I’ve worked out on and off for most of my adult life. I was never the kid who liked gym days in school and was never much into dance or team sports but in the seventh grade I became a cheerleader and finally found something active that I loved doing. In high school I had a cheerleading coach who was also very into fitness so during our summer half day practices we’d do The Firm body sculpting workouts. They were hilariously dated but extremely effective and ignited my passion for aerobics type workouts.
Fast forward about ten years and I found myself in the position that many brides are in, how do I get into phenomenal shape for my big day? Luckily being the engaged and childless lady that I was I had all of the time in the world, even if it didn’t seem like it at the time – hindsight, am I right? Ken and I both started on P90X and while I liked it the workouts didn’t excite me. Instead I turned to my boyfriend Shaun T. and did two rounds of the Insanity workout that I’m sure you’ve seen on an infomercial late one night or early one morning. The workouts were insane for lack of a better word and they totally transformed my body. I felt amazing!
The wedding came and went and my workout frequency certainly was reduced after I became a Mrs. I got pregnant with Annabelle about eight months after our wedding so I was still in decent enough shape to workout during my pregnancy. I did this workout nearly everyday during those nine months. If you’re expecting or find yourself in the market for a prenatal workout I highly recommend it! As I’m sure a lot of moms can relate, after Annabelle was born I never fully got back into a consistent workout routine. Between working a full time job outside of the house, wanting to spend as much time with Annabelle as possible, and within the last year this blog, I just haven’t been able to find the time. That, combined with my type-A personality that wants to do something 100% or not at all has not set me up for success. So this year, I’m taking a different approach. Here are three ways I’m changing up my mentality to make 2017 different.
1.Everyday is Monday. I love a routine. But as a mom life can be very unpredictable. As much as I plan to wake up and go to the gym every morning at 5:15 I have a toddler sleeping a few doors down who might make that nearly impossible some days. In the past I’ve struggled with getting off track for an entire week if I can’t fit a workout in on Monday or Tuesday. But why should I throw away an entire week just because of a day or two? So this year every day is a fresh start. Take that, Monday.
2. Progress, not perfection. Because I have a history with fitness there were times in my life where I could run miles at a time or do thirty {real} push-ups in a row. It’s easy to get frustrated in a group fitness class when I’m doing less than the fifty year old woman next to me {true story} but her kids are probably grown and out of the house and so she works out everyday and has earned those extra barbell squats. I’ll get there too but the important thing is that I’m trying.
3. Weights matter but weight doesn’t. I’m the person that gets hyper focused on the number on the scale. Ken constantly has to remind me that how much you weigh really means nothing, it’s about muscle. I absolutely realize the truth to that – I weigh the same now as I did before I got pregnant with Annabelle but inches wise am definitely bigger than I was back then. So instead of doing strictly cardio, which is familiar and comfortable for me, I’m going to focus my time on strength training. I do love spinning and the occasional treadmill workout but more often than not I’m going to work on building my muscle tone so that I can get more lean. And throw away my scale.
So what are my workouts going to look like? As often as I can I’m going to participate in the aerobics boot camp class at the gym we belong to. They offer an early morning {5:45am} class which is brutal especially in the winter when it’s cold and dark out but is really the only time I can get a workout in during the week. They also have a spinning class at the same time, so I’ll probably alternate those based on how I’m feeling that day or week. I also recently found this weight training workout for beginners that I’m excited to try just as soon as I can give myself a pep talk to hit the free weight area. Is anyone else intimidated there? When I can’t get to the gym I’m going to try and do something like this. Instead of just pinning workouts once in a while I should actually try them!
Do you have any fitness goals for the new year? I’d love to hear!
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