Getting my body back

I used to be fit. In a sense, I guess I still am, considering I had a baby about 4 months ago and people say, "You look great" early on. But I’ll start from the beginning.

I never struggled with weight. Growing up, I didn’t exercise and I didn’t eat terribly either. In high school, I joined the dance team so I wouldn’t have to do PE. Even though I was athletic, good at sports, and competitive (at least I thought so), my mom never signed me up for sports, or it was very short-lived (side note: I did taekwondo, ice skating for hockey, swimming, and ballet, but I advanced so well and quickly that she was afraid I would want to pursue them and not academics, that she would pull me out). Going to college, my exercise was being a part of my hip hop dance team, CADC. We would compete and perform, and have late night practices and hell week.

[during auditions as a returner]

[Me bottom middle]

[Me on the right]

I graduated college, stopped dancing, and lived in South Korea for 7 months. There, I ate, drank, didn’t exercise, and gained some weight. That is the unhealthiest I had ever been: the food, drink, and lifestyle I had. When I returned home, things kind of settled, I dated and married my first/only boyfriend, and had a baby boy.

I remember clearly, the defining moment I decided to change my health and lifestyle. After about 1.5 years post-baby, my husband had bought me a pair of white jeans. I could barely zip it up and I couldn’t button the top. I decided then that I would start exercising, and fit into these pants instead of returning them. About 2-3 months later, after doing pilates from YouTube (blogilates), I fit into the pants!

Before I started exercising on the left, and fitting into the white jean on the right:

Some can’t tell if there’s a difference between the photos, but if you look carefully, there is. I felt healthier; I looked healthier; I was tone; and my lifestyle had changed to taking better care of myself and what I ate.

After about a year of doing pilates, I hurt my wrist, developing a ganglion cyst that hurt every time I extended my wrist.

So planking, push-ups, and even pushing doors to open them hurt. I stopped pilates, and started lifting. Then I started seeing changes in my body….to be continued