Motherhood came quickly for me. I was 20 years old when I said, “I do” to my dear husband almost 9 years ago.  I became instamom and we became an instafamily. Being that young and entering into the whole momma role I decided I didn’t want to wait to have our children. I was 21 when we welcomed my now 7 year old son, and I was 24 when we welcomed my now 4 year old daughter.

In high school I could not gain weight to save my life. I was extremely skinny. Would I give anything now to have that metabolism. My husband says it all the time, “Youth is wasted on the young!” Ha Boy is he never lying. I never was one to work out or even consider myself a gym person. In high school I participated in the athletics program. So whatever the coaches had planned for our daily regimen, I did. That was the extent of my athleticism. Looking back now at old pictures, it’s hard to remember who I was back then. I had gained a lot of weight with each one of my babies. I was the nerd who believed you should eat for two and so I did. I went from 135-170lbs! Nursing them both always sucked the weight off very quickly after my pregnancies, but my body would never be the same in my eyes, and I became depressed.

Here is ME about to pop November 2009.

My dear husband joined a local gym when we moved and got settled into our new town. He worked out during both of my pregnancies. So as I got bigger, he got buffer! :0) I am not sure how exactly he talked me into going to the  gym with him, but he did. I started working out, (weight training) religiously after my baby girl turned 6 months old. I will most definitely blog about the benefits of working out with your spouse another time. I haven’t looked back since then, and I don’t ever plan on it. I  began to discover who I wanted to be through working out and making healthy eating choices. I was taking back my identity and I happened to really enjoy myself. We should all strive to be our own best friend because lets just face it, we can never escape ourselves. There is no other self gratifying feeling then to watch your body change because of the hard work , healthy choices, time, dedication, You invested in yourself.

I’m not suggesting that you take this to the extreme and become obsessed with yourself or start thinking all high and mighty about how you are better then others. Absolutely not! But taking the time to love yourself for who you are, the person whom God created , and what you want to become will challenge you. It will shape you and it will mold you into a better person.

Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

I think this is a huge piece of the puzzle to that very important command. (as you love yourself)

How much you love yourself will reflect on how much you love others! WOW I believe having a positive and healthy self image is extremely important as well. Just on that point alone I could blog for a hours, but I wont today. I will save all these other important beliefs in upcoming blogs.

Instead, I will leave you with this question, how are you loving yourself today?

Are you saying kind things about yourself or constantly tearing yourself down with your own ugly words of criticism? Remember how you are loving yourself should be the same way you are loving others! I lost sight of loving myself after raising my small babies. Don’t let motherhood hold you back from working out and reaching personal goals. You don’t have to do it by yourself either. Include your spouse and your littles!

xOxO

Leigh Leigh

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*gotta love those bathroom selfies 😉