Hi – I’m Libby. I’m a 38-year-old full time working mom, married, with two littles, 7 and 4. Before having kids, I used to be way more fun and active. (I’m fun now, but it’s a little different.) Growing up, I did competitive swimming, and as a young adult fresh out of college, I joined a masters swim team at my local YMCA. I would wake up at 5am and head to the gym 5 days a week. Swimming turned into CrossFit and boot camp-style classes, and then eventually I started dabbling in strength training. Free workout programs from BodyBuilding.com with Jamie Eason, Jim Stoppani, and Kris Gethin were my jam!
Through all of my pre-motherhood adult years, I never thought about what I was eating or that it truly mattered. I would work so hard at the gym, sacrifice on sleep, and then shovel anything I wanted in my mouth. Even though I was strong and assumed I was healthy, this formula never yielded the physical results I was constantly chasing. In fact, when I became pregnant with my first child, I was 29 and the heaviest weight I have ever been. I remember shortly before becoming pregnant, I was in Old Navy and found some really cute leggings that happened to be maternity. I just thought to myself “Welp, at least I know they’ll be comfy! No one can tell if they’re maternity or not.” Once I got to the register to check out and handed them to the cashier, the young cashier just gushed at me and said “Awww, congratulations! How far along are you?!” I was MORTIFIED!! Not only was I not pregnant, but I also didn’t know anything about pregnancy in order to answer her question properly. So as an uninformed, overweight pregnant imposter, I simply responded “Uh, 4 months, thanks.” Ugh, I had to get out of there so fast!
So when I received my positive pregnancy results shortly after, one of the first feelings to come over me was not simply joy and excitement about this new chapter in our lives, but rather RELIEF. I felt like a huge burden was lifted off my shoulders as I no longer had to feel ashamed for being overweight. I no longer had to turn my back to the reality that I was refusing to face, the daunting path of weight loss. I now had a REASON to be fat! And I was overjoyed with that thought and those feelings.
I know what you’re thinking, this all sounds terrible – “bUt YoU sHoUlD lOvE yOuR bOdY aT aNy SiZe.” Size has nothing to do with it – when you are at a place where you are unhappy with yourself, regardless of what it is you’re unhappy with, you’re simply unhappy.
So fast-forward to having my first baby – I had hypertension with that pregnancy and gained a ton of weight. After my son came, life got really hard. Finding time to carve out for myself became nonexistent. I went back to work after a 12-week maternity leave, and the feelings of guilt were HARD. So the idea of spending time after work to exercise and do something for me while my son sat at daycare a tad bit longer was not an option. Getting up super early to work out before getting my son up (after multiple middle-of-the-night feedings have exhausted me) was also not an option. It took a good 1-2 years to find balance in my life again and work in an exercise plan again. And I did pretty well, lost a good amount of weight, but I never lost all of the weight I gained… before I found myself pregnant again with baby number 2!
When my daughter was about 9 months old, the world took a sharp turn into a pandemic. I had hit rock bottom as I was battling PPD and hated my current self. Outside, my life looked picture perfect with my sweet, beautiful babies and family, but inside I felt like a disaster. However, when the pandemic hit and we were ordered to work from home full time, my life completely changed for the better. My husband and I are so very thankful that our children’s fantastic daycare and preschool stayed open the entire time throughout the pandemic, allowing our children to carry on as usual, and us the freedom to work at home full time. This opened so much time in my day, eliminating the rat race of going to and from an office in hour-long traffic each way. I knew the world wasn’t going to stay this quiet and still for long, so I told myself that NOW is the time to take advantage of the “no distractions” and get ahold of myself!
I went and saw my doctor about medication and treatment for my PPD, I started walking my dogs every day during the work day, I started going to the gym more regularly (because now I had literally NO excuses), and I started feeling some pressures of life release through the use of meal/grocery delivery services (thanks Covid!). I had a goal to get in the best shape of my life and become healthier, but I also had the fear of trying some new tactics, just to fail and find myself at square one again. How many times have I done this now? How many times have I started a diet or workout program, and never arrived at my end goal? Too many to count, to be honest. And I didn’t want to do that again, restart. I made the decision that I was going to finally get control of my life, lose the weight, and find a healthier version of me for GOOD this time. I NEVER WANTED TO GO ON A DIET AGAIN.
But what’s the common denominator that was present in all the other times that I had previously attempted and failed? Me. Alone. I always attempted this alone, by myself. So I decided to invest in myself for once and I hired a nutrition coach, specifically someone who specialized in weight loss while breastfeeding. And it was the best decision I had ever made!!! I learned how to eat correctly, track my food correctly, and live a healthy lifestyle that is actually sustainable. And a SUPER BIG THANK YOU goes out to my husband, Jonathan, who wrote up new gym workouts for me, trained me to be the strongest version of myself, and still does to this day. (I love you!) It has been well over 3 years since I finished my program and I have lost 40 lbs, kept it off, eat whatever I want, and have become so strong! The confidence that comes with this process is well worth every penny spent on a coach. The day that I walked into my closet and took ENJOYMENT in picking out clothes, trying them on and liking what I saw in the mirror – oh my goodness, that alone changed my life.
One of my biggest take-aways after going through my initial weight loss program, and in fact I told my coach this – I couldn’t believe how easy it was! Don’t get me wrong, there was and still is a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into getting to where I am now and sustaining a healthy life, but it was much simpler than I had envisioned.
I feel that the fitness industry does a disservice to women causing confusion by what is promoted and pushed. Fad diets, low carb, high intensity workouts, lots of running, classes at the gym that only use 5lb dumbbells. What women need to hear: eat more whole foods, enjoy all foods in moderation, move a little more, and lift heavy weights. That’s it, it’s actually that simple! After coming to this conclusion, I decided I wanted to change my career path because more women need to know about this. I worked to become a Certified Personal Trainer as well as a Certified Nutrition Coach, and now it’s my mission to spread these truths far and wide!
• Women should be encouraged and learn how to follow a strength training program with progressive overload
• Women should feel empowered and confident to step into the weight room (stop calling it the men’s side of the gym and get in there ladies!!)
• Women should know they can lose weight while breastfeeding – in fact, I think it’s the best time to do so!
• Women should ENJOY the foods they eat, not just live off low calorie diets and weight loss foods.
If you feel like you’re ready for a change in your life, something that will last a lifetime and set you down the path for success, fill out my Contact Form to see if we would be a good match for each other. I would love nothing more than to help you find success and a healthier YOU.
Libby
