mos13foxtrot
New member
(Underwear/sports bra pics. Also cross-posted on xxfitness)
January/February 2020
June 2020
December 2020
May 2021 - One, two, three
Background: I had my second baby in 2019, and while I dropped a bunch of weight immediately after birth, I slowly started gaining a lot of weight due to 1) stress eating because of sleep deprivation and wrangling 2 kids, and 2) not moving as much or making time for exercise (again, thanks sleep deprivation!). I've always been a pretty active person (was a huge runner in my 20's), so being out of shape just felt unnatural. Especially being short, NOTHING fit right, and I felt so uncomfortable in my body. The baby started sleeping in longer stretches 9 months post-partum, and I finally mustered enough willpower and discipline to start exercising and watching what I eat again.
January --> June: No big secret, I cut my calories, ate healthier, and started working out. I love to cook, so I've always made sure that as a family, we eat healthy and balanced meals (lots of vegetables, complex carbs, lean protein) - but I cut out the cookies, the chips, the it-took-me-an-hour-to-put-the-baby-down late night ice cream. I started with 1400 calories during the week because I wasn't very active, but I had treat meals on the weekends, and estimate that I was probably eating 2400ish calories on Friday & Saturdays. For exercise, I started with 10-15 minute basic Fitness Blender bodyweight videos 3 times a week. It was so frustrating that I had once run a marathon but now I couldn't even do 30 seconds of lunges. I could barely do one pushup. But I didn't get here overnight, so I stuck with it.
June --> December/January: By now, I had graduated to much more activity. I live in a large city, so I walk a lot - to get groceries, to the park, to and from daycare (once it opened), etc. Pandemic was in full-swing, I ordered a bunch of dumbbells to up my strength training (3, 8, and eventually 12 lbs). I did Chloe Ting for a hot second, but found her videos super repetitive and I hated her click-baity influencer schtick. I started doing Heather Robertson and Nicole Pearce, and graduated to 30-40 minute workouts. And then I discovered Caroline Girvan, and I WAS SOLD. I love her focus on strength and power, and I started doing her videos with the limited dumbbells that I have. I also started running again (a couple of miles a few times a week) and upped my calories to 1500-1600 during the week - but with treat meals still on Friday and Saturday nights (usually around 2100-2500 cals).
I also took a few breaks. We did some short getaways, and while on vacation, I didn't work out, ate croissants and drank full fat lattes, ate burgers and fries for dinner, had ice cream with the kids, etc. Obviously, I ate like a mad person who had never seen food before around the holidays
January: I hit a wall, physically and mentally, in January. I was around 116, and I was panicking in a coffee shop because they didn't have almond milk, and I knew soy milk would put me over my calories for the day. So I said, fuck it, fuck the last few vanity pounds. I was the fittest I've ever been, and in addition to strength work and doing Caroline's Epic II program, I was trying to increase my miles because I love to run. So I stopped tracking calories, ate when I was hungry, and just tried to prioritize whole foods over anything else. But there were days I ate leftover cake at 10am and felt no guilt about it. I was trying to think of fueling my body like an athlete - with enough calories and food to sustain my activity. I probably ate around 1800-2000 most days.
April --> now: After a few months at maintenance and focusing on performance over weight loss, I was ready for another small cut. My maintenance calories are probably around 2100, so I cut down to 1600-1700 - again, with treat meals and no limits on Friday and Saturday nights. I started Epic Heat, and average about 25-30 MPW running-wise. I think properly nourishing my body for a few months beforehand helped A LOT and I started dropping the weight pretty quickly. I started at about 114, and weighed in at 110 (and change) this morning.
The End: So that's it. It took me almost a year and half to lose 30 pounds, but that's how I roll. 110 was my aspirational goal weight - the weight I was when I was in my 20's and marathon training. Except now I have A LOT more muscle mass from strength training, and am more "toned" than I ever was when I was just running and doing cardio. At 37, with 2 little kids, I'm in the best shape that I've ever been in my life. I did 99% of it at home (just recently started using the condo gym again for access to heavier dumbbells), just watching my diet, prioritizing protein and complex carbs, and trying to stay as active as possible. I feel like myself again - an even better version of myself - and I feel like I have SO much energy to keep up with my kids and race them down the street.
What's Next: I'm going to stop tracking calories, and go back to eating more and eating intuitively. I'm chipping away slowly at my running pace, I'd like to gain more upper body strength and be able to do more pull-ups. It's getting warmer, which means I'll be spending more time on the lake kayaking and paddleboarding. While I started out initially just wanting to lose weight, my goal really is not for people to look at me and think, She's so small/skinny but rather, GODDAMN she looks like an athlete so I'd like to build more muscle. And eat ALL THE THINGS.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Special shoutouts to my lord and savior Caroline Girvan, xxfitness, my girls on the Discord (you know who you are), Eminem for making the best workout motivational music, and my local artisan donut shops.
January/February 2020
June 2020
December 2020
May 2021 - One, two, three
Background: I had my second baby in 2019, and while I dropped a bunch of weight immediately after birth, I slowly started gaining a lot of weight due to 1) stress eating because of sleep deprivation and wrangling 2 kids, and 2) not moving as much or making time for exercise (again, thanks sleep deprivation!). I've always been a pretty active person (was a huge runner in my 20's), so being out of shape just felt unnatural. Especially being short, NOTHING fit right, and I felt so uncomfortable in my body. The baby started sleeping in longer stretches 9 months post-partum, and I finally mustered enough willpower and discipline to start exercising and watching what I eat again.
January --> June: No big secret, I cut my calories, ate healthier, and started working out. I love to cook, so I've always made sure that as a family, we eat healthy and balanced meals (lots of vegetables, complex carbs, lean protein) - but I cut out the cookies, the chips, the it-took-me-an-hour-to-put-the-baby-down late night ice cream. I started with 1400 calories during the week because I wasn't very active, but I had treat meals on the weekends, and estimate that I was probably eating 2400ish calories on Friday & Saturdays. For exercise, I started with 10-15 minute basic Fitness Blender bodyweight videos 3 times a week. It was so frustrating that I had once run a marathon but now I couldn't even do 30 seconds of lunges. I could barely do one pushup. But I didn't get here overnight, so I stuck with it.
June --> December/January: By now, I had graduated to much more activity. I live in a large city, so I walk a lot - to get groceries, to the park, to and from daycare (once it opened), etc. Pandemic was in full-swing, I ordered a bunch of dumbbells to up my strength training (3, 8, and eventually 12 lbs). I did Chloe Ting for a hot second, but found her videos super repetitive and I hated her click-baity influencer schtick. I started doing Heather Robertson and Nicole Pearce, and graduated to 30-40 minute workouts. And then I discovered Caroline Girvan, and I WAS SOLD. I love her focus on strength and power, and I started doing her videos with the limited dumbbells that I have. I also started running again (a couple of miles a few times a week) and upped my calories to 1500-1600 during the week - but with treat meals still on Friday and Saturday nights (usually around 2100-2500 cals).
I also took a few breaks. We did some short getaways, and while on vacation, I didn't work out, ate croissants and drank full fat lattes, ate burgers and fries for dinner, had ice cream with the kids, etc. Obviously, I ate like a mad person who had never seen food before around the holidays
January: I hit a wall, physically and mentally, in January. I was around 116, and I was panicking in a coffee shop because they didn't have almond milk, and I knew soy milk would put me over my calories for the day. So I said, fuck it, fuck the last few vanity pounds. I was the fittest I've ever been, and in addition to strength work and doing Caroline's Epic II program, I was trying to increase my miles because I love to run. So I stopped tracking calories, ate when I was hungry, and just tried to prioritize whole foods over anything else. But there were days I ate leftover cake at 10am and felt no guilt about it. I was trying to think of fueling my body like an athlete - with enough calories and food to sustain my activity. I probably ate around 1800-2000 most days.
April --> now: After a few months at maintenance and focusing on performance over weight loss, I was ready for another small cut. My maintenance calories are probably around 2100, so I cut down to 1600-1700 - again, with treat meals and no limits on Friday and Saturday nights. I started Epic Heat, and average about 25-30 MPW running-wise. I think properly nourishing my body for a few months beforehand helped A LOT and I started dropping the weight pretty quickly. I started at about 114, and weighed in at 110 (and change) this morning.
The End: So that's it. It took me almost a year and half to lose 30 pounds, but that's how I roll. 110 was my aspirational goal weight - the weight I was when I was in my 20's and marathon training. Except now I have A LOT more muscle mass from strength training, and am more "toned" than I ever was when I was just running and doing cardio. At 37, with 2 little kids, I'm in the best shape that I've ever been in my life. I did 99% of it at home (just recently started using the condo gym again for access to heavier dumbbells), just watching my diet, prioritizing protein and complex carbs, and trying to stay as active as possible. I feel like myself again - an even better version of myself - and I feel like I have SO much energy to keep up with my kids and race them down the street.
What's Next: I'm going to stop tracking calories, and go back to eating more and eating intuitively. I'm chipping away slowly at my running pace, I'd like to gain more upper body strength and be able to do more pull-ups. It's getting warmer, which means I'll be spending more time on the lake kayaking and paddleboarding. While I started out initially just wanting to lose weight, my goal really is not for people to look at me and think, She's so small/skinny but rather, GODDAMN she looks like an athlete so I'd like to build more muscle. And eat ALL THE THINGS.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Special shoutouts to my lord and savior Caroline Girvan, xxfitness, my girls on the Discord (you know who you are), Eminem for making the best workout motivational music, and my local artisan donut shops.
. Your abs are amazing. I have quite a saggy midsection from having 6 kiddos