La Du It 2 It: A revamping....if you will.

Last March, I was desperate to lose the last 10 pounds (and hopefully a little more) that I had gained when I was pregnant with Kamden. He was 18 months old, I was still battling the baby bulge, and I felt helpless. I had been a pretty avid runner since I was in high school and had always found weight-loss success with running, but this time it was just not happening for me. Granted, I was eating like a frat boy but that’s neither here nor there. ;) Anyway, back in March I knew that I needed to do something different but I had no idea where to turn. I knew that I needed to clean up my eating (duh) but didn’t know where to start. Insert Marsha. She is the wife of an old boss I had that I was friends with on Facebook. I didn’t know her personally, but what I did know (because her hubs told me) was that she ran half marathons at like 8 months, about to pop, pregnant. I pretty much knew she was some sort of super-human when he told me that, but she definitely confirmed it by all her fitness and nutrition posts. From her posts, I gathered that she was a Beachbody Coach…. but I didn’t really know what that meant. After seeing her posts for a few months, I finally reached out to her by sending her a message on Facebook. I wanted to know what coaching was about in hopes that I could also lose the last of my baby weight. I figured if the coaching gig sounded doable it would be a great motivator for me to eat well and exercise because I would be a pretty crappy coach if I wasn’t doing those things. During our messages we decided to connect over the phone to chat more about coaching, so in the meantime I Googled the crap out of Beachbody coaching. I assumed it was too good to be true and looked for any red flag I could find. After 3 days of researching I did not find one bad thing about coaching. I was pretty shocked because 1) I am really good at Google, and 2) basically every job I have ever come across has at least 1 bad review. Going into the call with Marsha I had already made up my mind that I wanted to coach, but wanted to hear her out too. We talked for a bit, I decided to order the Less Mills Pump program and at the same time I signed up to be a Coach. I was nervous, excited, determined and just ready to make some changes.

The first week or so afterwards I didn’t do much with coaching. I received my program in the mail and was just focusing on starting that. After the first week of doing the Les Mills Pump program I was down 6 pounds. Let me repeat, 6 POUNDS!!!! I had been trying so hard the last 18 months to lose weight and on average would lose maybe 2-3 pounds in a month and with this program I doubled that in a week. I was shocked. It totally sold me on that program and clean eating and I was hooked. I thought to myself about how many other people out there were like me and just needed the right program, with the right guidance and in that moment I knew coaching was for me. I wanted to help and I was excited to help!

After a week of Les Mills Pump

Fast forward to today. As I am sitting here typing this, I am just about 18 weeks pregnant with baby #2. I have been coaching for just over 6 months and it’s the best decision I have ever made. I have been able to help so many people lose weight, get healthy, gain confidence, and overall feel good about themselves again. How cool is that!!?? In the meantime, I have also been able to make an extra income for my family, which is just icing on the cake.

The morning after I "popped"

When I got pregnant I was at the lowest weight I had been since before Bud and I got married. Since starting the Les Mills program I had lost a total of 15 pounds and 2 sizes. I was the most toned I had been since high school and I was feeling pretty awesome. A lot of people commented to me something like, “you did all that work only to get pregnant”….. well yes, but I have not given up my work outs and trying to eat healthy since I got pregnant, and honestly think that has made a HUGE difference in how I feel this go around. Not that I had a bad pregnancy with KB, but I just feel a lot healthier and have more energy this time. I have gained 4 pounds so far, which with KB I think I was up 8-10 by now (I gained 45 pounds with him). So, where do I go from here as a coach? I want to show women that just because you are pregnant does not mean that you have to give up on yourself and turn into a couch potato. We don’t have to eat a bunch of junk and we don’t get a free pass to do so! Yes, I think it’s okay to indulge every once in a while, pregnant or not, but I do think our eating habits can stay the same for the most part, pregnant or not…..which brings me to the title of this post….

I want to revamp this blog a bit as I embark on this next chapter of my life and focus the next 22 (give or take…hopefully take) weeks on staying active and healthy during pregnancy. I want to share what I will be doing for exercise and meals in hopes that I can inspire other pregnant mama’s in the meantime. I am going to be real with you and not sugar-coat anything because I know there will be ups and downs, but want to relate to you instead of looking like a pregnant robot. So with that said, be on the lookout for more posts from me! I have taken quite the hiatus these last however many months, but I am passionate about this and want to be a good example of what a healthy pregnancy looks like.