Finding a Balance in my life with Motherhood and Fitness

Hi friends, it’s been a little while since I’ve made any additions to my journal entries. Since having my first daughter I have been MIA in all things posting/updating/getting content out there, i.e why I am writing this journal post! I didn’t really fall off the wagon myself, but I also kind of lost how to handle my passions outside of motherhood.

Obviously I am no expert on how to balance motherhood with keeping your own healthy lifestyle in check but I am starting to figure it out and thought why not share my journey with all of you?! After my daughter I got back to at home workouts around 5 weeks, mainly stretching movements and core but I was determined to get back to my “old” self. If only I could go back and tell myself now once you have kids there’s no going “back.” It’s about adapting and becoming a new version of yourself because your kids change you, not just physically but in all aspects of your life and I’m figuring out it’s how you handle these changes that will determine how happy you’ll be day to day. After having my daughter I knew I was meant to be a mother, but I also lost the freedom of getting to leave and work the job I wanted so I’ve been struggling with how to move forward as a trainer. To be honest, my career has pretty much taken a stand still for a lot of reasons, one being not having feasible access to take a job that leaves the house, but also I've gotten into full time mom mode and put aside pretty much everything else over the last year and a half. Fast forward to literally a week ago, as I’m sitting here pregnant with my second on the way, realizing how much more busy my mom life is about to get, I found myself longing to work. Not necessarily going out to a job, but actively making a difference in the fitness world again, writing programs, talking about food, talking with people about fitness, everything that I’ve neglected since giving birth.

So here I am writing this journal post out of accountability to myself to start filling my cup with not just things about motherhood, but parts of myself that I lost on the way. This in no way makes me less of a mother, which I think often comes to a lot of mothers' minds, thinking they can’t be just as present or accessible to their kids but I’ve come to realize it’s probably the exact opposite. The more I start getting my groove again with my passions, the happier all around I’ll be which in turn will make me happier to be around more at home. My future goal will be to get back to physically working with clients and those wanting to change their lifestyles in person, but for now I’m making it a goal to make my presence helpful online again, even if it helps one person, I know I will feel great about it. In turn I want to be an example to my family, especially my two daughters of what it is to truly live a healthy lifestyle outside of fitness and nutrition, to live out your passions in life.

As of right now how I’m tackling my own healthy lifestyle is setting realistic goals/expectations which I think is really important. I’m getting bigger with pregnancy and more uncomfortable, so my goal is lifting 3-4 times a week and hopefully getting walking in daily. I am trying to not be hard on myself mentally if I don’t get there all those days but by staying as consistent and as positive as possible, it has helped me maintain a good amount of muscle mass. Working with my husband Josh on dinner ideas at the start of the week has also been so helpful with having home cooked meals planned for me to make instead of me giving in to “cravings” constantly and resorting to eating out! Motherhood/parenthood is constantly trying to figure out what works best for you and it will often change, but what I am realizing is if you embrace the change that’s happened to you and learn to adapt, that’s when you will truly start feeling like your full happy self again!