Monika lost 45 pounds

Because I know what it’s like! Overcome and choose yourself!💪🏾 #dontletyourdrugofchoicebefood #strong #mind #body #soul #workout #eatcleanmostofthetime #robustnesslife #personaltraining #youcanafford #transformationtuesday

A post shared by Monika/Mo (@robustnesslife1) on Mar 27, 2018 at 6:08am PDT

Transformation of the Day: Monika lost 45 pounds. After the birth of her son, life happened and so did weight gain. By changing her mindset, letting go of her excuses and working hard, she learned that she could achieve any and everything she put her mind to. Check out her story.

I’m a mother of one who gave birth weighing in at 210 pounds. After my son, LIFE happened and so did weight gain. One day, I tried on a size 16 and it was too little! That’s when I knew change needed to happen, not just for me but for my son.

I started the process of elimination when it came to my excuses. The biggest excuse was that I couldn’t get to the gym because I had no babysitter, and the gyms that had child care were too expensive. To overcome that excuse, I decided to workout from home.

My workout routine consisted of working out 6 days a week, with Sunday as my “rest day“. On Monday, I would start the week with just pure cardio on the treadmill for 30 mins and a 15 min Ab session. On Tuesday, I did biceps/triceps and abs. Wednesday was leg day (gluteus and abs) and Thursday was chest/back and abs. Friday was full body and Saturday was cardio and abs again.

I changed my eating habits by cooking more and going out to eat less. No more eating fried food or fast food. No more drinking soda and juice. I only ate 6 small meals every 2 to 3 hours. I ate baked chicken, tilapia and turkey burgers with a green vegetable and a cup of brown rice. For a snack, I would eat trail mix just to get my candy fix. Sometimes, I’d have apples for a snack with just a spoonfull of peanut butter. I didn’t have cheat meals until I started to see major results in the first 90 days. When I believed that my willpower was strong, that’s when I would have a cheat meal, but never a cheat day.

I weighed 210 pounds at the start of my journey. Now, I weigh 165 pounds on a good day and 170 pounds on a regular day, lol. I’m 5’5”. The biggest lesson that I’ve learned from changing my lifestyle is that I can literally achieve any and everything I put my mind to do! I have two quotes that I live by: “Mind over Matter” and “Where there is a WILL there is a WAY!”

After 3 years of getting the weight off and keeping it off, I decided I wanted to help other women with children to get fit and healthy. That’s when I created Robustness Life which is a program that allows women to workout from home. If these ladies need an extra push, I provide workout plans and equipment to help them along the way. I’m located in Columbus Ohio and want to share my “fitness on the go” program to let woman know that you don’t need a gym membership to get slim.

The only advice I have for women is trust the process. Even on the days when I felt like I was doing so much and seeing very little change, I kept going. I knew that even a little bit goes a very long way!  Fitness is really all mental. Once you’ve made up in your mind that you want to live a healthy lifestyle, nothing can or will stop you!

Instagram: @robustnesslife1