Hi Ladies!  My name is Michelle Kyman and I am the mother of two wonderful kids, Jake (9) and Brayden (3). I started my own personal training business Embody Fitness almost 7 years ago, and I LOVE what I do!  I am participating in Fit Moms Fit Kids for two reasons: 1) I love helping other women become healthier, and 2) I have known Annett, founder of Fit Moms Fit Kids, for a long time (we played volleyball together in high school and in college) and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to join the team. I believe that as mothers, we have a lot to share, and this is a great way to support one another. Since my passion is health and exercise, I thought this would be a perfect fit for me to reach women that I would have never had the chance to reach.

I have some experience with dropping pregnancy weight…some of it, personal, actually very personal.  When I got pregnant with Jake, my goal was to keep going to the gym and eating well. After feeling nauseous for the first 12 weeks, that goal went right out the window. The only thing that settled my stomach (a tiny bit) was a snack of crackers, drinking ginger ale, and eating some more. Going into my second trimester, I had already gained more than I should have. My doctor stayed on me about my weight and I used to dread going to my doctor’s appointments because I knew what she was going to say…stop eating!!! Well, my whole “healthy eating while I’m pregnant” didn’t last. I ate macaroni and cheese everyday, along with ice cream, burgers and fries. I kept telling myself that, I’m going to enjoy this “pregnancy-thing”…plus, why would I go to the gym, if I’m going to keep getting fat anyways?!? So, I ended up putting on 75 pounds….twice!! You would have thought I learned my lesson the first time.

I learned a lot right after giving birth, about time management, time for myself, patience, and acceptance. It took me about 9 months to lose the weight I put on, but even after that, my body shape was not the same. I still felt soft. I learned to set small goals for myself. I learned that loosing my baby weight was going to take some time and I wasn’t loosing it for anyone else but myself.

Michelle in a pro beach volleyball event after 2 kids, and losing 75lbs each time!

I’m here to say it can be done!! It doesn’t have to take you just 2 months, it can take a year. Learn not to put pressure on yourself. If you make short term goals, they will be easier to achieve. You are going to slip up. There are going to be days that you don’t have enough energy to workout because you’ve been up all night with your crying baby…know this going into it. No matter how much you have to loose, you can get it off. It takes some discipline, some hard work, and maybe some support from loved ones. Another way to gain support from moms just like you is to join the Fit Moms Fit Kids community.

Throughout the year I will be sharing with you tips and techniques on losing your baby weight and how to keep it off. I want to help you meet your health and fitness goals.  Keep coming back to find out how I did it, twice, and how I have kept off my baby weight and am now in the best shape of my LIFE!