Sweet friends,
Can you believe July is almost over?! Each of you has worked so hard this summer! This month our theme was DIVE into GRACE! We made a goal to intentionally dive deep by being more intentional with our bodies, minds, and spirits. We hope that you felt encouraged by friends, family, and our TransFit community!
Today, we have the pure joy of introducing you to one of our amazing clients, Lauren Douglas!
Lauren is an amazing friend, wife, teacher, and overall incredible woman. She radiates light and love and you instantly feel that when she smiles so brightly or gives you the best heart-felt hug! Lauren is genuine, kind, and one of the hardest working women I know! You will love her spotlight as she speaks about giving herself grace though-out this past year. My prayer is that her testimony will inspire you to dive into everything you do with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength while giving yourself the grace to be uniquely YOU!
Lauren, like many of our clients, has been exercising diligently through all 9 months of her pregnancy. We all have something these days: an injury, an illness, a hard day, or some type of stumbling block. We are stronger together and when we show up, TOGETHER, we can transform whatever we put our minds to! Let's do this friend!
Congrats sweet lady! Thank you for giving your all and for inspiring all women that by giving your best one hour, one day at a time you can reach your goals!
When my husband, Will, and I found out we were expecting our first baby at the end of July I made a plan to keep myself physically and emotionally healthy throughout my pregnancy. It helped to know that what I was doing for myself was having a direct effect on my growing baby. Part of that self-care included extending myself a lot of grace, especially during the first trimester! I found myself extremely tired and nauseous at the end of the day so made a simple goal to maintain one strength based workout per week and go on one walk/run per week. This felt doable without feeling I was over-exerting myself. I started counting afternoon naps as an integral part of my self-care: ). Once I was feeling like myself again I made three goals to focus on. 1) Get in three workouts a week, 2) drink 100 ounces of water a day, and 3) eat greens every day. Again these were achievable and I knew would benefit me and our growing baby boy.
I had a friend encourage me early on to just keep showing up, no matter how many reps you get to in a session or how out of breath you feel, just keep coming back. She promised that I would feel better during pregnancy and once the baby was here. That was some of the best advice! When I showed up to the TransFormer classes I was so encouraged by Caroline, Lisa, Mallory, Katie, and all the women I was working out alongside. So thank you for encouraging me and lifting me up each time I stepped foot into TransFit! There were days where I didn’t get to a mile during the cardio block or I had to stop and take a breather after only 10 reps, but the support and encouragement I felt from the TransFit community kept me coming back. Just showing up benefited not only my physical health but my emotional health as well.
I tracked my measurements to help keep me accountable, but also celebrate the work my body was doing to grow this baby. At first, it was hard/scary to see those numbers grow, but I knew it was needed to support a healthy baby. I focused on meeting my goals each week and saw the growing numbers as important work my body was doing.
Smoothies became my best friend. I throw so many good things in there and know I am getting the nutrition I need. Kale, spinach, cauliflower, protein, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, yogurt for the probiotics, avocado for the healthy fats, were all things I’ve incorporated into a smoothie. They’re an easy way to pack in nutrients when you may not feel like eating yet another salad.
Here is one of my favorite smoothies:
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 scoop vanilla vega protein powder
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/2 cup frozen cauliflower
- 1/2 cup frozen peaches
- 1 tbsp hemp/chia/flax seed mixture
- Blend until smooth
We are calling it the BeaUtiful Skin Smoothie
This smoothie is a delicious, energizing meal replacement and is so good for your body, mind, and especially your skin. The high protein smoothie is great for post workout! The avocado has good healthy fat for elasticity with your skin and will help keep you full! By adding in a tablespoon of Chia seeds, you will receive Omega 3 three fatty acid’s which are so good for your bones, skin, and heart! The added spinach and cauliflower bring in tons of Vitamin A and C great for your immune system! We added just a sprinkle of almonds on top because we like a crunch, but that’s optional.
I’m days away from meeting our baby boy and am excited to introduce him to the TransFit community! I know once he’s here it will be important for me to get back to working out but plan to extend a lot of grace as I navigate this new adventure of being a mom.
Lauren, we are SO proud of you! We can't wait to meet your sweet baby boy!
Ladies, we hope you feel encouraged and inspired by Lauren's story! What a testament to diving into HIS GRACE this month! Let us know how we can help you to live transformed. Make it count this July- let's finish July strong!
Email us at transfitathens@gmail.com if you have any questions!
Blessings,
Team TransFit
