Day Five Post-Op

These first five days were WAY easier than I expected.

BUT, there were a few things I wish people had warned me about! 

A) I felt like the hulk. Legit. Check out the pictures. LOL I used to be long and what I felt was dainty, and I felt like I had cannons on my chest that exploded into my armpits. NOT. FUN. 

ONE DAY POST OP; "The Hulk"

B) I don't believe I've ever been more swollen in my life. At least at that point (pic above). 

C) I also don't believe I've ever been more constipated. (Sorry if TMI, but I haven't read much about this, and it is NOT comfortable. Im sharing this so YOU can be proactive if this is something you're thinking about! WATER WATER WATER!) On day TWO I could have passed for at least four months pregnant. 

It's been five days and now this is what I look like, although I look similar, swelling has definitely gone down, and my body isn't as swollen either. However, I am still up eight pounds, in the above picture I was up 13. 

Day Five Post Op

My plan going forward is to CLEANSE my body, really focus on priming it so that when I'm ready to hit my workouts, I can hit them hard with a body that is refreshed. My once chiselled mid section is not so much, and it's only been a few days, so I am HOPING that this goes down {{Cruise in 9 days!}}. 

I will be ENTIRELY honest, this is a huge psychological mindset shift if you're someone who works out everyday. I am used to my body feeling at it's peak, energetic, light, and not only that, but MENTALLY my workouts make me hold my head a little higher. They make me more productive because I feel GOOD about what I've done and accomplished. It sets the bar for the day.

Today was tough. It's Monday, a day I LOVE to wake up early and crush the hardest workout of the week, get stuff done, look ahead to the week and smash my goals. Today I felt almost in a fog. I haven't gone out of my routine in so long, that now it's definitely shocking to not have my body at it's best.

My plan of action is the next month, I will be focusing on eating extremely clean. I want to nourish my body to help it heal, to gain energy from what I'm eating, confidence from the discipline of following through, and slowly incorporate in workouts.

TOMORROW I will be adding in a long walk, marching in place while I'm doing things like cleaning, dishes (the daily duties). Once I get the OK from my surgeon, I will be starting with riding a stationary bike, then going to more advanced cardio on week 4, and *fingers crossed* resuming workouts at week 6. I have read from others they weren't able to do things like burpees until about 6 months later, which I hope isn't the case.

Shakeology everyday, lemon water as soon as I wake up and throughout the day to help detox my body, relieve water retention and hydrate myself so I'm feeling more REGULAR and not so FULL. Eating 5X a day, following my 21 Day Fix containers but going down a bracket as I am NOT active and keeping my carbohydrates at sweet potato, quinoa and oatmeal. NO starchy or processed carbs.

I will be posting my MEAL PLAN as well as my results as they come!

I will also be starting the 3 Day Refresh on SATURDAY just before the Cruise, and then sharing my RESULTS on Tuesday morning!

I am READY to feel good, and as much as I WANT to workout, I don't want to have to go through this again, so SLOW & STEADY wins the race. Im doing what feels RIGHT, and if it feels uncomfortable, I stop. No need to jump in for only a few days of extra workouts!

 Can't WAIT to share my results!

Krys
xxx

Ladies, Let's Talk about Post-Pregnancy Boobs

Im talking about it.

I have scoured the internet looking for articles from other moms, blogs, anything, that talked about the effect of pregnancy and breastfeeding on our perky twins.

Or lack thereof.

I gained 60 lbs with my first daughter, and with that, came GINORMOUS knockers. Combine THAT with absolutely ZERO elasticity in my skin, and I was left with loose skin that resembled that of a set of testicles.

People close to me refer to my chest as "chesticles", in the most endearing way possible.

My clear lack of cleavage

After having Summer, I had a second daughter, Willow, and then started a fitness journey which has me in my BEST SHAPE POSSIBLE. Again, no good for my chest. I was left with stretched out SKIN with very little substance.

I am ALL about body confidence. Loving your body, embracing it, treating it with respect, nourishing it... But you can't squat and get perky boobs. Let's just BE REAL.

After having Summer, I gave up on bras, entirely. I gave up wearing feminine clothing and lived in my husband's clothes + sports bras. In fact, in the past 8 years, I have maybe worn a bra TWICE, and that was only because it was impossible to wear a sports bra with the outfit I NEEDED to wear for something formal.

I feel like I lost a bit of my feminine side. Don't get me wrong, I am all for having a small chest. In fact, I LOVED my small chest. I just didn't like how they sat, how they wrinkled in any sort of cup or bathing suit, folded over, etc., and left me having to ALTER what I wore, and restrained me from wearing what I really WANTED.

It was then my goal to have a breast augmentation, but I knew it would be a ways away.

WELL, the time CAME, and I officially went to have mine done YESTERDAY. {{ouch!}}

I am not going to get into the after effects so much until my NEXT blog post {{stay tuned!}}, but I did want to inform other moms or women in general about the process. I learned SO much, and questioned whether it was a good fit for me. I weighed my pros and cons. To be completely honest, I didn't want to let my small chest go, BUT I wanted the loose skin GONE. To have the loose skin gone, well, the skin had to be FILLED, leaving me being chestier than I might like.

It was a decision I thought about for SOME TIME, but then thought "You live once!" I mean WHY NOT? I have taken my life and MYSELF way too seriously for so long, we all die in the end, I may as well go after something I've wanted and wear the clothes I want, and embrace my womanity!

The night before shopping at Victoria's Secret! 

 I was SO excited the night before I went to Victoria's Secret ((BIG MISTAKE THOUGH)) to get a few no-wire bras for post surgery. Have you seen the post op bra they give you?! It's definitely not very pretty (not that you care initially) but I wanted to be prepared with a few girly + pretty bras. :P HOWEVER, they did not FIT. LOL But I have them for later at least?!

Waiting patiently in the waiting room

My biggest advice is REALIZE that this is a huge change to your body. I was scared! Nervous, you name it I was probably feeling it. Excited? Happy? Terrified?! My body was going to CHANGE, and even though I WANTED IT, it still was going to change. This body I had built up, taken care of, really grown FOND OF over the last few years, was going to be cut open and changed, just like that.

I will say, I don't regret it, at all. But you'll have to wait for my next post where I get into the emotions POST OP, the pain factor, what they look like, what to be prepared for, etc etc!

***By the way, we decided for me to go UNDER the muscle (as the skin was destroyed and going over the muscle would just cause more SAG-age), and I needed to go with a minimum 375CC GEL to fill the skin. I could have gone up to a 400, but again, I wanted to remain as SMALL as possible. 375 was even too high for what I was going for, but I took the doctors recommendation -- he didn't want me to walk out still struggling with the same issues post surgery, having an implant in, but saggy skin still underneath ((and that might even be worse)), so filling the skin entirely was my best option.***

I WILL be sharing pics in my updated blog posts too! {{Not total nudies, but you'll get the gist!}}

NOT what I expected, but still very happy!

To be continued!

xxx

Shakeology Chocolate Mousse Pie

Pie.

For lunch.

That's the BEAUTY of this lifestyle. It isn't about compromising TASTE for HEALTH, waiting anxiously for a CHEAT MEAL. It's about enjoying the moment, every moment, loving the way you feel, and finding flavourful meals, treats, and snacks that not ONLY fuel your body, but taste DELICIOUS. 

This is ACTUALLY a salad. Superfood PACKED, punch of protein, healthy FATS and topped with your choice of FRUIT! 

SUPER SIMPLE to make!

Ingredients:

2 Scoops Vegan Chocolate Shakeology

1/2 Cup NATURAL Peanut Butter

1 1/2 cups of Natural PLAIN Greek Yogurt (0 or 2%)

Whole Wheat Crust

1/2 Cup of Unsweetened Almond Milk

Recipe:

Combine all ingredients except the whole wheat crust and whisk (or use a hand mixer -- much easier!). Put mixture in the crust and let cool. Garnish with melted dark chocolate and/or fruit + nuts. You can even put some Whipped Cream on each piece, maybe not the healthiest, but at least it's NATURAL and adds a bit of something EXTRA! 

ENJOY!