A few weeks ago my husband walked into the room where I was sitting with our 2 month-old baby, took a look at my outfit, and said, “Babe! Back in the skinny jeans? Niiiice!” To which I replied, “If by ‘back in the skinny jeans’ you mean, ‘Babe! You went to Target today and bought really huge skinny jeans!’ Then yes. Yes I am.”
Many of you will remember that about a year ago I shared my experiences losing weight and getting fit.
I accomplished that a few years ago and successfully kept the weigh off until recently. I know there are lot of people in this world who can carry a child for 9 months and then pop back into their skinny jeans a few weeks later.
I am not one of those people.
I knew that going into my pregnancy and I was actually okay with it. I knew I would probably gain quite a bit of weight, and I did. The difference between this post-pregnancy and my 3 previous ones is that now I’m not afraid and depressed of the “after.” Right now I look a lot like I did in that “before” photo up there, but it’s not scary for me anymore because I transformed my body once and I know I can do it again. I know exactly how to do it and I have the confidence I can. Even more importantly, I honestly and truly don’t care how many pounds I have to deal with when I have this to show for it:
Not to get all cheesy, but I can’t hate my belly rolls when I look into those little blue eyes. Carrying a child inside you for almost a year is an amazing, and also rigorous thing to put your body through, so I had a tendancy to reward that body with things like ice cream and onion rings-which is now very apparent.
SO. Why am I talking about all of this again? Because when I was working to shed those pounds a few years ago, I did it very privately. And when I finally shared my story last year, the response blew me away. Hundreds of you commented, and just as many have sent me emails, Facebook messages, and Instagram comments about how that post inspired YOU. I cannot even explain how awesome it has been to read your stories and cheer you on from the other side of the computer screen. So many of you had questions and needed help, guidance, and support, and now I’m in a unique position where I’m doing it all over again- so I figured a lot of us out there could do it together!
(Let’s be clear- I’m back at the “then” in that photo!)
Kate and I would like to do a regular series here focused on health and fitness, but we want to cater it to your interests according to your feedback. Obviously our main focus here at Our Best Bites is food, so we won’t take away from that. For all of you out there who don’t give a flip about all of this health and fitness stuff, no worries. Yummy recipes are still coming, and will always be the focus around here. But we thought it would be cool to use this great community for an OBB Fit Club for the next few months. Some random ideas I had were a weekly series, group challenges, workout plans, maybe a Facebook page to chat- some cool giveaways and prizes?? We’re up for anything. I just know from experience that it helps to have a support network.
So speak up. If this is something that interests you, you MUST leave a comment on this blog post! If you’re reading this via email, click here to hop over and leave a comment. If there isn’t much interest we’ll bag it and do it on our own! We don’t know unless you leave comments and tell us. If you guys speak up and want this to happen, let us know, and tell what you’d like to see/learn/do and we’ll make it happen! Together we can crush those New Year’s Resolutions!
I am interested in the fit club! My hardest thing is how to stop snacking, BUT even worse is the late afternoon when I’m tired I START to snack. I keeps me awake. What can I do to keep myself awake without oversnacking??
Yes, yes, yes!! I’d love to see recipes that show us how to swap out some ingredients with healthier options. Also much about dealing with food issues is mental/emotional so any tips or guidance you’ve learned along the way would be awesome! Can’t wait!
Yes! Just what I need. My little one is now 14 months and I so want to feel fit and strong again.
Yes! I would love a OBB fit club! Your story has inspired me and I’ve adopted your mantra to finish it.
Oh YES YES PLEASE! I will never do it on my own but truly want to drop some weight!
Love this idea!! Yes, please!!
I would really like to lose 20 pounds and permanently keep it off. I am a mother of seven beautiful kiddos, so I can’t complain about my jelly roll either – but I would be so much happier to be eating, being & looking fit! I would like to know what foods are really “no-no’s” and if there are superfoods that actually keep cravings down (like chia??? avocados? almonds?) I would like to know that they are not just gimmicks but really do help. Great idea! Thanks!
I’m in!! I love this idea!!
Sounds great!
I would love motivation! Do it!! Anything is great by me.
I need this! I would love ideas on healthy meal options for breakfast and lunch especially.
It’s funny cause i wrote about my weight loss journey today on my blog. So far I’ve lost 53 pounds with another 35 to go. So u can defvcount me in too. 🙂
Do it! I’m in!
I always love a place to go that encourages good health. A weekly series sounds great to me!
I would LOVE to get fit along with you. I have read your amazing weight loss story many times and would love to see a transformation of my body like you did to yours. You are a true inspiration. Count me in.
Would love the support and easy recipes that are good.
I am totally in – and please share daily meal plans!!
First of all, your baby is absolutely adorable.
I would love to be part of the project. For me what I need most would be motivational/inspirational moments. Like, when we feel overwhelmed by the amount of things we have to do (and no help from others)…
Post-dinner snacks would be awesome too 🙂
Thank you so much for doing this!
Sharing how you balance 4 kids but allowing yourself the gift and schedule of the exercise – I end up throwing up my hands and just sitting with the kids.
Would love to do this! The hardest part for me are quick, easy, healthy and clean eating recipes. Also, would like to see different weight training/cardio exercises plans.
I’ve been trying (and failing) to find some way to fit exercise into my schedule. I was running for a while, but I can’t even find an hour to do that anymore. I’ve been looking for some sort of 5-10 minute a day challenge with a social aspect (maybe someone knows of one, even if OBB can’t provide it?) to keep me motivated and beat the excuse of not having time. Ideally, a challenge that switches things up once in a while (doing one more pushup every day just gets boring).
Great idea!
Sounds like a great idea.
I’m so in!!!
Love it!
I’m so in! I’ve been trying to lose baby weight for a year but it’s hard to find time or motivation to do it, I can use all the help I can get!
I am totally in! I’ve gained more than 10 pounds by just sitting at my day job, and I know that may not seem like a lot–but it’s enough that I can’t fit in my clothes comfortably. I’d love some ideas (particularly food ideas, because that helps me even more than exercise, even though both are important and helpful). Thanks for the inspiration!
I would love this. My handsome man is 3 months old and I need to lose some pounds. Especially the ones I should of lost before being pregnant anyways. Glad I’m not the only one.
I’m in! I have been juicing since May and working out a ton. I still have 13 pounds to lose and am nervous about when I start eating real food again. I have lost 118!
I would love to be part of your get fit challenge. I appreciate any help, advice, and/or recipes you will be sharing