I was sitting listening to a webinar on body image and it made me reflect on my past and how I use to treat my body. I have come a long way since my insecure years in high school/university. But what changed?

I have struggled with weight my whole life, I have always been small and on the low end of healthy….entering into unhealthy. I have been blessed with a fast metabolism but this does not mean I was happy. Every woman struggles with their body…prodding, poking and criticizing every second they get. Why can't I look like that supermodel, this is what I really want to look like. But is it really? Why do you want to look that way? Will it give you happiness? Will it make people love you more?

So what right do I have to tell you it isn't all about weight loss if I have never been over weight!

What I’m really trying to tell you is that mindset is the key to happiness. As soon as I shifted my mindset to loving my body for what it is I began to feel happy, content and even satisfied with who I am. I think I put too much energy into how I looked so I could have friends, love and achieve more. But my body wasn't the issue (even though I though it was for many years). It was all in my head, it was all about how I saw at myself.

Change your mindset, change your life.

So you just had a baby and you're thinking RIGHT, now its time to get my post baby body back. Well don’t waste the first weeks focusing on how to get your body back, you may never have the same body but that is OK! Life shouldn't revolve around losing weight if it’s just about getting smaller, that was a tough lesson I had to learn. No matter how small I got…nothing changed. I was still insecure, I still hated my body, I still struggled with liking myself. So why do you REALLY want to get smaller??

Lets shift the focus to why you should eat healthy and workout. Have a real conversation with yourself about what your motivation is, but try to stay away from visual body goals.

You want more energy
You want to be able to run after your toddler without feeling out of breath
You want to glow from the inside out
You want to prevent diseases that run in the family.
You want to show a good example for your children.
You want to FEEL GREAT!!

You created a life from NOTHING….thats amazing! Your body is capable of doing amazing things, you have to start loving it for what it can do. If you start to listen to your body and feed it what it really needs (both exercise and food) the weight loss will be a side effect. Mindfulness, moderation (although that word sucks lol) intuition, treat your body right. But eat that cookie too, its ok. Eat food because it nourishes the body, exercise because it gives you strength.

Have an even keel approach not a quick one time fix, slow and steady really does win the race.

Learning to look at yourself differently can be hard, but take small steps to make positive changes both physically and mentally. If it means unfollowing all the #fitmoms with their midriffs showing DO IT! Whatever makes you feel good about yourself. You are perfect, you grew a human from scratch!!

Happy workouts mamas!

As a busy mom it can be hard to find the time and motivation to workout and eat healthy. We come up with so many excuses to put it off and off. “I don’t have the time”, “I’m too tired” or even worse “I need to clean the house”. Then before we know it its bed time! When I first became a mom I REALLY REALLY struggled to find a routine and get the workouts in. At first I was in so much pain, I didn’t even want to go out for a walk. As a first time mom, no one really prepared me for the changes my body would go through.

Eventually I found my swing and everything else is history so to say. Here are 8 things to help YOU find your motivation;

1. Find a routine. If you schedule a time in the day to workout, you are more likely to complete it. Stick to a similar time every day and pick the same days each week. After a few weeks of perseverance you will find it easy to include.

2. Positive affirmations. This is one of the easiest things to start doing. All you need to do is find a few short sentences that have meaning to you and repeat them every day. Something as simple as ‘I can do this’ or ‘I am worth it’ may be all it takes. The more you repeat them, the more of a positive response your brain has. Therefore the more inclined you will be to exercise. Think yourself thin!!

3. Put on your workout clothes. If you can do something as easy as putting on your clothes then you are halfway there. I LOVE my yoga pants and yes I spent a lot of my postpartum days wearing them for the WRONG reason. Pick your best workout gear to give you a mental boost in the right direction. OR if nothing fits, go out and treat yourself to something new.

4. Set realistic goals. If you set your goals to high at the beginning you are bound to get demotivated. Social media can be a maze of misconception…..women who are back to pre-pregnancy weight in just three weeks, WHAT?? Slow and steady wins the race.

5. Have fun with exercise. If you don’t enjoy the workouts then why would you keep doing them? Now this doesn’t mean that exercise is pleasant, it should still be a challenge. However if you don’t enjoy running, don’t run. If you don’t enjoy going to the gym, don’t go to the gym. There are so many options out there. Go find what you like to do the best.

6. Reward yourself. Now this doesn’t mean go out and buy a chocolate bar when you lose 10lbs….however you can find a deliciously healthy recipe for avocado chocolate mousse. Just don’t eat the WHOLE thing.

7. Accountability. I find using social media keeps me accountable for my actions. Posting healthy food and workouts keep me on track and gives me the motivation I need to exercise. If you can do it yourself, rally up the troops…..husband, friend, mom. Anyone who can keep you in check.

8. Find inspiration. For this it could be ANYTHING you like, a target outfit, a celebrity, an image or a quote. Pick something that you can check in with and will drive you to be that better version of you.

HAPPY WORKOUTS FITMOM!!

Lucy