It's More than Vanity

Commitment means staying loyal to what you said you were going to do long after the mood you said it in has left you  –Unknown

This quote has applied to my life in so many ways.  I use it all the time when I need to be motivated to do something that I know will be a challenge.

For about the past 2 months or so I have been lacking the motivation to eat healthy and exercise.  I recently decided that I could no longer continue down this path.

In the beginning when I tried to lose weight after having my twins, the weight fell right off and within three months I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  This took very little effort on my part.  I did not implement a very healthy diet and I had not begun an exercise regimen.  I owe my initial post partum weight loss to nursing.  I thought to myself this is fantastic, all I have to do is nurse my babies and I’ll keep losing the weight.  Well…. it has not been working out that way, eventually the scale slowly started creeping back up and I knew that I had to do something before things got out of hand.

During the time I have been in the “rut” of not losing weight I caught myself saying “I wish there was a wedding, or some sort of an event to motivate me to lose weight.”  At this moment, I knew that it was time to do something.  I could no longer just want to lose weight to look a certain way.  I could no longer just want to lose weight to show people that I am still fit and haven’t “lost” it.  I had to lose the weight for ME.

I knew that this weight loss journey had to be bigger than just vanity; it had to be way more than that for this to be successful.  I began to reflect and think about why I truly wanted to lose weight to get focused.

1. My Health

I wanted to make sure I am healthy not only for myself, but also for my husband and my twins.  My husband counts on me to be his helpmate and my twins count on me to be there for them.  I realized that if I am unhealthy, I would not be able to meet the expectations of the three people that depend on me.  I could not let them down, I had to get focused and stay focused. 

2. Role Model for my Daughter

Growing up I would always hear the women around me discussing how they wanted to lose weight, looked fat or saying something did not fit right because of what they believed to be a flaw on their body. 

I want my daughter to grow up to have a positive body image.   I can’t help and guide my daughter to have a healthy body image if I am constantly criticizing mine.

3. It Is Not Just About Me Anymore

I am a mother of 7-month-old twins.  This is my biggest responsibility and if I can’t get healthy for them, then I will never get healthy.  This is a harsh reality that I had to face.   I have been struggling with “yo-yo” dieting for years.  I get to a number on a scale that I think is a little to high and then I decide to diet and exercise like crazy to get back into shape. The realization that if I can’t get healthy for my children I will not get healthy was a huge wake up call to me.   If they could not get me motivated, nothing would. This is exactly what I needed to get me motivated to take control of my health and fitness again. 

4.  I Never Wanted To Feel This Way Again

Since I became pregnant, my body has changed a lot.  Since I have given birth to my twins my body has changed a lot.  Needless to say, my body has gone through A LOT over the past 16 months.  There have been times post partum that I have looked in the mirror and not liked what was physically looking back at me.  At that moment I decided that I never wanted to feel like that again, so I changed.

Pre-pregnancy

7 months pregnant with twins

5.  Taking Care of Myself First

I have quickly learned that it is very easy to get lost in taking care of everyone else around me and spending very little time taking care of myself and my needs.

My struggle has been with everything going on around me, how will I possibly find time to workout and do the things that I need to do that makes me feel great.

I am a firm believer that I can do anything that I put my mind to.  So, I had to find time to workout and meal prep. 

If you know me, you know that I am in love with sleep.  Sleep is seriously a hobby for me.  I knew that I was going to have to give up one of the things I love so much, so I can become the woman that I want to be for my family.

6 weeks postpartum

I hope you enjoy watching my transformation and I hope it inspires other women to believe that can also do anything that they put their mind to also.

XOXO

Katrina