Moms Can Do Hard Things!
Let’s be honest, taking on your journey as a mom is hard. Your body is different, you are relearning everything from routine to relationships, and you question if you're capable of being that healthy, confident version of yourself that you want to be.
We're tackling that struggle head on here so get ready for the equipping and encouragement you've been looking for!
I spent a LOT of time reflecting the first half lol of this year — why I got into the health and fitness space, why I started sharing my journey before even becoming a mom, and how that's evolved over time. I realized it's all been to show you that if someone like me can _____, you can too.
One of the biggest moment since becoming a mom was my first time postpartum… I didn't recognize myself at all. I’d gained 90 pounds and felt like I was facing Mount Everest. It was SIMPLE consistency over a full year that led me to losing the weight and having a healthy, complication-free second pregnancy and so that's what I focused on sharing for a while!
But a few months back — lightbulb moment— I couldn't shake the fact that…
this all was so much more than just habits.
Wherever you're at — whether you're trying to lose weight postpartum or wanting to take on some sort of physical challenge that will push you or you simply want to take control of your health — what ties all of us together is belief.
We need reminders as moms that we are capable.
…and not just of doing the day to day things. You know you can do those because you have no other option. You need reminders that you are capable of MORE than you let yourself believe. There are 2 necessary components to building that belief that you are capable and can do these hard things.
Education
Knowledge is power. The more you know and the more informed you can be about each and every decision you make regarding your health, the more empowered you will be.
You're not just trying keto or intermittent fasting or the next new hot workout program because your sister in law said it worked for her.
Knowing as much as you can about various topics will equip you to do what is best for YOU and YOUR health considering your circumstances, goals, family life, etc.
It's so empowering to know what you're doing! And every expert I bring on whether in the field of nutrition, fitness, pelvic floor, mental health, weight loss, time management, or the likes will help equip you to confidently take on your journey!
Encouragement
I can't begin to tell you how many inspiring triathlon stories I ATE UP in that season of going from "I'm not a runner" to Ironman finisher.
Each story I read or heard helped build my belief that if they could do this, I absolutely could too.
Now goal here isn't to get you to cross an Ironman finish line, but you have your hard and it's vital you hear stories of moms who have overcome hard things too.
Moms’ stories of perseverance, overcoming self-doubt, and finding ways to make it work within the context of their busy lives will be here to inspire you just like so many have done for me.
Moms out there are doing hard things every day. YOU ARE one of them.
It's time you realize that yes you are capable, you are doing the hard things, and you are getting after it!
Are you ready to finally get off of that roller coaster of a health and fitness journey?
Join Starting Point School and let's get you on track to your healthiest life!
FULL TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] There is a mindset that has slowly creeped its way into the minds of moms all around the world. It's a mindset of complacency. What we do every day is hard. Your body is way different. You're relearning everything from routine to relationships to who you even are and every single day. You question if you're capable of being that version of yourself that you picture in your mind, that healthy, productive person, competent that you used to be or want to be.
You question that. Well, we're tackling that mindset here at the tough of mom podcast with the information and resources that you're looking for to lead a healthy life as a mom. While also giving you the encouragement that you need to keep going, get ready for the equipping and encouragement you've been looking for.[00:01:00]
Hey friend, welcome to the tough love mom podcast. You are here because deep down, you know, that you were made to do hard things. Whether hard for you is getting motivated, losing weight. Testing your mental and physical limits, simply taking control of your health or all of the above. You want to learn the right way to approach all of this while also getting encouraged along the way.
My name is Liz and I've been where you are. I gained a lot of weight in my pregnancies, but with consistency in the right habits and a realistic mindset, I lost the weight sustainably and became the healthier version of myself. Yes, I had ever been. We are capable of so much more than we think. You are not a hot mess mom that rides the struggle bus.
You're here because you're different. And [00:02:00] my mission is to help you realize just how capable you are. If you're ready to take control of your health, challenge your mindset and be inspired by moms who have done hard things. You are in the right place. You're about to transform your life. My friend get pumped up.
It's tough love time.
Okay, friend, you want to win a free free? Yes, free 99 coaching call with me. Whether you need help figuring out where to start in your journey or what to do to get unstuck from the plateau that you're at, whatever it is, this is your chance to win big. I do not give these away often at All, and it's over a hundred dollars in value for free, simply by letting me know what you think of the podcast.
How do you do that? Leave a written review. The key is that it's written. So to enter to win, all you have to do is leave a written review. [00:03:00] Uh, if you're just tapping the stars, that's not going to do it because I won't know that you left a review. You have to write it out. It's best to do that in Apple podcasts.
And screenshot that review before you send it in screenshot it so I know that you have that that it's sent in sometimes they take some time to process. And then either post your screenshot in the Tough Love Mom Squad or text it to me at 205 809 7300. That's where I send out Tough Love texts and just can communicate with you.
But that is the best way to send in the screenshot. Again, the Tough Love Mom Squad on Facebook or send it to our text messages and you will get entered. Into the giveaway for a free coaching call with me. Now the giveaway entries end at midnight, June 30th, they end then. So do it now while you're here listening to the podcast.
Okay. I cannot, I cannot wait to spend that time with one lucky winner so you can get on the right path in your health journey as a [00:04:00] mom, again, written review, take a screenshot and send it in. I'm so excited. Okay. I spent a lot of time reflecting. Throughout the whole first half of this year, uh, things like why I got into the health and fitness space, why I started sharing my journey before even becoming a mom and how that's evolved over time.
And the one thing that all of this has been built on since day one is to show you, Hey, if someone like me, who's just like your everyday run of the mill woman, uh, can do X, Y, Z, you can do it too, because. I see this all the time. I'm nothing special. I am just like you. The only difference is my mindset, how I think, and that has been built over time.
Um, and all of this actually started with running of all things. I played volleyball in college and obviously for all the years preceding college, it was my sport. It was my thing. And in college when we would go... Train and in the weight [00:05:00] training facility, uh, we would warm up usually for a few minutes on a bike or a treadmill or an elliptical and I avoided the treadmill like it carried the plague for real.
Um, I was like anti running. I five minutes of running. No, thanks. I'm not capable of that. And I just truly believed like I was not built for running. I don't know where that belief came from, but I avoided treadmills running any of that. Like the plague and on a win after volleyball my career ended and I was done with college I decided to try sprint triathlon.
Um, I loved it and a sprint triathlon ends with a 5k So I was like doing some running right? So I did it. I loved it And when I crossed that finish line, I was like, I'm gonna do an Ironman full, well knowing that ends with a marathon, but I had to get there. So, um, after that sprint triathlon, which is a shorter, it takes you about an hour.
I signed up for a couple more and a couple longer ones. And I was training that summer. [00:06:00] And I had a five mile run on my training calendar. So, I was at home, and this was actually, I got into triathlons after undergrad, before grad school, so I was still in college. But, this was the summer between those years, and I told my mom, I was like, Hey, um, I'm supposed to run five miles today.
Now, I don't know if I can, mom. So, if I don't get back in like an hour, cause I was running like nine to ten minutes. Paces around 10 minutes and it was a hot July day I knew it'd probably take me like 10 minutes a mile. So I'm like alright I'll give myself an extra 10 minutes mom If I'm not back at the house in an hour You need to call 9 1 1 and then come out looking for me because I've died Because I've never ran fun about five miles before and that I legit believe that I was like dead serious telling her That statement, because I did not know if I could do it.
I did not know if I could run five miles. Now I got back from that run after about 50 minutes, I did it. And that was one [00:07:00] of many turning points in my belief in myself. And again, less than three years from then. I ended up doing a full Ironman, which yes, ends with 26. 2 miles of running. Now, I went from deep down, truly believing I am not a runner, to knowing with not a doubt in my mind, just a few years later, that I would finish an Ironman, including The 26.
2 miles of running to finish it. Now I've ran and walked that, but I did 26. 2 miles when just a few years prior, I truly did not know if my body would physically make it through five miles. Think about that. Now, all of this happened in my pre mom days. But I am now sitting here almost five years into motherhood, and I have faced handfuls of pivotal moments just like that one.
The biggest one looking back here, almost five years in was when I was [00:08:00] postpartum with my firstborn. Um, I did not recognize myself at all in that pregnancy. I'd gained 90 pounds. I ended up being diagnosed with preeclampsia at just. Just under 37 weeks, um, was induced and I did those first few weeks after birth lose 40 pounds, 40 to 50 pounds.
Um, a lot of that was water weight from the swelling that happened from preeclampsia. Um, some of it was obviously from birth and the baby and everything, but by the time I was cleared, I still had like 40 to 50 pounds to lose to get my body to a healthier place because my body was not healthy carrying around the weight.
It was. Still carrying around and I felt like I was facing Mount Everest. Um, it was intimidating, and I knew I could probably do it, but there were lots of moments of doubt, lots of moments of, I don't look like myself, I don't feel like [00:09:00] myself, I can't move my body the way I used to because everything's been moved around and my core is not there anymore, and I was just flabbergasted, for lack of a better word, I was like, there were lots of days where I just was like, well, I guess I'll show up today and see what happens, because I didn't know what the outcome would be, I didn't know If I could do it, there was that doubt.
It wasn't this like severe lack of belief. Like when I truly thought I was not a runner, but it was close and it did not feel good. But after literally just simple consistency over a full year, a full 12 months of time, I did lose those 40 to 50 more pounds and I got pregnant and had a healthy, complication free second pregnancy.
And so for a while, that's what I focused on sharing because I came to learn that there's a lot of moms who do gain more than the, um, suggested amount of weight in pregnancy. I was one of them both times. [00:10:00] I gained 60 pounds with my second child. Something about boys. I don't know. I, I don't know what it is.
Um, but I ended up having an epiphany a few months back after for a while sharing about my pregnancy and weight loss journeys because. But like I said, I came to realize a lot of moms were in similar boats that I had been in and it's a really lonely place to feel like, wow, I gained more weight than I was like textbook supposed to, and now I don't feel like myself and I don't recognize myself and I'm learning this whole new role and it's lonely.
And so when I started sharing a lot of moms. Realized, wow, like I'm not alone in this and that's so encouraging to see and to hear and because it was so simple, not easy, but simple to lose the weight. It was just consistency in the very simple things and eating well and moving my body and sleep was what it was those first, those first years postpartum.
Right. But a few months back, um, earlier [00:11:00] this year, because I was about two years postpartum, um, for my second, I had this epiphany where I couldn't. I just couldn't shake the fact all of this that I'd been doing personally in my own journey and sharing with you guys is so much more than just habits, where you're at, whether you're wanting to lose weight postpartum, or maybe you're wanting to take on some sort of physical challenge, which I've done handfuls of since having kids like Spartans and these running challenges and just fun things that challenge your body that will push you to your limits.
Or maybe you just want to take control of your health. What ties all of us together, even though what we're focusing on is slightly different and what I've focused on at different points in my journey has been slightly different. What ties us all together is a belief thing. We need reminders a lot as [00:12:00] moms that we're capable.
And not just of doing the day to day things, because you know, you can do those since you're doing them every day, right? Like you're proving that to yourself every day. I can get up, I can be a mom, I can feed the kids, I can keep them going, I can change the diapers, we can do this. Like you have, you prove that to yourself day in and day out.
It's the other things, right? Cause you don't, we don't have any other option with a lot of those, but there's things that we do choose one way or the other. And you need those reminders that you're capable of more.
And again, maybe it's because of how motherhood changed your body and your routine, or maybe it's because you're trying to be the first in your family to actually lead a healthy life. You've never had that example, so you genuinely don't know if you can do it because you just haven't ever seen it or done it yourself.
Whatever it is that you're facing or trying to take on, you have a hard time [00:13:00] believing that you can. And I've been there before kids, after kids. It's rough, but I have found that there are two necessary components to building that belief that you are capable and you can do these hard things. The first component is education.
Knowledge is power. I don't know who said it. Someone did someone big and mighty did, but the more, you know, the more informed you can be about each and every decision that you make regarding your health. The more powerful that is, the more confident you are in taking this on, right? You're, you're working from a place where you're not just trying keto or intermittent fasting or the next new hot workout program because your sister in law said it worked for her.
No, you're knowing as much as you can about various topics [00:14:00] and that what that does is equips you. To do what is best for you and your health, considering your goals and your circumstances and your family life, all of it, it allows you to personalize all of this stuff that you're soaking in and learning to your own life.
So you can do what's best for your body and for your journey and for your family. It is so empowering. And this is just speaking from experience to know what you're doing and every expert that I bring on come fall. And after whether they're in the field of nutrition, fitness, pelvic floor, mental health, weight loss, time management, whatever it is, they're going to help equip you to confidently take on your journey, to know what you're doing and why you're doing it.
You're not just doing it because it worked for someone else. You're doing it because you know, this, you've been educated on it. You know how it works and why it works. And if. And how it will work for [00:15:00] you, and then you can go apply. So education and equipping is component number one to doing hard things again, whether hard is weight loss or taking on something that's going to test your limits or simply taking control of your health and that of your families.
These are all hard, but getting educated and equipped. Is a big piece of doing that. And you're getting that here from the perspective of motherhood. We're not just going to be some like big old health show that brings out all these experts and doesn't give you the lens of motherhood. You will get everything through the lens of being a mom, because that's who we are and the space that we're working from now, the position that you're working from, what's the second component of doing hard things.
It's encouragement. Now, I didn't bring this up when I told you the running story earlier, where I went from truly thinking I might not make it back from a five mile run to doing an Ironman. [00:16:00] But what a huge piece, aside from like training and learning about training and how to train well and how to feel my body.
I educated myself on all of that to get to that point. I also leaned really hard into encouraging and inspiring stories. I cannot even begin to tell you how many like motivational triathlon stories I ate up in that season. Okay. I cannot even tell you how many, a few that come to mind are amputees. Who finished Iron man's burn victims.
There was this father son duo. Um, the son had a disability, so his father toed in the water and on the bike and pushed him on the runs through multiple Iron mans. These are 140 plus mile triathlons. Okay, so his grown son has adult grown son. They did multiply Ironman's. Inspiring, even an 80 year old nun who is doing [00:17:00] Ironman's like come on these.
Stories just made me go, Whoa, like these people are doing this kind of stuff. And I am a healthy, young 20 something year old. I can do that if they can, I can too. Every single story that I read or heard helped build my belief that again, if they can do this, I absolutely can too. No question in my mind.
Now, the goal here is not to get you to cross an Ironman finish line. Don't worry. I mean, it can be if you want it to, but they're not for everyone and that's fine. But you do have your own hard and it's vital that you hear stories of moms who have overcome hard things too. So you're going to hear from moms who have done marathons, Spartan races or other feats, other physical feats while balancing motherhood.
You're going to hear about moms who have gone through hard things emotionally or with their family. And how they worked through that and continued to [00:18:00] stay healthy through that. You're going to hear from everyone from professional athletes to the mom next door. And they've are, some of them have already been on the podcast.
We've had Carrie Walsh Jennings, Olympic gold medalist. Um, my best friend, who's again, the mom next door, who's ran a marathon and is training for another one. Who's got two little kids close in age. There are so many stories of perseverance overcoming self doubt. And finding ways to make it work within the context of their busy lives.
And they're going to be here. Those stories will be here on this podcast to inspire you. Just like so many stories of other people have done for me. It is vital that you get that encouragement along the way, because that is what will help motivate you to keep going on the days that you're just like, what is this even for?
Am I even capable? You can hear from me all day long saying, yes, you are, but it's really encouraging to hear it from other people through the stories that are their life. There are moms [00:19:00] out there doing hard things every day. And I just want to tell you real quick that you are one of them. It's time you realize that, yes, you are capable.
You are doing the hard things and you are getting after it. Don't forget to leave a review to get entered for a chance to win a free coaching call with me. Again, write a review, screenshot it and send it in. You've got this week to get that done. Cannot wait to help encourage you and equip you on this journey.
This is what we're here for. We're here to do hard things and moms need to be reminded that there are moms just like them doing these hard things, but also you need that knowledge. You need that education and those resources.
So again, leave a review, make sure that you send it in if you want an entry into this free coaching call giveaway, and I will chat with you [00:20:00] next time, mama, get after it before you go, thank you Spending this time with me on the tough love mom podcast. If this episode encouraged you in any way, the number one way you can thank me is to leave a review, letting me know how the show has impacted you.
Then send this episode to another mom friend or take a screenshot, post it on social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me on this journey to impact thousands of moms. I'm so grateful to be on this journey with your sister until next time, get after it.
