Celebrating The Small Wins - Weight Loss

I did it! I lost all the weight I had put in during my pregnancy with Kai. All sixteen kilos of it ... gone ... in eight months. I'm surprised, proud of myself and celebrating by going to KFC later. Joking ... or am I?

I'm not back to my pre children weight, I'll need to lose another 5 kilos but I don't know if that's the kind of body I want anymore ... well that's the excuse I tell myself ... kidding.

I didn't think I could achieve it in such a short period of time. I told myself in March I was going to bring it and ramp up the exercise regime, and since then lost the last 5 kilos in three months.

The scales says I've lost all the weight I had put on however my body certainly doesn't look like it did just before I had Kai. They say a woman's body takes longer to recover after consecutive births and for me this is true. The excess skin I produced during my second pregnancy didn't shrunk back like it did after my first. I think the rapid weight loss has also contributing to how my body currently appears as well. 

Ok, enough of the nit picking and more of the celebrating ...

How I did it? How I ramped it up? I started doing some high interval intensity training. I started doing things my body hadn't done before such as weight lifting and gymnastic movements. And did cardio movements my body was not use to like skipping, burpees and box jumps. These kind of movements are all done when I started doing Crossfit.

I'm not here to show off that I do Crossfit; or talk about Crossfit, cause Crossfitters do talk about it a lot - I don't blame them and I'm happy to join in a conversation about Crossfit cause it is addictive.

But I do want to say something to those who say its a "fad" or roll their eyes when others do talk about Crossfit. Don't rain on people's parade if they're passionate or interested in something positive. How would you like it if people rolled their eyes if you started talking about your kids or that recent holiday you went on or how your basketball team won the grand finals. People could be talking about subjects far more toxic than exercise and fitness.

So Crossfit. It's not for everyone but it doesn't mean its only for certain people. The box I go to have a range of members who go, from very young to very old. There are those who look like Michael Angelo's David and those who look more like Santa Clause, everyone starts somewhere.

For me this was what I needed. Before I started I thought I was relatively fit. I'm a cardio girl but needed to mix things up with something my body doesn't usually do. I lack strength and was something I've been saying I wanted to address for years. Crossfit ticks all those boxes for me and obviously was what my body needed to drop the last few kilos. I didn't even really change my diet I still eat roughly the same just have less of it.

I've also noticed a change in my body too. The excess skin seems to be shrinking and isn't as saggy. My core feels tighter so I've notice I have better posture; and I'm starting to see mussel tone in places I never use to.

And today was the cherry on the top for me. I got an email from my trainer, (our box owners regularly ask for feedback and it was a reply to some I gave.) Amongst his response was this comment 

"You are improving everyday you come in! You were actually in contention to being member of the month last month but pipped at the post!" 

What, who me? There is about 100 members who attend my box and there are people who lift heavier than me, complete higher reps than me or finish the workout faster than me. And sometimes it can be a little frustrating when I can't do what they do, but yet my small improvements have not been unnoticed. It's definitely motivating and encouraging and makes me want to work harder. Even though I didn't get the title the fact that I was even considered ... I could not remove the smile from my face for at least an hour.

So that's my little win I wanted to celebrate and share today. Care to share your body improvement win or exercise motivation story? I'd love to hear it.