Since getting pregnant and giving birth to my son nearly two years ago, my body has gone through some pretty drastic changes. During my pregnancy I gained around 30 pounds, which wasn't too bad; however, I wasn't exactly a healthy weight prior to getting pregnant, so adding 30 pounds on top of that was, well, not so great...you get the picture...
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| One month prior to getting pregnant...dresses hide a lot, but seriously, look at those arms... |
So anyways, I was overweight and knew that I needed to make a change, but then I got pregnant...Now I know what you're thinking, that isn't an excuse, and you're right. It isn't an excuse, or not a good one atleast. But at the time I told myself that I was pregnant and I was going to gain weight anyways so why bother trying to get into shape now. I told myself that after I had the baby I would lose the weight and get into shape...the best laid plans, right?
So my pregnancy progressed...I gained 30 pounds...yadda, yadda, yadda...
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| 38 weeks pregnant...Ryder was born less than a week after this was taken...notice the super baggy pants... |
On May 22, 2011, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Ryder David Munsterman. He was the most amazing thing I had ever laid eyes on, and totally worth the 30 pound weight gain! I made the decision to breastfeed Ryder and within weeks the weight was falling off...literally. At my 8 week follow-up appointment I had lost more than the 30 pounds that I gained during my pregnancy...Wow! This breastfeeding thing was AWESOME!
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| 8 weeks after giving birth to Ryder Roo...feeling pretty confident here, although that may have been the exhaustion... |
As the first year of Ryder's life passed by, I continued to lose weight which was 100% because of breastfeeding. I think I only set foot in the gym a handful of times in that entire year...and sure I would go in spurts where I would do Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred for like 10 days, but no matter what I started, I always quit...I was losing weight from breastfeeding so why would I need to do anything else? I had convinced myself that the weight I lost from breastfeeding would be a permanent loss. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that I knew that it wouldn't be, but again, I didn't care enough about me...
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| Ryder's first birthday party - May 18, 2012 (wearing size 2s/4s at this point)...still breastfeeding... |
By the time Ryder's first birthday rolled around I was the smalled I'd been in YEARS! I officially weighed 30 pounds less than when I got pregnant and was fitting into size 2s and 4s. I felt and looked great...with clothes on that is, underneath the clothes it still wasn't that pretty, I was one of those fat, skinny girls, you know the girls who are thin but have no tone to their boy, yeah, I was one of those...but I was still the thinnest I'd been, probably since high school. I knew that my days of breastfeeding would be soon coming to an end. Looking back on it now, I wish that I was still doing it...I kid, I kid...kind of. I knew that deciding to stop breastfeeding would most likely lead to some degree of weight gain, but I was determined to maintain that weight. Here's the problem, I didn't really do anything to accomplish that goal. Sure I would do 10 days of the 30 Day Shred here and there, but I never stuck to any program or plan. As the next few months passed by I started to gain back weight, little by little, and before I knew it I was only 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight again. WHAT THE HELL? I even tried Weight Watchers for a period and managed to lose 7 pounds in the first month...that I quickly gained back over the holidays...I continued using weight watchers until earlier this month and did not lose a single pound. Now don't get me wrong, I know that weight watchers works, I've seen it work for people I know. In fact, one of my co-workers has lost over 30 pounds since doing it, so this isn't me bashing weight watchers. I'm just saying that it didn't work for me. And I think that the reason it didn't work is because I didn't really need to modify my diet that much. I tend to eat fairly healthy. What I really need to do is get my big butt moving!
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| Christmas 2012 |
As the first of the year...can you believe it's already 2013...I knew it was time to make a change. It was time to start putting ME first insted of last. I was so concerned with making everyone else happy, but what about me? When was it going to be my time to be happy. More importantly, I needed to be healthy for my adorable little boy. I want to be a good role model for him. I want to encourage him to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. I don't want him to grow up with a mom who is a couch-potato. And most importantly I want to teach him that loving yourself is the most important thing. Do I love myself? NO! Do I even like myself most day? NO! In fact, most days I HATE myself. I hate what I've let myself become. I hate that I have let myself go to the point where I hate myself. I want to learn to love myself. I deserve to love myself. And as shallow as it sounds, I know that I won't love myself until I finally lose weight, get in shape, and look/feel better.
I made a decision to start using
Beach Body. They are the geniuses behind workouts like P90X and Insanity and a little gem I have chosen called
Turbo Fire. It is a high intensity interval training style workout that combines aerobics and kick boxing, and it is
FUN! It has also been scientifically proven to burn 9x more fat than traditional cariovascular exercises. To help improve my chances of improvement I am also taking once daily meal replacement shakes. These are also from Beach Body and are called
Shakeology. I take one Shakeology shake every morning in place of breakfast and so far...I'm only on day 4...I have been amazed at how much my cravings have decreased. I no longer want to snack all day long. The shakes are also designed to improve digestive health and regularity, and they are loaded with protein and all other sorts of good for you things. I'm happy to say that I'm feeling the effects on my digestive system already, too! So far, Beach Body and Shakeology get 2 big thumbs up from this busy, working mom.
So, the journey starts now. I will lose weight. I will get in shape. And I will learn to love myself...It's about time! I know that it will be a long journey. I know that results don't and won't come overnight. I know that what I need to do is make a lifestyle change. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to be blogging throughout the entire process of my transformation with a goal of inspiring others to make a change. Please contact me with any questions about my workouts, Shakeology, or Beach Body in general...I may even become a coach/distributor...that's how much I believe in these products! I want to thank you all for joining me in this journey, and I hope that you can all gain something from this blog. Much Love - Danielle
