9 Months Postpartum

Let's get personal & physical! 
You know that I'm pretty open about almost everything, sometimes a little too open. Oops! Sorry for wanting to keep it real over here! 

Anywhoo, I've been getting a lot of questions about my workout routine, diet, etc. soooo here it is! And what better time to share it, than on my ninth month in & out!  

Before I get into my health routine for the past nine months can we just take a moment to talk about how in the heck did 9 months fly past us! Im so sad that our little lady has grown sooo fast! It seems way faster than with my first two. Maybe because my older boys keep us so busy that we hardly get time to slow down and soak up this little squishy one. Since she is our last baby I was determined to take a 9 months in & 9 months out photo. Especially since I've been busting my butt trying to drop the baby weight before we go to Hawaii in August. It has not been easy, I am nowhere near done. I checked into the hospital at 170lbs, came home at 157lbs, and stopped weighing myself at 137lbs -which was a few months ago. Im pretty content with the weight drop so I don't feel that its important to keep checking the scale, I'm now focusing on toning. I struggle everyday with eating the right things, working out, or just getting dressed to exercise. But here are some of the things that have helped me with my journey and maybe they can help you... (and please share what has helped you on your journey, Lord knows I need all the help I can get!)

9 months in - 9 months out *unedited (my belly is naturally pixelated now! lol)

WORKOUT
Six weeks after I had my baby girl I tried the tracy anderson's post pregnancy workout dvd. The first week I couldn't even do one sit up! Not one! My abs were gone! POOF! Nothing! But I kept at it and only did what I could. I gradually started getting a little stronger. Then I decided I was ready to switch over to my old friend, Bikini Body Guide (aka BBG), at around 4 months postpartum and it has helped so much. I did BBG before I was pregnant and I saw great results from it, so its become my old trusty workout routine! The daily transformations that they post on instagram has definitely kept me motivated. I love this routine because its only a 30 minute workout, 3 times a week, and it constantly changes. I'm not going to lie, its pretty tough, but totally do-able. I  still have to do modified versions of some of the workouts. Someone said "A crappy workout is better than no workout at all". I hope thats true because Ive been living by this motto on the days that I feel crappy, which seems to happen on every workout day! HA! I started the 12 week program and fell off around 8 weeks because my friend had passed away and I got into a deep funk. Then life kept hitting us hard and it felt like waves were just crashing down on us and I couldn't catch a breath! Does that ever happen to you? Finally when things started to settle down a bit I decided to start back from week 1. I was determined to complete the 12 week program this time, no matter what!  It's been a exhausting 3 months but Im beyond proud that I actually COMPLETED it!!! High five! The results wasn't as big as I had hoped or seen online, but I also wasn't being consistent with my diet either. Even so, I feel stronger than I've ever felt - I still can't do a regular pushup to save my life but I definitely feel muscles building where they NEVER were before! And I feel that there is a six pack hiding under the loose skin on my mama pouch. I used to be so embarrassed of my loose skin and stretch marks, but after carrying 3 healthy babes, I feel like I've earned my stripes haha. I'm slowly learning to embrace it, because lets face it, they aren't going anywhere. I'm not sure if its possible for me to get a completely tight toned tummy after being stretched to its full capacity three times, BUT I'm not ready to give up trying. I also struggle with cellulite, girrrllll let me tell you! I try to avoid sitting when I have shorts on hahah! So the last couple of weeks I've been adding jogging to my routine on the days between my bbg workouts. I hope it starts helping, like soon! I hear stretch marks and cellulite are genetic, so I may be a lost cause, but still... I'll keep trying. 

DIET
I don't want to diet, instead I'm trying to make healthy lifestyle changes. Little by little Im dropping the things that I used to love that were holding me back from the changes that I want. Like SODA!!! That was the hardest thing to drop. After failing many times, I changed my thinking. I challenged myself that I needed to drink more water -which I did! So whenever I'm offered a drink "I choose Water"!!! This has helped! I think when we tell ourselves that we "Cant" have something, we want it more. So instead of saying no to carbs, Im saying "I need more vegetables in my life". No donuts, has turned into "your allowed a bite"! Its a struggle. I'm not perfect, and I have accepted that. This is a long term lifestyle change and I have finally accepted that there are no quick fixes that are going to work for me (trust me, I already tried them all). I try to follow the 80/20 rule. But let me tell you, on the days that I eat whatever junk food that I want, I can totally see it on my body within hours! Its insane! The pizza immediately bloats me! 

Anyway thats my journey, nothing fancy. Feel free to ask any questions you have. And please share anything that has helped you :) I'm always down for self improvement. 

sorry for the crappy phone pics