Changing the way you think about food. How I LEARNED how to eat.

Turns out everything I was doing in the past as far as health and nutrition was all wrong. Back in college I would binge eat sweets in my dorm room and then cure my weekend hangovers with fast food and greasy burgers. I mean honestly I wasn't really concerned with my nutrition back then because going out an drinking was WAY more important. Or so I thought. I had always been "thin". I was athletic in high school and figured that would continue into college. I gained some weight but continued on my partying ways and really never cared about my health to much back then. (That's a blog post for another day. #HotMess)

Anyways, when I became a mom in my early 20s though health and nutrition kinda started to become more of a priority. Not huge but something that I dipped my toes in. I started running when Audrey was younger and tried to eat healthier. I again, was never really overweight. I like to call it "skinny fat". I wasn't really healthy though either. I was tired all of the time. I just chalked that up to motherhood.

I remember researching ever "diet" out there. The cleanses, the cabbage diets, I tried Paleo (but once I realized I couldn't peanut butter I was out). I opted for every "low cal", "fat-free" or 100 calorie snack I could find. Oh and Diet Coke. Lots of coffee and Diet Coke. I was tired all of the time remember? I remember eating a stalk of romaine lettuce in my car once. Thinking that would fuel my body. I wanted to eat healthy. I wanted to love my body. I just didn't know how. My husband ate very poorly so we ate out a ton and ate crap at home but he was in great shape (men. insert eye roll.) He was getting the results at the gym but why wasn't I?

This continued through my second pregnancy where since I had deprived myself for so long of eating and fueling my body correctly when I found I we were pregnant I went on a full blown, no self control eating binge for the full 9 months. Eating everything in sight. Everything from sweets to greasy food (reverting back to those college days) but at almost 30 my body didn't respond nearly as well. I remember eating 2 donuts before a doctors appointment not realized they would check my sugar levels somehow and everything was off of the charts. I remember my doctor joking about it but I was mortified.

After having Finn nothing changed. I continued using food to make me feel better. Sweets and sugar. They were my comfort. I would eat an entire bag of pretzels and frosting while rocking my new baby to sleep. I was exhausted. I was fat. I had gained 60 pounds in my pregnancy and was still 30 pounds overweight now. Yes, now I was overweight. I was so unhappy I just kept eating. I had this brand new baby that we had prayer for for so long but yet I was completely miserable. I remember thinking. It would be EASY to stay fat. Ya know? My husband wouldn't care. I was a mom now of 2 girls. I didn't have time or energy to get this weight off. I would just stay fat. Eating my bag of pretzels and tubs of frosting and being miserable.

You see, I lost my baby weight very quickly with Audrey. I was 22. My husband was active duty military. Gone all of the time. I think my age played a factor but it was also stress. I never worked out. I didn't eat healthy. That's when I was trying every diet. I was stressed working 2 jobs and going to school full time with a baby that didn't sleep. Not a healthy way to go about this.

I honestly thought this time the baby weight would come off just as quickly. I had such a screwed up perception of food that even though I was eating everything in sight somehow this weight was going to just fall of. But two months post partum I was miserable. And fat.

For me, the switch came very quickly. I literally just DECIDED one day enough was enough. I could not live like this anymore. My marriage and my children needed me. They needed my energy they needed me to love myself. I remember being up in the middle of the night with Finn and just thinking enough is enough. I literally remember the night so vividly to this day. Holding this baby and thinking I have to change this or continue to be miserable and I was just going to keep getting fatter. This was NOT me.

It was that night that I made the change. Through the 21 Day Fix meal plan I literally LEARNED how to eat. Turns out eating lettuce in your car isn't the way to live. I learned portion control and found a meal plan that fit my goals. I now was eating a TON of food. And good food. I had always thought eating LESS meant weight loss. Or eating only veggies meant weight loss. Or eating low cal and Diet Coke meant weight loss. Turns out eating food that fuels yours body (and a lot of it) means weight loss. And oh snap, in 6 weeks I had lost about 15 pounds! It was coming off. Half of that baby weight was gone and the other half was following right behind!

Soon I found a lifestyle that fit my goals. That completely changed my relationship with food. I teach and support women almost every day in my Virtual Gym where we break this meal plan down and make it fit your needs and goals. If you are interested in learning more about this program, one on one coaching, or my virtual gym feel free to fill out the application and lets change your relationship with food <3 Let's LOVE ourselves again.

The Sweat Life Virtual Gym Application