Lighter, Healthier, Happier (Part 2)

Just a quick moment, before we get into this read, to say thank you for the emails, comments and well wishes about my dad. He is in full recovery after having heart stents placed two days ago and currently under going 2 weeks of physical therapy. We are all SOOO relieved after a long week of slow and uncertain answers. GOD IS GOOD!

So last week, after writing a post about being Lighter, Healthier and Happier, I promised y'all a second post on what "saying no to the treadmill and yes to weights" has done for me! So, without further intro, here it is! Be warned. It's a long read ;)  

1 Year Pre-Baby 126 lbs                                                                        17 Months Post-Baby 128 lbs

Currently, I am wrapping up week 7 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer. Ever heard of it? Or of her, for that matter? I have to say. She is pretty awesome, along with her fabulous FREE program. I love that there are still good people out there, willing to share info without a buck attached to it. ESPECIALLY in the health and fitness industry. Everyone is always trying to sell you the latest and greatest. It's hard to know where to turn or invest your money! So when things like this come along, and there is no money involved, yet has countless, positive reviews from people who have followed the program... Well, that's just gold! But this wasn't meant to be a post about my Jamie Eason crush. So moving onto what I've done to loose the baby weight and tone up! I felt it was important to post a comparison of me at my thinnest, instead of me at my heaviest. I wanted y'all to see just how very little lean muscle mass I had before the kiddo. In the before photo, I was 126 lbs, using all cardio for my mode of fat loss and definitely not educated on the benefits of weight training and eating right. In the after photo, I am 130 lbs, 17 months post-baby, using weight training and light cardio for fat loss and VERY educated on how to fuel my body with the right nutrition. Thank you JAMIE and countless other articles found via Google!!  

2 Months Pre-Baby 137 lbs                                                              17 Months Post-Baby 130 lbs

  Jumping right in here, I can tell you, I definitely didn't start with weight training to loose the baby weight. (I really wish I had) but that typically requires the use of a gym and being a new, breastfeeding, mom who felt attached to the house, that seemed impossible at the time; there's such small windows of opportunity with a newborn. It literally was like, every 30 minutes SugarCube needed something. A nap. The boob. A diaper change. tummy time. cuddles and soothing because even she couldn't tell us what was wrong, ha! And that's just the baby. Forget about the household needs as well as your needs. So I did what I could! I dusted off my very under used (like only been on it 20 times in 3 years) treadmill for the first few months and actually lost 20 lbs. In that time, I made sure to eat very clean and lean while staying in the fat burning zone 45 minutes out of my day. But then I got bored of the hill, walk, run routine on the TM and decided I needed some more intensity. So I called in my boy Shaun T. We worked hard together 6 days a week for 2 weeks, ha! (I did a real dumb thing and gave myself some major shin splints, which hindered me from doing all the jumping and crazy none sense Insanity is known for ) So, then I decided I needed a new buddy. Someone who knew me better and would take it easier on my ankle. Someone who was KNOWN for at home resistance training vs jumping around like a monkey for 45 minutes a day. Ahhh yes. There you are Tony! P90X makin a come back. However, I didn't have a lot of the weights or the pull-up bar this program required, so I just selected 3 of Tony's dvd's, Kenpo, Plyometrics (definitely not as brutal as Shaun T's) and Ab Ripper, paired that with my trusty treadmill and in 1 month I lost another 7 lbs. Wow. But I still had 13 lbs to go before I would reach my goal weight... Sadly, those 13 lbs were put on hold for 3 months as I packed up our house, said so long to my hubby for 7 months, moved to Arizona, got through the crazy holidays and well into the new year.

This is where Jamie Eason comes in. Hubby had been deployed for 2 months at this point and hitting the weights hard in his absence. Hello even hotter hubby! He inspired me y'all. He was working so hard, eating as best as he could and well... When I'm around motivated people, I cannot help but be motivated myself. So instead of getting left behind, I decided to change with him. I knew this also meant that I needed to get uncomfortable...REALLY uncomfortable. You see. I have NEVER worked out in a gym before. So joining a gym for the first time, learning how to workout properly (alone) plus navigate the scary "MAN"side of the building while looking like a complete NUB! It was scary y'all! I was definitely feeling the pressure to run and try something, not so scary. But then my hubby told me about this awesome site called bodybuilding.com. And that was the game changer for me. 

Week 6 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer

I perused countless profiles of girls/mama's who also got uncomfortable at some point. They looked so strong and healthy in their after photos; possibly the happiest they'd ever been... And then I found Jamie Eason. Her program seemed to be the perfect fit for a beginner, and I was right. She really eased you into a structured workout regimen as well as hand walked you through the proper nutrition to fuel your body along the way. I WAS HOOKED! From day one, I felt the burn in my muscles and pride in myself. I also learned to like, sorta, the adrenalin feeling of being uncertain and scared every time a new lift or machine was introduced. Jamie's program changes every 2 weeks, you see. I would finally get comfortable with the routine and with my machines, but then she would change it again, and again I looked like a complete nub. But change is good and very important! I've learned that your muscles adapt quickly to a routine, getting bored, and eventually you stop seeing those huge gains your sweating your bunz off for. Not so good. 

After only 4 weeks of weight training, I started noticing a DEFINITE difference in the mirror and on the scale as well. I FINALLY had a lift in my derriere, where this gal has NEVER seen one before. I was that girl y'all. Complete pancake ass. But what could I really expect, when I LOOOOOOTHED squats and lunges and refused to see them for what they are... The GOD's of body sculpting, especially for a nice, firm rounded booty. I kick myself for such stupidity. All those years of hating my hinny and hiding it from even myself, when all it would have taken was bending at the knee! Moving on. I also saw other big changes in those short weeks, like leaner, sculpted arms and HEY muscles in my chest!?!? Even my back was expanding and my shoulders plumping, adding that extra "thin" look to my also shrinking waist. It was changes like this that kept me going. Which I can't stress ENOUGH how important it was for me to take progression photos along the way. I think I would have quite 10 times over, if it weren't for them. I'll admit, they are not always fun to take, especially in the beginning. But when you all of a sudden have that "after" photo or even an "in between" photo like the one's I'm posting today, you feel like you've accomplished so much more then you gave yourself credit for, just moments before. True story.

Week 6 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer

It has been a total of 4 months (with some breaks here and there) since I began weight training and I am astounded at the difference such little time can yield. I can tell you, and I hope you have figured this out for yourself or are willing to give it a try, but cardio alone will NEVER give you that shape your looking for ladies. Cardio is good at burning fat, but if there is no muscle underneath that padding, you will always have mediocre tone and mediocre satisfaction. I have done the eat less, do more cardio gig for ALL my life. I can tell you first hand, I never got the body shape I wanted. I literally thought, if I became skinny enough, then all these muscles, I haven't worked for, would just appear. I'd have abs and biceps and nicely toned legs. And a FIRM ass. PAH!! If only I could write a letter and send it back to young and uneducated Becca... It would say something like, "stop looking to rail thin models in magazines as fitness gurus for one. And when you get married, which you eventually will, listen to your husband when he suggests lifting a dumbbell instead of obsessing over that silly number on the scale." Had I of done that, who knows where I'd be!

I can't tell you where I plan to take this. But I can say, I am not limiting my body or mind! Right now, I'm just having fun. Enjoying my little bit of therapy each day as I sweat and exhaust every muscle and brain cell in my body. I definitely have an aggressive image in my head of what I'd like to see once in my lifetime though and it's definitely a strong, healthy, female hard body. But for now. I'm just enjoying the ride, happy to be where I'm at, yet moving forward!

 I will do another update when I'm finished with Jamie's program. I'm hoping these next 6 weeks, I'll see an even bigger difference in shape and tone. Although this week, with the stresses of my dad being in the hospital, has been horrible for my eating. Gotta clean it up if I want the results to keep coming ;) Thanks for reading y'all! Stay tuned for Lighter, Healthier, Happier (Part 3) where I'll be talking about the nutrition plan I've followed along the way! I'll leave you with one of my FAVORITE (altered) fitness quotes. This one really hits home for me and puts that fire in my resolve. I'm not going out with regrets or missed wishes y'all. ESPECIALLY when I AM the wish granter. HELL NO!

AGREED?!