Health & Fitness
The human body is meant to move, to be challenged! I’ve gained and lost 30+ pounds… twice.. with two pregnancies and I am always looking for new ways to move and enjoy activity. After multiple surgeries feeling strong is most empowering, feeling in control of your own body is strength.
I am no professional so this is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Body
I had my son via c-section in 2017 which was a wildly painful experience and very hard recovery for me. Some women say its no big deal… I don’t think an 8” incision through your entire abdomen is no big deal. Yes it shrinks to a good 4-5” a few years later but at the time its big and it hurts! Brings me to my second pregnancy of 2019 where at 4 months pregnant I developed a inguinal hernia going down from my c-section scar.. it would eventually rip all the way down. My abdominal muscles ripped a full inch and a half apart from sternum to belly button making walking or standing painful for most of this pregnancy. I did not workout or move much. I floated in my parents pool. I had my second c-section in August 2019, planned and way less painful… probably because we cut through all the nerves the first time. I couldn’t wait for those 6 weeks recovery to be up and I could get my body working again.
I had physical therapy to address my hernia and diastasis recti (ripped abs) where she let me know some good and bad news. My hernia was healing up on its own! The magic of child birth apparently can allow the body to heal when normally it wouldn’t. Bad news, my abs were surgical grade bad. We did what we could with exercises to bring them together but I had an appointment scheduled for September 2020 for abdominal surgery.
We celebrated Christmas day and went to bed. I woke up with a terrible side ache. My husband who is a fireman quickly decided it was my appendix. I did not believe him. I did not want to go to the ER and be told I had gas pains or something embarrassing. So I waited 7 more hours until it got worse. We went in, and welp it was appendicitis. Straight into surgery. My poor parents had the challenge of taking care of our almost 4 month old baby, that wouldn’t take a bottle, and our 3 year old son.
Having to go in for another abdominal surgery just 4 months after my second c-section was awful. I told the doctor about my abs and my hernia and said “fix as much as you can!” He did! I have real working stomach muscles now! I was left with 3 more incision scars on my tummy one being a large one above my belly button (it looks much better now).
After all these stomach surgeries my digestion was not happy. I wanted to loose the baby weight fast and build a strong healthy body (and intestines) I could hopefully rely on. My mom is a keto master now, so she walked me through it and how to track it and what to eat. It worked! It took practice and changes to fit my lifestyle and taste but hey I’m at my lowest weight as an adult! I eat whenever I’m hungry and for the first time ever I don’t have to over exercise to loose the lbs.
“Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels” and “Abs are made in the kitchen” and “You are what you eat” run through my mind daily now. I hope my lists, recipes, and favorite items help someone else along the way!
SPIN
I used to go to that 5am spin class before work
…. before kids, now I spin after bedtime.
Run.
I love to run, but if I’m tired or didn’t sleep well I am not afraid to walk or just take a nap instead. I think fitness can be intimidating, especially running. I say… just walk… jog maybe… maybe run if you’re feeling up to it. Just try and see what you think. You’ll get better and it will get easier and you might LOVE it.