I assume I’m not alone in admitting that I have a somewhat complicated relationship with fitness. Growing up I played several sports and thrived in a competitive, teamwork environment where my workouts were basically planned for me. But that all changed when I got to college and it’s been something of a roller coaster ever since.
I gained quite a bit of weight in college thanks to a lack of routine and sleep, not to mention all the late night pizza runs and soft serve from the cafeteria. Instead of hitting the gym I’d watch a movie with my roommates, putting my fitness on the back burner because socializing was top priority. By the time I graduated I was larger than I had ever been and happily determined to get back into shape.
I joined the Y and took every kind of class you can imagine – Zumba, Spin, Step (where I sprained my ankle, twice) and the occasional Pilates. I tried Pure Barre for a few months where I saw the biggest results but due to the high price I stopped. I attended a small yoga class weekly with some girlfriends and fell in love with the body and mind practice. I found a nice routine and found myself being more concisuous of what I was eating, resulting in some weight loss and more importantly, feeling good.
After I got married I fell off the wagon for a while, finding myself unmotivated to drive to the gym 30 min away (thank you, middle of nowhere KY and being a very happy newlywed). Taylor had to literally drag me most days and I found myself uninspired by all the free weights and machines. I desperately wanted to be apart of a class like I’d enjoyed before, so I searched the Internet. I found so many classes online and started looking forward to those classes.
During my pregnancy I was bound and determined to stay active so I tried to walk every day and do a short workout video. This series was my go-to and this was my favorite yoga practice. I felt so good during most of my pregnancy (excluding those last couple days because UNCOMFORTABLE) and I know that was because I forced myself to stay active. Once Annie arrived I relied heavily on long walks in the stroller and the occasional yoga video but honestly I found myself disinterested in hitting the gym for the most part.
Now working from home and being the mama to a very busy one-year-old I gravitate to short, effective workouts I can do from home at anytime of the day. I care nothing about dropping X amount of weight but instead I workout to get strong and feel good. On days when I don’t do a video workout I try to go for a long walk or do some crunches/squats while watching TV to stay on track.
My go-to videos include:
Barre: https://www.brit.co/barre-home-workouts/
PopSugar Fitness: https://www.youtube.com/user/popsugartvfit
Anything Bikini Body Mommy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJVplYL4GM8
Yoga With Adriene: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFKE7WVJfvaHW5q283SxchA
Do you struggle with being active every day? What works best for you? I’d love to hear.
Katie Powell Bell 