When I first started teaching fitness classes, I was surprised how quickly my body responded to a structured exercise program. I mainly taught Pilates classes, with a dance class or two thrown in. But for the most part this was a structured program because I did Pilates on certain days, which counted as my strength training and the on other days I taught dance classes which counted as my cardio days.
While in my 9th month of pregnancy with my third child, I decided it was time to stop teaching classes and focus more on the clients I was personal training. It was getting to be too much to teach Pilates and dance with a big belly.
After the baby was born, I really thought it would be easy to get back to the gym and teach again. But life has a funny way of throwing curve balls at you and it wasn't meant to be. I still had clients to personal train and taught one or two private classes per week, but my routine was thrown off. Now instead of having structure in my exercise life, I had chaos. Some days I would be able to go for a walk, but there would be weeks where my only exercise would be teaching those one or two classes per week.
I was able to lose the baby weight with proper nutrition, breastfeeding and some exercise, but I wasn't looking as "toned" as I had looked before. Fast forward to another year and another pregnancy, and then even less exercise. I would do what I could, when I could, but it was hard with an almost two year old and being very tired myself. Once that baby was born, it was even harder to get into a routine because she arrived right before summer recess. So now I had 4 kids at home to take care of, one of which was an infant. I didn't mind though because I knew my top priority was making sure I got enough rest and taking care of the baby and the boys.
Once I felt up to it, I added walks in and even organized a stroller exercise class to help other moms and myself. This helped a little bit and it felt good, but my results were just mediocre and I knew I could do better.
Fitness instructors with kids of their own, will often only get their exercise while teaching a class. And if you're not teaching a lot of classes, you could be looking at only one day per week of exercise. Its easy to put every one's needs ahead of your own.
So it was a big step for me to purchase a program like P90X. I had to decide whether I was going to make the commitment to follow a structured plan of exercise and nutrition. Could I make the time for myself? Could I put myself ahead of the kids, the husband and the chores for 45 minutes each day? Well the answer was and still is yes. It took some getting used to and getting over the guilt, but I'm really glad that I decided to take the leap. I actually feel like I'm a better mom for taking back that 45 minutes of my life. You've heard the expression "if momma ain't happy, nobody happy..." right? Well it does have some truth to it. I'm making a commitment to invest in my mental and physical health. Hopefully my kids are picking up on his and will do the same when they grow up and have kids of their own.
So, if you've decided that you're ready to commit to a structured plan of exercise and nutrition to feel and look better, let me know. Hey, P90X isn't right for everybody, but I can help you choose a program that is right for you and will get you results if you stick with it.
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