No more living in Denial

I know I've been MIA, I know I've been a slacker.  I feel like it would only benefit me to tell you what I've been struggling with.  For close to two years, on and off, I've been dealing with anxiety.  It started with my last pregnancy when I developed hyperemesis gravidarum and then found out that there was a suspected molar pregnancy along with my healthy baby.  I was very sick and there was a lot of uncertainty with my health, the safety of me and my unborn child and added financial responsibilities of adding a new member to our family (who would fit in our current vehicle).  Once the nausea backed down and I could function more "normally", and I found out there was no molar pregnancy or threat to my pregnancy,  things improved.  I became excited instead of anxious. A few months ago, out of nowhere, the anxiety returned.  My personal research has found that postpartum anxiety can be normal so I'm trying to deal with it the best I can.  I'm working with my doctor and trying to make sure that I exercise. I have stopped bottling in my anxiety and instead I am letting my husband know when I am feeling anxious so he knows that I need more help as I tend to get overwhelmed more easily.  It's not been an easy thing for me to deal with.  I inherited the perfectionist gene from my mother and as a SAHM to four small children I feel like I need to be able to "do it all", all the time.  I've learned that I need to let myself have bad days, but also not to let the bad days become a habit.  I need to brush myself off and jump back on the horse.  My anxiety is still not as controlled as I would like, but I think now that I"m at the point where I'm acknowledging it, it's become a little easier for me to try and conquer. 

My current goals are my mental health more than physical fitness, but to me they also tie together.  My physical fitness is going to be centered around workouts I can do without being overwhelmed so that I can feel accomplished and hopefully lessen the blows of anxiety.   I can't promise that I won't have bad days that I want to go into hiding, but I'm coming out of my anxiety closet to have some accountability.  I know this isn't something that I can do all by myself, I need support and encouragement just like everyone else.  On August 1st I'm starting a 10 minute Trainer Challenge Group.   I will be doing it along with the people who sign up so that we can support each other.  There will also be a Challenge within the Challenge where you receive points for your daily posts, encouragement and can win prizes from me.  If this is something you're interested in then message me at my facebook page, Think Fit, Not Skinny for more details.  I hope to hear from you SOON!  Stop making excuses for why you can't make healthier choices.  

Let's win something!

I decided that I've been distracted from my blog for far too long so here I am, coming out of hiding.  This is primarily my blog to talk about my fitness journey, but part of that is also sharing Beachbody.  I don't do it to make a buck or push product.  It's just a part of what I'm doing and as a Coach, it's part of who I am.  I unashamedly look forward to my chocolate Shakeology and I love crying out in pain when Tony Horton makes me kick my own butt into shape.  (Okay, the last part is probably a stretched truth, some days I really hate Tony Horton and his perkiness).

I also am not perfect and I know how hard it is keep make fitness a daily habit.  Becoming a member of teambeachbody.com can help you with that.  There are some great benefits of just signing up for a free account.

You get:
*Your own personal Coach for guidance and support (That would be, yours truly)
*Access to the online SuperGym^®, where you can schedule and log your workouts and easily track your progress
*Message boards and chatrooms to help you find new friends and workout partners, and get advice and support from the entire community
* If you have the P90X App for iPhone: Freedom to track and log your workouts in the SuperGym from your iPhone
* Access to Michi's ladder (food substitution plan)
* Recipes
*Nutritions tools and tips
*And more that I don't really feel like having to type out for you.  

So go check it out.  It can't hurt anything to have a free account.  If you go to www.beachbodycoach.com/JessMKing and click "Join" and choose "Free account".  I'm going to raffle off a Shakeology shaker with a serving of Shakeology of YOUR choosing (either Vegan Chocolate or Vegan Tropical Strawberry).   

The only catch is that you *must* sign up by Sunday night at 11:59pm. Thats February 17th, ya'll.  That gives you four more full days (and then some) to make a free account so that you can try and win a Shaker bottle from me.  Winner will be notified by email on Monday February 18th. 

Why are you still here?!

:)

Endorphins make you happy

Today my husband and I started P90X together.  I've been on and off the P90X bandwagon for awhile.  I've gotten derailed by different circumstances and I keep trying to hop back on.  Whenever I happen to not be working out I always miss it but simultaneously dread it.  I find as I keep pushing myself to keep going, I dread it less and less.  The more I work out, the better I feel about myself and I need to keep focusing on that to push through the difficult days.

The great thing about today is the stars aligned for us.  any parent knows how hard it is to find that one perfect time to do anything without interruption.  The more kids you have, the more difficult it can be.  Today we were incredibly lucky that our three girls all decided to take a nap long enough for us to do our Chest & Back workout (Ab Ripper X will come after they go to bed but is less than 20 minutes and not hard to fit in).  Our oldest was happily playing some train games on the computer, score!  My goal is for at least me to start working out earlier in the day, alone.  I plan on working out in the mornings before the kids wake up, or at least have my breakfast before they wake up so that I can workout while they have breakfast.  This will allow me to distract them so my husband can get his workouts in when he is home from work.  On weekends we can work out together.

The problem I generally face with working out late at night is sometimes a kid has a bad night and wakes up, usually the littlest one who needs to be nursed.  This usually pushes my workouts back farther than I'd like and also means I'm so energized afterwards that I can't fall asleep at a decent time.  It's really a vicious cycle.

What are you doing to ensure that you can fit in your workouts?