ve had to adjust from all sorts of body shapes and lifestyle changes to another.
October 2017 was the last documented ab-pic I had in my phone. I think I maintained that lean/muscular physique until about December of that year… and then it all went down hill from there… 🤷🏻♀️
I became [way] more lenient on my diet, and I quit working out consistently. Life was super busy & difficult at that time because we were in the middle of building our house, and I was working my tail off to save money for closing costs. I was working between 60-72 hours a week, with those long & grueling nursing shifts — during a winter that was CRAZY with the flu, and people were the sickest I’ve ever seen!! So naturally, I was too exhausted to remotely stick to any kind of routine.. and it showed 😩😩
Fast forward a few months to after we closed on our house in April of 2018. Life was slowing down & getting back to “normal”. I had a little promotion and department change at the hospital in May.. and I was like “ok I’m finally gonna get my life back together now”. 🙏🏼
And then BAM! I get pregnant!! 🤰🏻😅 Everything made me nauseous, and my diet basically consisted of corn dogs, peanut butter crackers, hot tea, and ramen. I tried eating healthy, but my body was not having it. Salads and anything green made me nauseous, the smell of coffee made me sick to my stomach, and protein shakes?? Forget about it. The thought of anything sweet, milky, and creamy literally made my mouth start to salivate!! 🤢 Ice cream included. And I had no clue that growing a human was so exhausting because come midday EVERY day, I would be tired to the point of literally almost fainting!! Soooo along with a poor diet, I ALSO didn’t have energy for the gym!!
The end of August 2018 was the last time I had taken a photo of my preggo belly before our baby boy was called to heaven. Oh how I loved that baby/bump!! 😍 But of course, after we delivered Noah.. I had to let myself recover — physically and emotionally. My body recovered fairly quickly, and I felt back to “normal” after about a week. But I was still cautious and took it easy for a couple months. I slowly started to get back into the gym around November, BUT I still wasn’t on track with my eating habits. Afterall, I had tasted “freedom” for basically a year.. and for those of y’all who know me personally, y’all know I love ALL the foods 😅😅 So I continued to stuff my face and eat junk through the holidays… lol.
Then, January 2019 came around & my hubby and I decided to SERIOUSLY get back on board with our health and fitness. So I snapped a gross photo of myself to keep as a baseline and motivation, and put my butt back to work!!!
In the last month, I’ve stayed on track during the week and have allowed myself to enjoy life & food on the weekends (still somewhat in moderation, though). I’ve been to the gym consistently; hitting all the body parts each week. And I’m only doing moderate amounts of cardio—nothing crazy. With this current regimen, I’d have to say that I feel pretty great! I’ve noticed that my strength is slowly starting to build up again, my muscles are coming out of hiding again (lol), and my fat is slowly shredding off of my body!!
I’m by no means where I wanna be (see October 2017, or even August 2018 🤰🏻) but I’m feeling good and I’m happy about the progress I’ve made in just one month’s time!! What I’m praying for the most is to be pregnant again.. but until it’s God’s time for us to receive another blessing of a baby, I’ll just get my body into the best shape I possibly can!! So I can BE healthier and STAY healthy whenever I get to carry a baby in my belly again!
So don’t give up, y’all. No matter what stage you’re at with your body, there’s always something you can do to change it. And it’s not about changing your appearance, but more so to change whatever makes you feel uncomfortable and get your body HEALTHY so you can enjoy the life that God has blessed you with!!
And just know that God made us to be resilient beings, and that any hardships we endure are just training courses that God throws our way to mold us into stronger and better people FOR HIS KINGDOM!! ❤️🙏🏼
“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” — 3 John 1:2
Noah’s Ray of Sunshine 