Fitness?!

*Viewer discretion is advised*

Haha just kidding... but really, there's a lot of photos of my body. 

A body that isn't perfect...[but is there really a "perfect" body?]

A body with extra skin & fat, rolls, cellulite, and stretch marks. 

This is real my friends. 

My real.

Over the years, I've gone from hating, to loving my body, in a serious way. A couple years ago, I decided that enough was enough and that I needed to invest more time & effort into my body and my overall health in general. I went from being really overweight, depressed & angry, to a much healthier & happier me. Over the course of maybe 2 years, I lost 50 lbs. It sounds like a slow process, as I know people can lose 50 lbs in much less time then 2 years, but I wasn't in a rush. I didn't want to force anything or put any restrictions on myself. I didn't want to follow any kind of plan or diet. I wanted to do things my way, at my own pace. I knew that I had to do it this way, or I would give up & go back to my old unhealthy lifestyle, and we all know how having to start over feels. 

Well, maybe not "all", but I know there's some of you out there who feel me!

This was me back in July 2012, at probably the peak of my heaviest weight! I was so unhealthy and incredibly unhappy at this point in my life... Although I do look quite happy here don't I? 

This was my body in April 2014, approximately 2 months before I got pregnant. I can honestly say this was the first time in my life that I was completely confident with my body. I only grew more proud, because my body would soon become the home for my growing baby!

Here I am at 29 weeks! Feeling more confident than ever before!

This is me at 41 weeks pregnant. March 29th, 2015. The day before I gave birth to my son! 

I gained a good 60 lbs! That's 10 lbs more then the heaviest weight I had ever been [the first photo I posted]! 

The top set of photos [black leggings] is a month later, April 29th.

Bottom set [red shorts] is another month after that, May 27th.

As much as I want to say that I've been healthy and active during pregnancy and postpartum, I cannot. That would be a liiiiieee!
I'm not happy about it. I'm not saying it was a good idea. Things happen. 

The good news is, it's never too late to change!

The most activity I get done, is going for a walk every day [when it's not pouring rain] with Hunter [my 2 month old baby, for those of you who don't know who Hunter is :)].
I've been thinking a lot lately how I would like to start some easy workouts again, along with walking every day. Before, when I would whip up a little work out for myself, I really enjoyed it! I enjoyed the whole process of searching for target area workouts, and getting to do them later that night. It was fun to notice how much stronger I was getting as the weeks went by! Plus, I mostly used my own body weight in the beginning for a lot of them, which is convenient for me right now!

So this is where I'm at. At the beginning of a new fitness journey. I plan to do exactly what I did 2 years ago when I started my first fitness journey. I plan to ease into it. It's a lot different now that I have a 2 month old who needs entertainment, breastfeeds and can't go to sleep on his own! So that's going to be interesting.. Haha! 

I also need to try focus on making healthier choices in the food department. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like snacks & treats! I was obsessed with Creme Eggs during my pregnancy... Needless to say, that craving didn't go away. I still love Creme Eggs! Anyway, pre-pregnancy, I found that having the mindset of "adding more good foods in, so there's less room for the bad stuff" really helped me stay on track, for the most part. I would feel the need to snack so often, so I made sure I had good, healthy snacks on hand. I really ate ALL the time & still lost weight! 

Another thing I'm going to try to improve on is drinking more water! I drink a couple huge glasses in a day, but I really want to up that amount. I'm breastfeeding, so that's another reason I want to get more water in me. I feel like I'm not drinking enough, but I really just forget about it all the time! I need to get a water bottle or something. I would definitely drink more if I could bring it with me in the car or outside. 

I don't think "get my body back" is an accurate statement, because my body hasn't gone anywhere. It grew a baby for 41 weeks. It has changed for sure! But it didn't go anywhere. I'm just going to try to make more healthy choices because my body deserves it.

Plus, how good does it feel when you have just ran a couple km, ate a healthy, energizing snack & drank a homemade fresh juice? Mmm, so good.
I remember when I "became" a runner. Oh the feels <3 I love running. 

.......

Just fyi, it's going to take me awhile to get back to running.... Let's not get crazy here ;)