Alexa, an inspiring mother to a 3-month-old baby girl, reclaimed her health and now shares her journey with others. She also promotes body positivity, helping everyone remember they are worthy of self-love. Despite being a busy mom, Alexa wanted to make sure she took care of herself as well. Here is her story about how she took her health back.
“My fitness journey actually started in the fall of 2018. At my heaviest, I weighed 272 pounds, so I started going to the gym. About a year later, I had lost 50 pounds, and then I just kind of hit this wall,” Alexa said. “I wasn’t really losing weight. I finally got back into it, and I ended up getting pregnant.”
A moment of awakening
This changed Alexa’s life forever, and pretty soon, the stress of becoming a mom got to her. She knew she needed to get back on track and focus on her health once again.
“This last October, I delivered a beautiful baby girl. After I delivered, I lost probably 15-20 pounds immediately, and then I started eating whatever I wanted. I weighed myself at the doctor, and I was 255, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! This is horrible!’”
The weight gain came as a shock to her, but she didn’t let it keep her down. Instead, she decided to shift her focus from losing weight to just keeping herself healthy.
View this post on Instagram
“It was really demoralizing, honestly, I realized at that moment. I said, ‘I have to take my health back again.’ I started working out again, and now I am down to 238. For me, this time around, it’s about creating a lifestyle that I can maintain for my family, for my daughter, and for myself. I want to be comfortable again in my own skin, and I’m getting there.”
The inspiring mother promotes body positivity as well as fitness
Alexa will not allow her daughter to grow up ashamed of herself.
“I wear crop tops to the gym all the time with my little “mum tum,” and I rock it. Yeah, you can see my stretch marks from being pregnant, but those are battle scars. We need to learn not to be ashamed of our bodies. Girlfriend, I’m here to tell you, you know what? You wear the short shorts, wear the crop top, and be confident.”
Alexa says she wants her daughter to grow up loving her body instead of hating herself.
In a powerful Instagram post, Alexa says:
“Women don’t just hate their bodies, we are taught to.
I refuse to let my daughter learn this nasty habit. As babies, we all had little rolls and thick thighs. So when did that stop being acceptable and start being unattractive?
We are taught to pick ourselves apart for being too fat, too skinny, too ugly, the list goes on and on. Constantly focusing on the negatives instead of looking at the positives and just how far we come.
I could easily sit here and say my stomach’s too fat in this picture, or my back roll looks huge. Honestly, though, my mindset has changed. I feel proud of how far I’ve come. How much more toned my stomach is than a month ago or smaller my back roll is. We have to learn to build ourselves up instead of ripping ourself apart.
So teach yourself, your daughters, your friends, your family, hell even strangers, as women, we are all beautiful. We all have imperfections and quirks that make us perfectly us. Embrace them. Focus on the positives and how far you’ve come.
Above all, though, love yourself.”
View this post on Instagram
More people should remember this advice, as we often get caught up in comparing ourselves to others. We never feel good enough this way because someone always outshines us. We can never keep up, and we end up feeling defeated.
However, instead of bringing yourself down, lift yourself up, as Alexa said. Focus on what makes you beautiful, and hold onto that image of yourself. This way, your inner self-talk will slowly start becoming more positive.
The inspiring mother has a few words of wisdom for those wanting to become healthier.
“My advice for people who are just starting out is to not get discouraged. When you see a picture on Instagram and the person has lost 100 pounds, that didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t a linear line for them.”
Oftentimes, we forget that social media doesn’t show the whole story. A lot happens behind-the-scenes in people’s lives, but we only see a few moments of that. You never know how long it took them to get to that point, either.
“They probably lost a bunch of weight, they probably gained some, then they lost some more. It’s a constant fluctuation and you have to mentally be able to handle that and get back in the game. Find something that’s easy to maintain, find things that you enjoy during the workouts, or get out and walk.”
As Alexa says, it’s important to find something you enjoy doing, so the exercise is more comfortable to stick with. After you get started, the workouts will become second nature, and you’ll even look forward to them!
“I really hope that you take the first steps because those first steps, while they are the hardest, they’re the most worth it in the end,” the inspiring mother says.
View this post on Instagram
Final thoughts: This inspiring mother loses weight and shares her story with others
Oftentimes, weight loss involves a lot more than just a physical transformation. Your mental and emotional outlook improves as well, and your confidence soars. Alexa experienced all of this with her health journey and wanted to share her story with others. She hoped that someone out there might want to start their fitness journey after seeing her triumphs and struggles.
Just remember that it won’t always feel like a walk in the park, but the struggles build your character. When you don’t want to work out, but you still hit the gym, that’s when you find your inner strength. No matter what you look like, workout with confidence and remember that the real transformation lies within.
Community
