August Ab Challenge

That’s right: we’re coming for you, abs!

It may be the end of summer, but a strong core is always a priority in my book. I did this challenge waaaay back in April of 2016 - and loved it! So I figured we’d repeat it for the month of August. Who’s in?!

The rules for this challenge are simple:

-Each week, you’ll pick 3 of the plank variations shown in the diagram below.

-Start off in Week 1 by doing each move for 3 sets of 30 seconds a piece.  Do this 4 days throughout the week (preferably not multiple days in a row so your muscles can rest and grow!).

-For Week 2, pick 3 more variations (or feel free to keep it the same if you’d like), but INCREASE THE TIME to 3 sets of 1 minute each.

-For Week 3, pick 3 different sets of planks (or again, stay the same) and INCREASE YOUR SETS AND TIME to 4 sets of 1 minute, 30 seconds each.

-For Week 4, pick 3 more moves and INCREASE YOUR TIME again to 4 sets of 2 minutes a piece. 

-Post pictures of yourself planking throughout the month. Use the hashtag #AugustAbChallenge and tag me (@fit_n_clean_mama) in your posts. Each pic will qualify you to win a prize at the end, so keep up those posts!

If you're worried about when to fit these planks into your week, have no fear! You have several options: split them up throughout the day, tack them onto the end of your normal workouts, do them during one of your "rest" days, or even plank while you're watching your nightly shows. It's amazing what we can do when we MAKE SOMETHING A PRIORITY!

Since the month starts at the end of this week, we won’t officially start the challenge until Sunday, August 4th.  That gives you enough time to plan your planks and grab a friend or two to join the challenge with you! The more, the merrier!

Let’s do this, babes!

XO

My Eating Disorder, Part 2

When I started seeing a fertility specialist to help us get pregnant, I continued my low calorie/low-fat diet. To me, it helped me feel “in control” of the one thing I could during all of the appointments, tests, negative pregnancy tests, etc. - my weight. Looking back, I see how this could only impact things more, since diet/stress on the body from under-eating can only do more harm than good - leading to jacked up hormone levels and no menstrual cycle/ovulation (raises hand to both). But at the time, I was clueless.

Once I finally got pregnant with Reagan, what I wanted to eat changed drastically. I mainly craved fried foods (think drive-thru chicken tenders and fries) and sweet tea. But just because my cravings changed didn’t mean my mindset did. Even though I indulged in these things, I was still hyper-conscious about my caloric intake. I would log my food and make sure those things fit into my 1200 calories, not even considering that my fat and sugar intake was crazy high and protein waaay too low. Not to mention, that my diet choices could be effecting my growing baby! Ugh.

At the same time, I began binging, too. If I started to eat something that I knew was outside what I thought my calories “should” be, I would just say “screw it” and binge on it. Chips, pasta, chocolate cake, etc. Then I would go out and run for a bit longer to burn it off. (Running was still the only exercise I was doing at the time, logging 25-28 miles a week.). In my mind, the miles cancelled out the extra calories that I had consumed. And while the theory of “calories in vs calories out” does hold true, that’s just not a healthy way to view nutrition and fitness AT. ALL.

After I gave birth, my mind fixated on getting back to my previous weight/clothes. Of course, our bodies are so different post-baby (and rightly so - you just grew and birthed a LIFE!), which only made my fixation/restriction worse. I went back to my low-fat, sugar-free foods and started running again as soon as I was cleared by my doctor. Between that and breastfeeding (which I was so lucky to be able to do), within a few weeks, I was back to my previous weight and into my pre-baby clothes. But mentally, I was riding the struggle bus. Hard.

I was started on an antidepressant to help with mild postpartum depression. While this did help my overall mood, it didn’t touch my obsession with being thin again. (Disclaimer: Medications for mental health - when used in the right situation and for the right reason - can make a huge impact on a person’s wellbeing. It’s up to you and your doctor to discuss EVERYTHING that’s going on and decide if it’s right for YOU. I, unfortunately, did not disclose my eating disorder to my doctor, which could have changed what was prescribed/done.)

It wasn’t until Reagan was about 6 months old and B gifted me some workout clothes (high-waisted leggings FTW!) and encouraged me to join a gym and start lifting weights that my mindset started to shift. I had seen friends of mine transform their bodies lifting weights, and I was intrigued.

I started going with some of those friends to Crossfit for the free Saturday WODs and instantly fell in love with strength training. I felt more energized, my sleep improved, and my mood lifted. I would scour Instagram, looking for other people’s transformations and advice from fitness gurus. I joined a local gym and started taking boot camp style classes (think Body Pump). During this time, I still continued to eat my previous diet, not thinking that nutrition could effect your fitness results in any way. [SMH]

[to be continued in Part 3…]

XO

My Eating Disorder, Part 1

Things are about to get real, you guys.

I’m opening up a bit more about my own struggle with binging/restrictive eating and how I overcame it. This is something that I have mentioned briefly in posts on Instagram - and once when I first divulged that I actually battled with an eating disorder in this blog post. But lately I’ve been feeling a tugging at my heart that I need to talk about it more. That I need to share more details about WHY I allowed it to control my life for so long and HOW I beat it.

And yes, I beat it. To a bloody pulp. You can’t tell right now, but I’m flexing my baby muscles as I type this.

I guess the best place to start is at the beginning, right?

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I’ve always have an issue with body image. Growing up, I didn’t like that everyone else “developed” before me (since I never had a cycle on my own), and then when hormones did start ramping up, I didn’t like my new curves. This disorded view of myself lasted throughout my high school years and into nursing school.

During nursing school, I found those “freshman fifteen” everyone talks about. I ate such an unhealthy diet, binging on highly processed foods and sugary drinks to get me through the long days and 12-hour shifts at night. I felt bloated and tired all the time, but just thought it was my schedule. My weight crept up to my all time high (not going to give a specific number, because that really doesn’t matter) and my body image issue only worsened.

Once I graduated from college, I made the big move from my parent’s home in Starke, Florida to Columbus, Georgia (where Brandon lived, along with his family). I went from living with my parents to living by myself and completely controlling my meals.

Cue the sugar-free, low-fat diet.

I started to buy those types of foods because I thought: 1) they would help me lose the extra weight I’d gained in college), and 2) be a “healthier” alternative to what I had been eating. Boy, was I ever wrong.

During this transition, I also picked up running on my days off from the hospital. I started by doing 1/4 mile run and walk the other 2 miles and eventually (over a few weeks), I could run the full 2.25 miles. It was a mental high and I felt that by burning so many extra calories, I would burn fat more quickly. I dropped 15-20 pounds in about 3 months time, but I looked FRAIL.

Everyone at the hospital would comment on my appearance, but I kept eating my celery sticks, 45-calorie bread sandwiches, and 100-calorie snack packs. I honestly didn't care because I was chasing that super skinny look. My total caloric intake on the average day was around 900-1,000 calories. Ugh. No bueno, y’all.

Physically, I felt tired all the time. My digestion was also off, likely because of my diet of processed foods and lack of fiber/veggies. I didn’t drink a lot of water - just sips when I could at work and then Diet Coke on my off days. Because of this, I had to rely on laxatives every day. Again, not good.

This restrictive lifestyle lasted for the next few years - throughout B and my engagement and first few years of our marriage. When I started infertility treatments, that’s when the binge cycles returned. I’ll talk more about that in my next post…

XO