Katie’s Story
Do you Want to FEEL BETTER, or do you want to simply feel like YOU again?
I was in the same exact place after I had my babies. I managed my postpartum anxiety and everything seemed great, but I felt like I wasn’t quite ME. Something wasn’t clicking. The internal tug of war going on with the desire to soak up every last baby snuggle, all the emotions that go along with being a new mom and wanting to really feel like myself again, I was totally stuck. There were so many things to think about, so many paths to take. I’m a personal trainer so I knew what to do, but also being a new mom I was tired…I just wanted someone to guide me and to tell me what to do so I could keep focusing on me and my babies.
My goals were not to get back into my skinny jeans as fast as humanly possible because my husband didn’t care. I didn’t need to lose an arbitrary amount of “baby” weight, because my baby didn’t care. It wasn’t to get back to crazy high intensity workouts because my three year old was intense enough. My main goal I kept coming back to was to FEEL BETTER...TO FEEL LIKE ME.
I recognized that to bully my way through this journey would be impossible, excruciating, and would stifle the joy and delight, albeit, in a haze of bleary eyed exhaustion, that is the first year of my baby. So I waited. I really did (or at least tried to) enjoy the first year with my new baby as much as possible, but as those feelings of wanting to take the next step for ME organically appeared, I knew I could be ready. What I didn't know is there were steps I could take BEFORE I was ready. To help prepare me for what I wanted and knew I would eventually do next, and also help me from slipping further to my lowest of lows.
You often hear the phrases; “no excuses”, “just do it”, “there’s no time like the present” blah blah blah. There is a time and a place for motivational talk, but there is also a time when we should be nurtured and guided to become truly ready.
I waited about 10 months (after my second child) before I finally felt ready to focus on myself again, not to be “selfish”, although at times it certainly felt like it, but to give myself the best chance of being the woman, mother, partner and trainer I could be. I was busy working, being a mom, keeping some semblance of a relationship with my husband, and trying to have a bit of a regular life. I had never done a fitness or nutrition challenge before but I have always said, even Personal Trainers need Personal Trainers. I knew I could and should now spend some more time committing to myself, so I decided to go for it and I finally pulled the trigger on a fully guided core recovery & a nutrition challenge to kick-start things.
The challenges were really one of the best things I’ve ever done. I was highly motivated and I thought I was ready to go cold turkey, however, the challenge was not easy (hence the name). I had been contemplating doing it for almost 9 months, and when I signed up I was still on the fence. I signed up for BOTH the fitness & nutrition challenge the DAY they started, and I felt so unprepared and overwhelmed, I spent almost a week feeling lost and stressed about not wanting to get behind. Not only was I postpartum, but also struggling with anxiety, mood issues, gut issues, the love to be in control issue, and fatigue that felt like a wet, weighted blanket. This personality combo isn’t quite set up for the tough love, jump in the deep end approach. I need a little hand holding, hugs and high fives.
This is where I feel I may relate to you…
I got into a bit of a groove with workouts and the elimination eating plan, but then we had our first family dinner at my Mother In Law's. I asked what she was making, as it is always so delicious, but everything on her menu had something that I was eliminating during this short kickstarter eating plan. I had some choices to make, 1. to just eat her food and start again the next day, or 2. to bring something of my own. I opted to bring something, but my fatal flaw, I DID NOT PLAN! I waited too long to get ready and it was a perfect shit storm of emotions and I burst into tears. I'm talking full on meltdown over food, which seems so silly in retrospect, but it was more than food. It was the feeling of failing and flailing that did me in. As a new mom (again) these feelings rear their ugly head all too often, and I wished so desperately that I would have been more prepared.
This was not the way the journey to feeling better should have gone. This was harder than it needed to be. After completing both challenges, I gleaned from it so many tricks and tips that make the programs successful, however, I also discovered some of the things that I, along with many women in the community, were feeling made it harder than it needed to be. LIFE VERY OFTEN TAKES OVER...and we let it, because we are not fully prepared for HOW to make these changes. So many people didn’t even finish the challenges they PAID for. It’s like signing up for a gym and never going. Since courses & challenges will be a great way to motivate you, along with seeing and feeling amazing body changes and health results, I want to be able to set you up for success however you decide to get there.
In this book I want to help you begin the deep work of self discovery, realistic goal setting and the woman you really want to be. I want to work with you on mindset shifts and acceptance of the things you have failed at, but DO NOT make you a failure, as well as learning when to give yourself a break. My goal for you with my book, is that you begin to FEEL BETTER and on top of that, begin to FEEL LIKE YOURSELF as you learn what habits make you truly happy. There are so many aspects of our lives that contribute to happiness, sometimes we just need a little guidance and focus to help get us there!
It is so hard when we don’t feel like ourselves. It is hard to find the motivation and can feel like we are just going through the daily motions at times. It is hard in the first year with a new baby and then it never really gets easier...just hard in different ways. If we learn about ourselves and prepare for those tricky hairpin turns of life, then maybe we can feel better more often than not.
I’m so glad you’ve joined me so we can journey together!