And it Begins...

Well hi there. :) I'm Rebecca Tones. I'm not much of a writer in the literary sense. Coincidentally, though my last name hints at it, I write music, lyrics. Not blogs.  So why am I here? Well, accountability.  I'm about to make some changes. Very big changes. This blog will serve as a tool to keep track of the journey and to share it with those who know and love me. Or don't love me, or don't know me. Whomever happens to stumble upon it I guess :)

First, a little back story. As of today, I'm a 27 year old mother of five little boys, and expecting the sixth about May 15th. There's Aiden (9), Evynn (7), Seth (5), Jakob (2), Corbin (10 months) and baby Waylon is going to be joining us soon.  Which brings me to those changes I was talking about.  As you can see, I've spent the majority of my adult life PREGNANT. I'm ready to reclaim my body. I'm not just talking about "losing the baby weight". I'm talking about fitness. I'm talking about having the body I've always wanted, the body I'm meant to have. A healthy, toned, fit, muscular, flexible body. How am I going to do that? Well, first I have to evict this womb squatter, but I digress. I have a plan.

I'm currently hovering around 200 lbs. (Mind you I'm in the third trimester of my third pregnancy in four years) I'm 5'7'' and even when I'm not pregnant, that weight is evenly distributed. Between pregnancies, I've stayed between 165-185.  I became pregnant with Waylon only three months after having Corbin, so I didn't get much of a chance to get back down to my smaller size.  I've stayed around a size 9/10 at the smallest and 16/18 at my largest throughout the past decade. I know (from plenty of experience) that I will be at about 185 within a month of having Waylon. What's my ideal size? I don't think I'll know that till I get there. I think my body will settle into that. But I do think that 145lbs is a good number for me to shoot for.  What I end up as once I've put some lean muscle on this body may be more or less, who knows. It's not so much about a number for me as it is HEALTH.  If I am healthy and fit, I will be happy with my size, whatever that is.

Changes - Some of the changes, I've already made.  Food.  I love food. All kinds. Especially the bad for you kinds like deep fried anything and red meat and things that involve flour and sugar.  But alas, I am now armed with the knowledge that those things make us fat and sick.  I admit, I've still been known to occasionally indulge in the bad throughout my pregnancy - because darn it, sometimes all you want after a bout of morning sickness is a hamburger!  And sometimes nothing will quench the pregnant craving other than a cupcake! But, once I'm no longer an incubator and medically cleared to eat and exercise as I wish, I will adhere to the following:

No flour, no sugar
No processed foods
No meat ( I will eat fish and eggs )
No dairy
Beverages - water only

That means I'll be eating a mostly plant based diet that includes a lot of locally grown organic produce. Good carbs will come from sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc.. Protein sources will be beans, fish, eggs, and I will supplement with plant based protein powder shakes (Vega is my choice because it doesn't have added sugars http://myvega.com/ )

I'll also be using portion control to keep myself around 1800 calories a day. Here's what an average day might look like:

Breakfast:
Two eggs
1 oz plain oatmeal(measured when uncooked - not the instant/flavored kind - that has sugar)
6 oz fruit

Pre-workout snack:
3 Celery sticks with raw almond butter

Post work out recovery shake:
1 scoop chocolate vega protein powder, 3 oz blue berries, 1 cup almond milk (unsweetened), 1 tsp spirulina. Blend and enjoy!

Lunch:
1 baked sweet potato
Baked tilapia
6 oz steamed asparagus

Snack:
1 apple
Handful raw cashews

Dinner
8oz Massaged kale and mango salad
4 oz Black beans
3 oz brown rice
6oz Steamed yellow squash

And there you have it. Approximately 1800 calories of nutritious food to help my body do what it needs to.

Part two of the plan is... Dun dun dunnnnnn..... Exercise! It's a good thing I like exercise! ;) My gym of choice will be Psycho Gym in Addison. As you can imagine, it is named for its intensity. It's a kettle bell gym. The trainers utilize heavy ropes, tires, suspension training, all kinds of creative things to help engage your entire body for the hour long work out. Their moves burn about 20 calories per minute on average, so there are some crazy fast results.

Target date to begin: July 1st. This will be the first day I'll be medically cleared to exercise - 6 weeks after I have baby Waylon. Hubby and I are going to do this together and have a little challenge ;). We'll commit to going to the gym 5 days a week over the first 6 week period and measure our results.

Not sure what the winner will get yet, other than a hot new physique :)

The attached pictures show me at my various sizes. From my smallest to pregnant and thereafter, just to give you a good idea of what we're dealing with.