Georgia Leigh Wellness

Me side eyeing these crazy diet claims in checkout line like 👀…

Did you know a realistic and sustainable weight loss goal is 1 or 2 pounds a week? That’s not fun. That seems really slow. (It also means if you were wanting to lose weight for a beach trip this summer, you should have started your program, like, yesterday 😅)

Slow and steady wins the race, especially in health and weight loss. Don’t believe any of these crazy headlines or ridiculous ads on Facebook or Instagram.

Imagine starting a weight loss plan this week, and trusting the process. Promising yourself to stick with it this time, and actually being OK with “only” losing a pound a week. You would still be down 45 pounds by the end of the year! That’s incredible! To say nothing of your body composition changing.

Have you tried any trendy crash diet and have the weight actually stay off? When you had success in weight loss/health goals in the past?

~Introduction Friday~

I haven’t done one of these in a couple of years 😅 and I have a few new followers, so I thought I’d introduce myself 👋🏻

I’m Georgia, and I live in middle Tennessee with my husband, little boy 👶🏻 and two cats🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛. I’m pretty basic- I love Taylor Swift, Starbucks and The Office 💁🏻‍♀️

I have a degree in Sports Science and am a certified health coach and group fitness instructor. I’ve helped dozens of people reach their health goals, and I love it. One of the most gratifying moments of my career was when a client was recovering from a mild case of Covid, and credited her new healthy lifestyle for not getting more sick- she was convinced if she had not made changes, she would have been hospitalized. I was so grateful to hear that!

So that’s a little bit about me, tell me a fun Friday fact about yourself! What was the most interesting thing that happened to you this week? What are you doing this weekend?

Would any ladies be up for a Thanksgiving week health challenge? I’m not talking about denying yourself any food, or doing any crazy workouts.
I’m talking about adding simple ways (like drinking water, getting in steps, etc.) to feel your best during Thanksgiving week, all while getting encouragement and motivation from other ladies.
I’d even throw in a $20 gift card to one lucky lady, just for participating and interacting, just in time for Christmas shopping ! Let me know if you’re interested!

Confessions of a group fitness instructor/health coach/exercise science major:

I’ve lost little, if any, pregnancy weight. And I’ve done very few workouts.

This little cutie just wants to be held constantly and only contact naps, which is super sweet but can make getting things done a little difficult (hence the pile of laundry pictured 😅)

He’s exclusively breastfed, which basically means he sucks my life force out of me multiple times a day and makes me ravenous 😩

😴He’s also still not sleeping through the night (and now we’re having an extra wake up- thanks, 4 month sleep regression!)

Could I force myself to wake up earlier to get in a real workout? Yes, but it’s not worth it.

Could I stick him in front of the TV and let him watch Hey Bear more often to workout? Yes, but it’s not worth it.

So I try to eat mostly decent, and especially make dinner heavy on the vegetables. I try to make sure we go for a walk most mornings before it gets too hot. I try to keep drinking water. And if I can sneak in some squats here and there, great.

But mostly I try to make peace with my body right now. He’s not always going to be this little, not only going to need me like this, and I don’t want to rush it.

These moments with my firstborn are more important than bouncing back 💙

When you have heat warnings for the second week in a row and you try to get some outdoor time real quick in the morning 🥵 We were melting after 5 minutes 😅

This kind of heat can make any sort of physical activity a little dangerous- even our air conditioner is having trouble keeping up!

All these tips for staying safe are pretty “duh,” but bear repeating:

💧Drink your water! 1/2 your weight in ounces is a good goal
🌅Exercise first thing in the morning when it’s the coolest, even if it’s an inside workout
🤼‍♀️ If your kids are doing sports, make sure the coaches are being safe and not putting the kids in danger by pushing them too hard. We’ve all seen horrible headlines about high school football players dying due to the heat. Don’t let that be your child.
🏃🏻‍♀️Listen to your body. If your lightheaded or dizzy or about to puke, just stop. Story time- I did a fun run/walk this past Mother’s Day weekend, and a participant collapsed right in front of me, foaming at the mouth, unresponsive and somehow turning red and blue at the same time. The people around made sure an ambulance got to her, then I left to give her privacy. I never found out if she was OK. She may have had underlying conditions, but I bet she just pushed herself too hard and had a heat stroke- she had probably been getting dizzy and lightheaded for a while, but didn’t take a break for whatever reason, and literally ended up risking her life (heat strokes can be deadly!), all for a fun run. Don’t let that be you.

That’s a lot of words to say, take it easy out there!

What’s the high today where you live? Do you have a heat advisory?

I’m not talking about “I love your lipstick!” or “Your hair looks so cute today!”

I mean “They should not be wearing those leggings,” or even “Have you lost weight?”
Lets👏🏻 keep 👏🏻 those 👏🏻 comments 👏🏻 to 👏🏻 ourselves 👏🏻

What do we gain by criticizing someone’s body? Besides a brief sense of superiority. (Also, why are most of the comments directed towards women’s bodies? 🤔)

Or if we must comment on someone’s body, why not point out how capable and strong it is, rather than how it looks?

Being a mom makes me much more aware of the words I speak. I want to teach my son to focus on the heart and soul of people, especially as he gets older. He’s a sponge and soon he’ll be able to repeat anything I say (such a heavy and scary thought!), and it’s so easy to be critical! I hope he ever only hears me building people up.

We are in the first full week of 2022, and I’m sure there are plenty of people with health goals for the year. If you’re one of them, I want to encourage you to start with small goals that will guarantee success.
Your goal for 2022 doesn’t need to immediately be “Go to the gym 5 days a week and remove all sugar from diet,” if you haven’t exercised regularly in years and your current diet is 95% carbs. You’re setting yourself up for failure right from the start.
Start by making some tiny, realistic changes that will give you confidence and that will naturally snowball into bigger goals. Also, you don’t need multiple goals- one is fine!
These aren’t my goals, but they could be a start for you! Let me know if you have any health goals for 2022!

Would any ladies be up for a Thanksgiving health challenge? I’m not talking about denying yourself any food, or doing any crazy workouts. I’m not trying to sell any products, and I won’t be in your DMs selling your anything.
I’m talking about adding simple ways (like drinking water, getting in steps, etc.) this upcoming holiday week to prevent feeling so bloated and tired after Thanksgiving, while getting encouragement and motivation from other ladies.
I’d even throw in a $20 gift card to one lucky lady of her choice, just for participating and interacting, just in time for Christmas shopping! Let me know if you’re interested!

29 weeks and officially in the third trimester 🤰🏻

Working out and feeling good is harder to come by these days. Some days bending down to do basic household chores is my exercise. Sometimes I get insanely winded just from walking from my car to the office.

I have to remind myself every day that…

*My lungs physically have less room to expand. It’s OK to not push myself.

*I’m carrying a ~certain amount~ of extra weight. It’s OK to not push myself.

*Some days I feel great and have tons of energy, other days I need two naps. It’s OK to not push myself.

*My body is changing and it’s not only OK, but necessary. If I need to avoid mirrors in order to not critique and pick apart my new body, that’s OK too.

And finally…

*I’m literally growing a freaking human. It requires a lot from me physically and mentally, and it’s amazing and wonderful, but also exhausting and sometimes painful. It’s OK to not push myself.

Are you pregnant? What affirmations do you tell yourself every day?

Some Tuesday encouragement 💜

I recently came off the birth control pill after 9 years and I’m never going back. My experience on birth control wasn’t horrible, but I knew it was time to give my body a break and let it function the way it’s meant to. I was scared! Before I got on the pill, I’d had some horrible cycles, and was worried it would immediately become horrible again- or even worse, that I had done some serious damage and wouldn’t get a cycle back for a long time.
Since coming off of the pill there have been some positives and negatives, but the upsides for outweigh any downsides.

Negatives first:
😕The most frustrating- I’ve gained weight. Some women lose weight when they come off the pill, I was not that blessed and it sucks. I’m only 5’0, any weight gain is immediately noticeable on me. But now I have to practice what I preach. I tell myself I’ve done something good for my body, and I’m trusting it to respond the way it needs.
😕Skin texture- I now have more skin texture. It’s not super noticeable, I’m probably the only one who can tell, but my skin is not as smooth as it was. The joys of aging 👵🏻 🙄
😕PMS is worse- My exhaustion and cramps during PMS are up a level. Nothing debilitating yet, but it’s gone up a notch.

Positives:
🦄Mental clarity and energy are off the charts- The past couple of years, I have been chronically exhausted. Like, needing a nap two hours after waking up exhausted. It was actually becoming scary, but my doctor said everything looked normal. I started wondering if the pill was a factor. Turns out, it was the BIGGEST factor! I have been able to concentrate much better, and have so much more energy (except for one or two PMS days), and that’s with me reducing my caffeine intake. It’s unreal how much better I feel, and some weight gain is worth it.
🦄My cycle immediately came back- Because I’ve started using the Fertility Awareness Method of tracking my cycle and knew the signs to be looking for, I was able to see in the first month off the pill that everything immediately was going through all the normal phases and functioning correctly, which was very cool and such a relief.
🦄My body is functioning the way it was intended- I am not super “crunchy”- I love McDonald’s and Coke Zero- but even I know my body isn’t meant to be pumped of artificial hormones to suppress my natural cycle indefinitely. It’s empowering to take more responsibility for my health and to be able to listen to my body more closely.

I’m never going back to pill, but I’m not anti-pill. I think it can serve a purpose for periods of time, and I know some women are on it to help hormonal imbalances or conditions they have. But it’s important to realize that the pill is just a band-aid. Any issue is just being covered up, and as soon as anyone comes off the pill, it’s very likely that the problems will just come back, because the root of the problem wasn’t truly addressed.

If you’re on hormonal birth control and have thought about coming off but are too scared, I highly recommend to start doing research. Listen to positive experiences, figure out what alternatives might work for you, and consider taking the leap. You won’t regret it.

What was your experience with hormonal birth control?