My Fitness Journey

I find that there are two ditches folks often fall into when it comes to fitness: They either over complicate it or oversimplify it.

For example, It’s a common misconception that I work out every day of the week, abstain from any tasty food indulgences and take secret supplements that give me my results.

On the other hand, I get told regularly that I just have good genes and achieving my fitness goals is easier for me because of it…

I myself have fallen into fitness ditches during the 12ish years that I have been on my fitness journey.   I have also had some successes that I accidentally stumbled into and had to eventually learn to achieve purposefully.

I hope that by sharing the story of my journey so far, it will help inspire others to start a journey for themselves and also help those already on their journey to avoid some of the mistakes I have made.

This was my starting point about two months after little miss Abrielle was born…I was still breastfeeding, navigating life as a homeschool mom of three and wasn’t especially focused on getting my body back…just yet.

Six months later, however, I was beginning to wonder if the rumors were true and the cost of motherhood was losing the body I used to know and love…

Around that time, I started following some fitness influencer moms on Instagram who  had successfully gotten their pre-baby bodies back.

Following them, made me realize that I had already gained and lost baby weight twice before and there was no logical reason I couldn’t do it again…

I began using the hashtag #trusttheprocess, started making healthier food choices and bought a couple cute sundresses to get me through the summer as I allowed the process to bring results.

With three young children and no childcare, I decided the best way to move my body consistently was to go running on the local bike path.

I pushed the baby in a jogger with our golden retriever running along beside us and the two big kids rode their bikes.

As I mentioned, I had been living my summer in sundresses and stretchy sports clothes, so, that fall, it was a pleasant surprise to slide on a pair of jeans that I had bought in the spring and realize that they no longer fit.

That first summer, I lost about 25 pounds from those family runs three-four days a week.

Now I was back to my pre-baby weight…but despite the weight loss success, I didn’t love how my body looked… I was slim again, but didn’t look fit.

Tyson (my hubby) was always trying to get me to lift weights, but over the years, I had been terrified, as many women are, of getting too big and looking masculine.

These influencers I was following, however, were lifting heavy weights and were very feminine.  I mean, they had beautiful muscle development, but they looked both fit and feminine.

If lifting heavy made them look like that, I wanted to lift heavy too, but, how to do it with three littles at home, a husband who was out of the country half of the year and no childcare options at our local gyms?

To make it happen, I started driving 35 minutes (one way) to a YMCA twice a week (since they only offered two days of childcare) and an hour and 15 minutes to another YMCA to get in a third lift.

Yes! It was a lot of driving! Yes! I traded in my SUV I loved (Honda Pilot) for something with better gas mileage…but I was so grateful for the “me” time in the gym and for the opportunity to prove that the process of adding weight training into my lifestyle would help me create a shape for my body that was both fit and feminine!

The fact that I could only get in three workouts a week during this season of my life was a blessing in disguise as well, because it established that my body would respond positively to just those three lifts a week and that, no, I didn’t need to lift 5+ days a week to get results.

During the next four months, I dropped an additional two pants sizes and was all about these hashtags to connect me to other inspiring fitness stories: #trusttheprocess #consistencyiskey #fitnesslifestyle #momsactinglikeameathead #girlswithmuscles #momswholift

This was my first ever progress before/now side-by-side image I posted.

I loved how my body looked, how I felt and the guaranteed quiet time that I got three days a week while lifting. 

I started setting new goals for myself, to keep things interesting.  I wanted to deadlift over 200lbs; I wanted to be able to do a single pull-up by myself; I wanted to see if I could get abs.

As I plugged away week in and week out, I achieved these goals and those of you who have followed my fitness journey #arielannetrusttheprocesss (what became the hashtag I would use on my social media posts) got to follow along with my progress.

Here are a couple of celebratory posts from then in case you’re new to my story:

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“Celebrating a good gym day with a #flexfriday! I’m deadlifting 205lbs consistently now and did five pull ups, which is five more than I could do when I started lifting in November! Time to set new goals!!! #fitfam #momswithmuscle #girlsthatlift #momsactinglikemeatheads #momofthree #momswholift”

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“Leg days are my favorite days! Also, I love my new Live Fit tank @tysonhouchens got me. I view fitness as a lifestyle, not a goal weight or pants size and hope to encourage others to have the same mindset. #deadlift #205pounds #gettingstronger”

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Something I would like to take a moment to point out here is that I had only been focusing on building a healthier body for just over a year during all these pictures.

I call attention to this so folks can see that shedding fat and gaining muscle doesn’t have to take years and years to achieve.  Granted, I only had 25/30ish pounds I wanted to do away with…But, I also didn’t go into any of this with much guidance (besides Tyson teaching me the lifts, which I am forever grateful for). 

So, if you’re starting out with dialed in nutrition and are consistently pushing heavier weight and more reps, you could achieve much quicker results (as you’ll see I end up doing later in this tale).

About two years into my journey, I took this picture and shared the following as I was feeling frustrated.

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“I originally took this picture with no intention of sharing it publicly. I was just excited to see my pale, little abs in the VS fitting room mirror and wanted to get a current image and then see how much I can improve over the next couple months…

Well, after a couple recent conversations, I decided to share it and, hopefully, encourage others in their fitness journey.

The conversations I’m referring to are ones where I am held out as an exception to a normal fitness lifestyle. That fitness was pretty much a second (or third) job for me and that the average lady in the gym shouldn’t expect similar results… So, I wanted to make sure everyone knows that I get to workout three days a week. I use zero supplements and eat often and anything that my body craves (granted, I don’t crave Big Macs). The only thing I do that maybe the average lady isn’t doing, is that I’m being consistent. That’s it! I’m not putting in five plus days in the gym (I’m tempted to envy people that get that opportunity), I’m not taking a magic pill, I’m not dieting. My lifestyle is one that I’ve been able to maintain for nearly a year and a half now. I want people to see my fitness posts and think “if Ariel can do this, then I can to!” #enjoytheprocess #justkeepswimming #fitnesslifestyle #babyabs #fitmomofthree #fitnessinspiration #momswholift #momswithmuscle #momsactinglikemeatheads #fitfam #trusttheprocess #fittingroomselfie”

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I spent the next couple years simply staying consistent.  I lured friends and family members into lifting with me. 

Tyson and I used the childcare as an opportunity to spend time together sans kids each week.

Working out was just something that was part of my weekly rhythm and I liked to encourage anyone who would listen that if, they too, would make it a lifestyle, they could share similar success.

In 2017, my family moved to Oak Island, NC (Read That Blog Post Here!).

For the first year or so, I just stuck with what I knew, and my body kept responding as it had been for the past few years…Until, I hit my first pitfall.

I started pushing for more protein with zero understanding of the caloric cost of each choice.  I was lifting heavier than ever and noticed my clothes were fitting tighter and I was having to size up in new clothing purchases.

I told myself it was all muscle gain and really believed it until I stepped on a scale at someone else’s house (at this point I didn’t own a scale) and the number on there was unbelievable to me. 

I hadn’t been on a scale since I left Ohio a couple years earlier and the number I was seeing on this scale was a good 20lbs more than the last time I had weighed myself…

I had NOT gained 20lbs of muscle…that’s for sure…

I will start telling the story of what I learned by regurgitating a transformation post from April 2021 that shows me (on the left) with that extra 20lbs of “muscle” I had gained in 2019 and then 2 years later after I had lost the weight (in four months) and had then maintained for about a year.

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“When I started lifting, I didn’t understand a lot of the science behind reaching physical goals. I simply started making healthy food choices and lifting three or more days a week. (#trusttheprocess) I avoided a scale and didn’t track my nutrition because I wasn’t mentally ready to go there yet.

That was a great beginning and got me on the fitness path. To this day, I often recommend that ladies just get active, make healthy choices and stick with it! (#consistencyiskey)

But there are so many more tools and much more knowledge available if you’re ready for it. It just took me a while to get there.

About two years ago (This was right after I had stepped on that scale that told me I was up 20lbs in weight), I became interested in being more scientific in my fitness. A fitness lady I follow, @realheidipowell, posted about having a healthy relationship with the scale and using it as a tool instead of a measurement of your worth from day to day. I liked that message and bought my first scale ever and began to track my goals whether they be losing, gaining or maintaining.

Next, I started tracking my nutrition (I confess I am not a precise/measure everything tracker) and found where my calories needed to be to drop weight. Then I found how high I could push my caloric consumption and simply maintain.

I have always prioritized protein, but I learned that I could choose leaner protein options, get tons of protein, keep my calories where I wanted them and always still be able to enjoy the treats I love such as ice cream, wine and popcorn.

After a few months (it took 4 months) of being my own personal, science experiment, I had cut 20 pounds.

Once I reached my goal at the time, I began maintaining my gains and have done so for over a year, successfully navigating surgery, gym closures and a debilitating injury that knocked me on my ass for months.

I’m always learning more about fitness, nutrition, my body and how it responds, but I’m feeling much more confident as I learn more and I hope my story will inspire others to grow as well.”

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So, that post was nearly five years ago.

In the years following that, I have simply remained consistent.

I track my nutrition.  I weigh myself every morning and keep tabs on my body measurements.

I have heard from a lot of ladies that a scale causes them anxiety.  But, in my experience, the practice of taking my weight daily has been such an anxiety RELIEVING practice for me. 

When you weigh yourself daily, you can see just how much you can fluctuate from day to day.  You can see how you can go for weeks, weighing in at exactly the same weight and then, suddenly shoot up a couple pounds around your cycle, stress, lack of sleep, etc.

I feel terrible for ladies who weigh themselves sporadically. 

These sporadic weighers put in all the effort at the gym, are dialing in their nutrition and then they step on the scale and see it go up, it feels defeating…If only they had been weighing daily, they would have seen they were making progress and wouldn’t feel like giving up when they see that higher weight on that particular day.

But, I digress…

Now, measurements…I don’t think anyone will argue with me about the benefit of measuring!

I particularly love tracking measurements since my pet project the past couple years has been #growinggranderglutes.

It is very satisfying to put in the work, see the waist measurement stay steady, while the glute measurement increases….

If you’re curious what I am doing to focus on my glutes, here’s another blurb from an Instagram post where I talk about that… But first, here’s a little comparison so you can see where my glutes started:

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“I posted back in September saying I had hopes to add an inch to my glutes…I am thrilled to say that I have now added just a little over two inches on my glutes since then, while keeping my waist at the same measurement!

Also, in that September post, I said I was doing three, lower body days a week. However, shortly after posting that, I switched back to just two lower body days.

I realized that I would much rather push hard for two days and allow for recovery in between than to dial back my workouts just to get in three days.

So, for just about every week between September and now, I have done three workouts a week: two lower body days and a day for back and shoulders in between.

On each lower body day, I do:

– Leg presses

– RDLs

– Barbell hip thrusts (rarely, I will do Kas Glute Bridges instead)

– Abductor variation

I throw in a lunge variation or kickback about once a week, but the four movements above are the staples of each workout.”

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In more recent months since I shared that post on social, I have also made a lunge variation or step down a staple of each glute focused day.

I write this novel of a blog post because:

A. I’m proud of myself and like to look back and remember how much I have learned and how far I have come and

B. to encourage others that fitness is in fact not mysterious and though it does require consistency, it doesn’t require the level of sacrifice that many people assume it does.

I hope anyone on the precipice of staring their journey will simply find a starting point, whatever that is. Do that consistently until it becomes a habit. Then, grow from there!