Strong Moms of The Diet Doc

2020

Do you feel sexy (READ THE CAPTION!)?⁣
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I had a conversation recently with a client who expressed that she doesn’t feel sexy. ⁣
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After months of “not caring”...not wearing makeup, not worrying about her outfit choices (she wears scrubs to work), not doing her hair....she feels lost. ⁣
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Most of us have experienced a level of this (hello postpartum!!!) and we are ALL trying to find small things right now that bring us joy. ⁣
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I explained to her that 90% of what you believe comes from what you tell yourself is the truth. ⁣
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I shared with her that I make a willful choice to workout, track my macros, teach my children right from wrong and yes...be sexy, and this starts with ME. ⁣
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Even if I don’t feel my best, I still slap some makeup on and occasionally send a sexy selfie to (which results in positive reinforcement via sweet words from him and he feels special soooo win/win!)⁣
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You don’t have to start with that though. You can start simply by listing 1-2 things you DO like about yourself each day and the more you water that “seed” the faster it will grow!⁣
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I dare you to speak to yourself in a way that would GROW your self esteem rather than mow it down. ⁣
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not

The weekend deserves a full recap now that we’ve all officially recovered 🥴⁣
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As a 3rd generation American the 4th of July means a lot to me....I could easily talk about all of the things that are wrong with our country (I see them, I do, and this post is not where I choose to discuss them today) - but I’m making the choice to look FORWARD and talk about these incredible humans that I’m blessed to share my home/food/life/heart with. ⁣
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Besides the fact that we represented 8 small business - 4 being black owned, 3 being immigrant owned and 7 being female owned 💪🎉 - we represented a cross cultural and political experience with Democrats, Republicans, Christians, Atheists, Jews, Muslims, Homo and Heterosexuals, Blacks, Whites, Italians, Germans, Somalis, Dog lovers and Cat lovers...the list literally is endless and you know what???⁣
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EVERYONE HAD A BLAST AND WE ALL GOT ALONG PERFECTLY.⁣
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Don’t let the media blind you to the fact that we have a choice in our lives to love one another despite our differences...I will ALWAYS chose to love you. Period.⁣
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Dear 2020,⁣
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I’ve seen some things in my 37.5 years. I’ve experienced loss, major illness, divorce, being suicidal, my current marriage coming back from the dead, back stabbing “friends” who helped in trying to destroy my marriage - y’all the real mvps 🙄, addiction, the excruciating pain of heartbreak (the kind that takes a lifetime to heal from), abandonment, neglect...hell, I spent my childhood being sexually abused by my best friend’s brother - and despite it all there was always hope.⁣
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I didn’t ever foresee myself homeschooling my children, wearing masks in public being the “norm”, not being able to hug friends or say goodbye to loved ones as they passed. ⁣
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Since March 19th (when Ohio got the “call” that schools were closing for the foreseeable future) I thought, “no problem, I can handle this”. ⁣
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When my uncle passed away on April 9th - alone in the hospital begging for help (he left messages on my voicemail as he died) I thought, “I can handle this”. ⁣
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When our household income was zero dollars for 2.5 months I thought, “I can handle this”. ⁣
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When I saw the faces of my black brothers and sisters protesting for their LIVES I thought, “we can handle this together”⁣
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As most of you know, I live with clinical depression and anxiety. Every day is a FIGHT to keep going. To get out of bed. To not cry for unknown reasons. ⁣
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Friends. I always want to be a source of light in the world, a reminder that, “you too can handle this”. But today I’m tired. I’m sad. I’m heartbroken. I’m struggling to see how we will handle all of this. I’m SICK of the political hatred in our country. I’m SICK of people pointing fingers instead of taking care of their own issues first. Our world is so broken right now that my soul hurts. ⁣
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I’m an empath and I transfer emotion when I see others hurting. I promise to keep pushing forward but know that I too am struggling to find the joy in life.⁣
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More like, “expect the unexpected”

Why I Chose To GAIN Weight ⁣
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Yes, you read that correctly. I made a conscious and calculated decision to spend time in a calorie surplus. ⁣
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You’re probably looking at these pictures and thinking, “you looked great, why would you want to gain weight?” Great question, Suzy Instafollower. ⁣
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I maintained 6 pounds over stage weight (for those of you who don’t know what that means: stage weight was what I weighed as a competitive bodybuilder) for almost 5 years and I wanted to see some not significant changes. ⁣
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There are lots of reasons why I wanted to gain weight:⁣
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1. I wanted to get stronger. Gaining strength while super lean and in a deficit or even maintenance is HARD (if not impossible) to do after your first year of lifting. ⁣
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2. I wanted to add some lean body mass (Aka muscle). Yes, you can make small changes when you’re very lean but the bigger physique changes come when you have a healthy amount of body fat. ⁣
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3. I wanted to increase my metabolism. At almost 38, everything is changing in my body and I’m having to fight a slowing metabolism. Increasing food and maintaining higher food levels helps to build a healthier metabolism. ⁣
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These photos aren’t SHOCKINGLY different but I’m not genetically gifted when it comes to building muscle. I’m 5’8”, I’m 38yr old, I only train 2-3x a week, and I don’t take steroids so I’m kinda at the mercy of what my body is willing to do. ⁣
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Remember friends, life can be enjoyable without being lean all the time. ⁣
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Sometimes dinner is a beautiful meal that’s made from scratch. Other times it’s a glass of wine and beef jerky. There’s no balance. It’s called survival. Welcome to, strong moms. We are normal here (if normal is weird)

It’s not that hard, just read our minds/feed us/tell us we are pretty 🤷🏻‍♀️

I want to tell you about someone. ⁣
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From first glance you might think, “what’s so special - I can see he’s handsome but there are lots of handsome men in the world”....and that’s where this person is different. ⁣
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He’s not simply handsome...or successful...or brilliant...or a great provider...⁣
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What this picture doesn’t show is this man’s dedication to his family.⁣
It doesn’t show his fierce love for his sons, how he works tirelessly to show them what it is to be children (curious, exploring new things, having fun) but he also shows them what it means to be a man (helping others, caring for their home, working hard). ⁣
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This man loves his wife. He loves her despite her flaws. He loves her SO much that he fights FOR her daily - men of his caliber don't feel the need to seek counseling or share their feelings but this man believes in growth. He worships her body and puts up with her quirks. He supports her dreams and encourages her to always be better. ⁣
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It’s easy to say, “Happy Father's Day, You’re The Best”. But that’s an empty statement...you’re more than the best - Matt, you are the epitome of what fathers should model their behavior after. I am endlessly proud of you. I am honored to be your wife. I am thankful you picked me to do life with and my statement, “I want to breed with HIM”, stands true to this day (although I’m⁣
really good with 3 kids).⁣
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Thank you for all that you do. It doesn’t go unnoticed. ❤️

10 things you (probably) don’t know about me⁣
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1.My childhood bedroom was a couch from the Salvation Army behind a screen in the corner of our dining room⁣
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2.No one has ever given me money to go to school/open a business/pay for anything - ever. ⁣
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3.I’ve been called “a man” on social media endless times (yet no one in person has ever referred to me as being even slightly masculine)⁣
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4.I was homeschooled from 6th-10th grade because I was getting into trouble with boys/drugs/alcohol⁣
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5.My emergency contact isn’t a family member⁣
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6.I started working full-time at 11 years old because we couldn’t afford for me to do anything, so I offered to babysit for anyone/anytime of day. ⁣
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7.I bought my first car before I had my drivers license because of how much I worked ⁣
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8.I think most of us could work harder (myself included)⁣
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9.I’m the youngest of 3 children⁣
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10.I despise social media but play along because businesses need it to survive.

Show me the lie 😂🤰🏼🤰🏻🤰🏽🤰🏾🤰🏿