Julie's Flat Tummy Success
My Fit Yummy Mummy Journey -- A Year in Review
"15 months ago if you had asked me if I had ever considered a fitness program, I would have told you that I used to be a gymnast and that those were good times but that body is long gone, so no I was in no need for that.
I was the one walking around saying, I don't really need to lose weight -- I just need to tone up what I have, yet I had no idea how to do that.
That was my excuse.
My husband had started boot camps and a fat loss program with a local trainer when we lived in Indiana, so I wanted to support his efforts doing the best I could to prepare food at home that wasn't out of a box for the first time in my life. All too often we fell back on the easy road of pizza and fast food.
Yet, I still never gained a pound. However, my body shape was changing. We had a 2 ½ year old at the time, so that became my excuse at that point.
I had just had a baby and I was all belly when I was pregnant, so of course I have a belly left -- I still wasn't convinced that I needed or wanted to change anything about the way I was living.
I could tell this was frustrating my husband -- but I didn't really understand why other than it was harder for him to focus on his journey because I didn't care about my body.
He read about Holly and Fit Yummy Mummy on his trainer, Ryan's Ketchum's, blog. He pulled me over to the computer and told me to sit down and read about this program.
I read all about it, and I was really impressed with what I was reading -- but in my mind I was not worth the money it would cost to purchase the e-book. So I just shrugged my shoulders and said, yeah, that looks great.
To my surprise Matt went ahead and purchased the book for me telling me just to read it because if Ryan is recommending this it has to be good. As I started skimming the book, I was brought to tears. It was the first time in my life that I felt like someone else really truly thought I had potential to be fit and was willing to do whatever he needed to do to convince ME of that too.
This brings us to 12 months ago...
We had just moved to Michigan and it became a new start for both of us. I started following the nutrition guidelines as best I could and started in on the workouts before I had a handle on anything else. The changes began immediately.
I remember Holly telling me after 6 short weeks that she could see my confidence growing just by the posts I was putting in ClubFYM.
This statement alone made me realize that changes were happening both physically and emotionally. I began getting a better handle on life and on my responsibilities. I stopped "playing mom" and "playing wife" and began allowing myself to truly grow up. I began respecting myself.
I began allowing the person I had always been to
disappear and allowed my new self to take over.
This helped me to be a more passionate teacher -- no longer the one sitting on the floor just talking across the room to a 3 year old, but rather the one who wanted to get up and walk over to that child and really talk with them. I WANT to be moving now. I have a hard time even sitting through a 30 minute television show because I want to be up being productive and DOING something with my life!
The most challenging part of this process has by far been nutrition. I have really had to shut out the all or nothing mindset and realize that this truly is a process.
Working in a preschool being surrounded by "comfort food" both on the menu for the children and just in the school in general, it is very difficult to eat supportively all of the time. The beginning of the Fall Challenge is when I finally started getting a handle on my school eating habits and shutting them down slowly but surely. You don't realize how much that handful of cheese crackers one day and that chocolate chip cookie the next day can stall your results.
I was determined to be the girl that could get results by eating whatever she wanted. Well I was wrong! I have come a long way but I still have a long way to go to reach my end goal and nutrition is the key to that success.
My top 3 Fit Yummy Mummy Success Tips:
1. The most important thing is to be connected!
If I were not connected in the forums to Holly and to the other women I would be no where close to where I am today. I am very fortunate to have my husband next to me 150% during this journey, but there is something about filling that social / accountability piece with other women that can't be filled any other way. I have made several close friends online and because of connecting through ClubFYM I met someone, in my area, who is now a very dear friend making a move to a place where we knew no one except family much easier!
2. Plan ahead
It wasn't until I started pre-portioning out veggies and making bulk meals on Sunday to pack for lunches on Monday that I was able to truly kick the school eating habit. Planning ahead over the weekend allows for brainless mornings of packing lunches and getting snacks for the day. Now I can just grab and go.
3. Trust the system and give it time
I was determined to take Holly's advice and tweak it to what I wanted it to say yet I still expecting to get the results that everyone else talked about. WRONG!!! It wasn't until I stepped outside of the bubble I was living in and allowed myself to trust Holly and the program as it is designed that I started seeing amazing results. This trust allowed me to put on a bikini for the first time in my life without a t-shirt over the top to hide my bloated belly.
Bikini Confidence!
This is where I am today -- I am still striving to reach my goal of eating 85-90% clean consistently so that I can get rid of the last few inches of my "mommy belly". I continue to take steps towards this goal everyday and I know that with time and consistency I will be at the place I've always dreamed of being -- but even now I am proud to say I am truly a Fit Yummy Mummy."
~ Julie Sizemore, Age 28, Mom to 3 year old Matilyn, Grand Rapids MI
Congratulations on your Success Julie!
I am so thankful to have had the chance to meet up with you and share in these special memories! You are an awesome friend! ~ Holly
|
