Everyone always talks about getting their body back after baby. Everyone wants to fit into their pre-baby jeans and get rid of their stretch marks as quickly as possible. This never made sense to me.
Why would you want to go back? I can never and will never get my pre-baby body back. The body before baby is gone. That body never housed a life. It had never stretched to accommodate a living thing. It had never grown a tiny human. It had never endured the pains of delivery and recovery. It had never produced milk for my baby to eat.
Why would I want to go back to a time before the greatest thing in my life? Why would I want my pre-baby body?
I love the body that nurtured and has cared for Sawyer. My skin has stretch marks because it had to stretch to make room for him. They are really only a testament to how small I was before.
Most of you know, I work in fitness. I have always been passionate about clean eating and working out, but when I got pregnant, everything changed. I was so sick during my first trimester, that I could only keep down dry carbs. That meant crackers, bagels, pasta with little to no sauce, potato chips, etc. When I was feeling up to eating a whole meal, I was so lethargic that I didn’t feel like preparing anything. So that meant, pizza, frozen dinners, and eating out.
This continued throughout my pregnancy. Once I was feeling a little better, I started making sure I was at least eating a balanced diet. I wanted to make sure I got enough fruits and veggies so the baby would be healthy so I made sure to incorporate more salads, lean meats and the like into my eating. However, whenever I craved something, I just ate it. I figured if I had to gain weight anyways, I might as well satisfy all my cravings!
After Sawyer was born I was in no rush to lose the baby weight. Turns out a lot of it was just bloat and swelling from the preeclampsia so I started noticing an improvement right away. I went in for a blood pressure check when Sawyer was 3 weeks old and had already lost 35 lbs. By my 6 week check-up I had lost another 5 lbs. All without lifting a finger. In fact, not only was I not working out at all, but I was probably eating worse than I was before. Having a newborn keeping me up all night, and being on unpaid maternity leave, means we ate whatever was easy and inexpensive. The microwave was our best friend and I knew I had breastfeeding to thank for my weight loss.
I’m glad I took my time. I needed time to stay in bed and bond with my baby. I needed time to focus on my family. I needed time to heal. I wasn’t allowed to exercise until I was cleared by my doctor anyways. I had to be careful with my c-section scar. I knew that when I was ready, I would get back into clean eating and working out.
When I went back to work, I started dabbling in taking Orangetheory Fitness classes again. I would do half a class here and there, making sure to take long breaks if I needed them (aka going to the bathroom in the middle of class and staying there for 15 minutes), and drinking tons of water. Kurtis and I started taking long walks with Sawyer and Bennett almost every night. Now that we had two incomes again, we started eating better. Not clean, but better. And I felt better. I didn’t do this because I wanted to drop the last 8 lbs I was holding on to. Or because I wanted desperately to get back into amazing shape. I did it because I wanted to be healthy.
Shortly after, I connected with Stefanie, a BeachBody coach. She sent me Shakeology samples and a meal plan for a week long challenge. After looking over the meal plan, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. It was strict and very clean! But I know myself. And I know that I need a jumpstart to get myself back on track. And this was just the thing I needed!
How the meal plan worked, was you ate 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. And 1 of your meals was a Shakeology. What’s great about a BeachBody coach is that they are there to answer your questions and help guide you and encourage you, they are always there for you to contact! So, I told Stefanie that I was breastfeeding and needed 300 more calories per day than average. She advised me to add on another snack to my meal plan. So for me, I was eating 3 meals and 3 snacks.
The first day, I just mixed some chocolate shakeology with almond milk and shook it up in my blender bottle. To my surprise, it was actually really good! I don’t like most meal replacement shakes, so I was shocked I liked it. The next day I started getting a little more creative and mixed a greenberry shakeology with unsweetened cranberry juice and berries in a blender. Boy, was that good! I was weary of the greenberry shake, but it was actually my favorite out of the three flavors I tried. My least favorite was strawberry.
I was surprised at how full I felt after my shakeology. I felt even fuller after shakeology than I did after my meals and snacks. And I had fun following the recipes and trying new ways to mix them!
On Sunday, before I started, I meal prepped. I cooked up a few chicken breast. Pre-mixed some salads, and bagged up baby carrots and low sodium lunch meats. On the days I worked, I had to plan ahead to make sure I had all my meals packed up for the work day
Sticking to the meal plan was rough. Not gonna lie, I was hungry and craving some chocolate cake! But just after a few days I noticed how much better I felt.
Stefanie also sent me at-home workouts I could do everyday. They were so nice to have to get a little exercise after Sawyer was asleep. They were great! And I was able to chat with Stefanie about my reservations with ab workouts due to my c section. She gave me modifications for these and advised me to just take it slow. I loved being able to come to her with anything and recieve encouragement! One day, I even took an Orangetheory class and did the workout Stefanie sent me. I was really feeling the burn that day!
By day 4 I had already lost a pound. After the week was over, I lost a total 1.5 lbs and was feeling so so much better. I had forgotten how much I genuinely enjoy meal prepping, working out, and eating better! It really helped get me back on the right track.
Now, I’m eating so much better, I’m taking Orangetheory classes more regularly, and I feel like my old self again. I definitely reccomend Stefanie to anyone looking to get back on track! Having a coach to offer you motivation and accountability is the key to your success!
I owe it to my family to be healthy. And there’s a big difference between being small and healthy. No part of me desires to go back to who I was before I was a mother. Being Sawyer’s mom is the best part about me. It’s the best job in the world, and I only have it because of what my body was able to do.
So, here’s to my new body. My healthy post baby body. My pre baby body is long gone and I don’t miss it. I love the body that gave me Sawyer so much more.
If you are interested in meal plans and BeachBody coaching please email coach Stefanie for more info at [email protected]. If you would like to order a Shakeology sample to try, you can do so here. (BeachBody is also having an awesome sale on a lot of their products, this month only, and you can check it out here!)
But wait! There’s more! Coach Stefanie and I have teamed up to bring you an awesome Shakeology giveaway so you can try some for yourself! Head over to my Instagram to enter.
Xoxo.
Disclaimer: I recieved these products and services in exchange for review but all opinions are my own
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