Happy Virgo New Moon Cycle!
In the final hours of what is considered a “New Moon,” I’m sharing the details of my weight loss journey over the last year from 210lbs at the end of my last pregnancy to the current 150lbs and 24% Body Fat I’ve reached today. It’s been a long road, partly due to how slowly I decided to take it.
I hope that any of you reading this who are struggling with your body image and self-confidence in parenthood find this helpful, or at least non-judgemental of where anybody is at in their journey. These findings and opinions I hold for myself alone, and this is purely a reflection and transference of data from my own experience.
I also want to preface that I am someone who has struggled with disordered eating and severe body dysmorphia in the past. Currently, I am far from healed or perfect, but I’ve certainly come a long way. These factors were considered when I began my fitness journey in 2023.
So why did I start trying to lose weight?
The shortest answer is: my kids.
I wanted to operate as a mother with the most energy and vitality possible so that I could play and interact with my kids in a positive, engaging manner.
I wanted them to have a close example of an adult taking ownership of their health and making conscious decisions to care for their body.
I wanted them to be exposed to what exercise looks like at a very young age, especially from someone they look up to.
I wanted them to experience the benefits of a healthy mom.
And I wanted to dance again!
I was desperate to move my body freely and play! I was dying to run and jump! I watched my sweet toddler dance and move and jump and I so badly wanted to join him! One of the most challenging aspects of my pregnancy was feeling trapped in my own limitations of my body, and I made it my ultimate goal to “dance again”.
When I was a mom of two under two, I knew that I needed energy and a positive attitude. Exercise was the easiest method to accomplish a healthy mindset, although it wasn’t always easy!
I started with the goal of reaching my pre-pregnancy weight within a year of giving birth, which was 145lbs.
Immediately after giving birth and shedding the pregnancy weight and fluids, I started at around 195lbs in July 2023.
Armed with determination and a YMCA family membership, as well as a great walking stroller and a library of audiobooks, I started my fitness journey on July 17, 2023.
I want to add that my Garage was converted to a home gym in August 2020, and I own a treadmill, yoga swing, dancing pole, weights, and a pull-up bar. Having this Gym setup has been invaluable to making this work, and I feel incredibly privileged to have such close access to this in my own home.
I also cannot understand how important the YMCA has been for my family and our health. Having a gym facility with 2hrs of child care, a plethora of adult and kid-friendly classes, a clean facility with a pool, and within 30 minutes of our home feels like an enormous gift that I do my utmost to utilize as much as possible. The YMCA is also where I met my trainer through barre class, but more on personal training later.
So, where did I start?
Low impact.
Walks.
I kept things incredibly simple and used the short months of lovely weather in my area. I went to the park multiple times a week and walked my baby and toddler in my stroller, listening to audiobooks in my growing library.
One of my goals was to heal my 4cm Diastasis Recti in my abdomen. I signed up with a fantastic pelvic floor therapist, Megan Kranenburg PT, DPT, WCS, NPI and began sessions with her in September 2023.
My therapist gave me simple, daily exercises and tools to help my muscles recover from giving birth, and honestly, that was most of my “workout” for the first few months postpartum. I found it incredibly difficult to sit in a chair for extended periods (which complicates workflow tremendously as an editor working from home). The simple use of yoga balls ultimately reversed the pain in a few weeks.
If you are struggling with pelvic muscle and/or bone pain, inability to hold urine, abdomen separation, or general pelvic discomfort, I so recommend seeing a Pelvic Floor Therapist. Dr. Kranenburg gave me invaluable tools to understand and heal my pelvic floor after giving birth unmedicated to my 8lb 8oz and 9lb 7oz boys, and I am incredibly grateful for her expertise, patience, and sensitivity.
Meanwhile, I focused on eating meals made at home exclusively. I practiced low-impact Yoga daily. I experimented with somatic flows and conditioning my shoulders with an exercise band in the mornings to lift the 40lbs of toddler and baby without injuring myself. I treated myself to Gua Sha as part of my skin routine, which had such a profound and speedy result people assumed I had already lost the weight months before I had reached my goal.
I became endlessly curious about methods of bio-hacking. I tried AM cold showers, red light therapy, listening to specific frequencies to boost brain waves, sauna exposure, intermittent fasting, meditation, and trying different supplements to improve my post-partum anxiety. Currently, taking daily Fish Oil, HMBs, Vitamin D, Beef Organs (pill form), and Ashwagandha have been life savers for my energy and mood levels.
At no point did I push myself to the end of feeling like I was overdoing it. For the most part, I still ate everything I wanted to, baked when I felt like baking, rested when I felt like resting, and went harder when I felt I could. I was concerned with having the energy I needed to parent a toddler and a baby, which meant I never went to the point of being too sore to operate smoothly.
I kept my workouts under an hour, usually just 30 minutes. Often, I would do 15 minutes of “cardio” (aka a walk or stair climb) and 15 minutes of weights (1 or 2 rounds of lifting between 3-20lbs of free weights in simple exercises). I mixed things up with classes at the YMCA and classes I could do at home on my garage floor.
I proudly reached my goal in March 2024, but more than that, I had survived and even THRIVED in the seven months of being a 2 under 2 mom. I felt like I had reclaimed my body. I was playing with my kids daily, sleeping great, feeling energetic and positive, and my body showed my progress.
Then, it was time to take it up a notch.
I had already incorporated more rigorous forms of exercise like weight lifting, power walking, stair climbs, barre classes, and Zumba classes. I was back to dancing and experimenting on my pole in my garage and had also tried Tai Chi and beginner Ballet classes. I could feel the energy and more ambitious movements returning to me, but I was still struggling with 2cm of ab separation and inconsistent measurements.
It was time to hire a personal trainer.
I have always wanted to work with a personal trainer. As a Leo, I know that I respond quickly and enthusiastically to positive reinforcement and personalized attention. I knew that while I was pushing myself, a trainer would be able to assess my skill level better than I could and push me to limits I didn’t know I possessed. Years ago, I worked as a front desk assistant at OrangeTheory Fitness, and I witnessed first-hand how the trainers could take clients to the next level.
I wanted those results.
I went to Barre Class one day at the YMCA, and I met Alycia.
I knew immediately I liked her style of barre, and when I found out she was also a mama of two kids, I contacted her in the hopes she could train me 1:1.
Her website states, “Alycia has been in the health, wellness, and fitness industry for 15 years. She has made her way across the country working for Nike World Headquarters, Orangetheory Fitness, F45 Training, CorePower Yoga, many different gyms, and private studios, as well as running and owning her own fitness brand Alycia Bond Fitness LLC… utilizing tools through Mind, Emotions, Body, and Soul healing/guiding.”
What attracted me to Alycia was her awareness of the planetary cycles on our health, (my first class with her was on an eclipse, which she mentioned in class! It made me a happy astrologer!) her joy of teaching, her insane level of expertise, and her openness and friendliness to all the participants. I found it very easy to converse with her, and I felt that I could trust her with my vulnerabilities and lack of experience.
We got to work at the end of May 2024 and fully assessed my body and my fitness level. The amount of detail was crazy! She was able to pinpoint all kinds of little adjustments I needed to prevent further injuries, areas where I was overcompensating for muscle fatigue and lack of growth. She summed it up confidently, assuring me we could accomplish my goals and heal the remaining separation in my abdomen muscles.
At the time, I measured 148lbs and 30% body fat. I was noticing the deterioration of my posture and neck position from working at a desk and I wanted to fix how I was holding myself. I’d always dreamed of one day being able to do a pull-up, so we made that a long-term goal to massively improve my upper body strength. With our goals in mind and the summer just beginning, we got to work.
And wow, did the results come fast!
Within a month my body fat percentage was down to 24%. The huge increase in drinking water and lifting much heavier weights definitely sped up the results. I went from 3 days of light workouts and one heavy class weekly to 4-5x full weekly workouts. We measured the changes in my neck position after daily use of a neck and spine alignment “pillow” (more like a hard round bolster) and my posture was already starting to improve drastically.
The more significant benefit was having a professional pinpoint my areas of improvement while assessing my overall mental, physical, and emotional health as a woman and mother of two young kids. Having someone trustworthy to whom I could open up about ALL aspects of my health was such a gift. I felt incredibly validated about all of my months of hard work, as well as motivated and excited to reach new goals and achieve new levels of wellness.
Now, I find myself reaching for 35 and 40-lb dumbells. I’m not pumping out pull ups yet but my ability to dead hang and use the assistance of a band has greatly improved. I notice my corrected posture in photographs. I’m confident again in a bikini. My abdomen separation is now localized to one small section of under 1cm and is almost completely gone.
The greatest gift is the positivity and vitality that has returned to me and the feeling of ownership over my body again. I can keep up with my two toddler boys much easier. I possess a level of activity that is closer to an actual athlete than I’ve ever had in my life (not that I’m there, but damn does that feel awesome to know I’m so much closer at age 32).
Alycia has been an incredible mentor, motivator, expert, and dear friend to me through this entire transformation. I am so blown away by her knowledge and expertise, and I truly feel like she’s got my back. I am so grateful to her for showing me I possess the strength and dedication to achieve my goals and sustain a healthy, active life as a mother.
As Autumn, the season of preschool, colder months, and a packed schedule settles in, I’m looking forward to a new routine. I plan on continuing my training with Alycia, while incorporating more of the dancing classes I love dearly. I’m still working towards the pull up, and I plan to reward myself with a statue of a Valkyrie when I’ve made it that far. The strength and ferocity of the Valkyrie is often an image I’ve used as inspiration for my “ideal body.”
An absolute force of feminine agility and strength.
A warrior’s physique for the battle that is surviving this world.
Because I am a warrior, and I am victorious.
Thank you for taking the time to read about the road so far, and I look forward to updating you as the story unfolds.
Have a blessed Virgo New Moon cycle, and Blessed be.
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