For those of you that follow me on snapchat, you’ve seen my new(ish) fitness routine and goals for getting my butt in shape. I’ve been determined to get in the best shape of my life before we get pregnant with baby #2. I felt so proud of what my body could do and create after giving birth to Charlie. I realized that the best thing I could do for my baby is be the healthiest and strongest version of myself and this has been the motivation behind my recent determination.
Before Dave and I got married, I religiously took barre classes at The Dailey Method (probably 5 times a week). I felt amazing at our wedding but after doing the same thing for 1.5 years my body kind of plateaued after giving birth to Charlie. I was having a hard time finding the motivation to switch up my routine and realized that I need someone to hold me accountable to see any changes.
I’ve never had the body type that is naturally thin. If I eat like shit for a weekend, I’m going to gain 5 pounds. My metabolism doesn’t work unless I make it work. I knew I needed to do something that really pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone. I decided to sign up for a trainer and I am so grateful that I did.
Signing up for a trainer is a commitment, both in time and money. It is expensive. But, it is the first thing I have solely done for myself since having a baby. It feels good to wake up early and do something for me. Our first session was a fitness test and it was a RUDE AWAKENING. Reducing body fat has been my biggest goal (my problem areas are my hips/thighs, stomach and arms) and on our first day I was in the POOR percentage and my weight 133. I left feeling pretty slothy and excited to set some goals.
My goal has been to lose 15 pounds and significantly decrease body fat. We do measurements every 6 weeks and within those first 6 weeks my goal was to lose 1.7% of my body fat. I’m now in the AVERAGE percentage (I called Dave and yelled I’m AVERAGE!). Erin (my trainer) put me on a schedule of 3 sessions per week, 2 days of cardio per week, 1 day of active recovery (yoga or walking) and 1 day off. I’ve been pretty regimented with this, especially with our sessions and cardio. I don’t usually make it to yoga so most weeks I either walk or take two days off. We just had our first assessment since starting and I was so excited with the results…
I lost 1 lb and 3% of my body weight!! The 1 lb loss is because I am gaining muscle but I could not be more excited about the loss of body fat (especially since the goal was 1.7%). I also lost 4 inches off of my abdomen and 1 inch off my thighs. It was even more motivation to keep doing what I’m doing! I wanted to share an example of what an average week looks like.
Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I work out with my trainer. 1 day is dedicated to lower body, 1 day is dedicated to upper body and 1 day is dedicated to butt and core. We also do 4/5 minutes of cardio circuits – either jump rope, the rower or the air dyne machine (death).
Monday, Wednesday, Friday – I do cardio two of these days. My trainer has me doing 30 minutes of intervals and I usually choose to do this on the stair master or elliptical. On the stair master (my personal favorite because I sweat so much!) I do level 6 which is 2 minutes on level 6, 2 minutes on level 10 alternating for 30 minutes. On the elliptical you do 1 minute at a pace where you can have a conversation but still feel resistance under your feet, 1 minute as hard and as fast as you can! Usually this is level 7 and level 12/13 for me.
I also bought the new Fitbit Alta which has been so much fun to track how much I chase after Charlie all day long. I’m really strict about getting those 10,000 steps in and holding myself accountable. I’m going to start sharing the exercises I do with my trainer on my snapchat/insta stories. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to go into the holiday season knowing I’m taking care of my body before the start of a new year. My new year’s resolution is ALWAYS the same and I’m proud of myself for taking the initiative early. If you have a friend who is looking for the same motivation, I highly recommend gifting them the Alta or even a cute Nike sweatshirt 🙂 sometimes it is the little things!
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