Nine months ago, Abigail Brown had zero desire to sign up for a kickboxing class, much less work out. The stay-at-home mom preferred to stay put, taking care of her daughter. But at 257 pounds, raising a newborn was exhausting.
Today, Brown is a new woman: She works out to Daily Burn 365 every morning and shares her workouts on Instagram. Under the handle @AbbyWorksforAbs, Brown uses social media to connect with other members and share her inspiring workouts.
“As a stay-at-home mom, it’s hard for me to get to the gym. I had been doing different at-home workout DVDs, but I found it to be too repetitive,” Brown says. “I love the variety of workouts and the different trainers Daily Burn offers. They each have their own special way of motivating me.”
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Losing the Baby Weight…and Then Some
Brown had previously lost 40 pounds by following Weight Watchers, but after she became pregnant with her daughter, she gained it all back. “I didn’t exercise at all. At the time, I was working at a bank and was on my feet all day but didn’t get much activity,” Brown says. She realized that she wasn’t going to be able to keep the weight off for good through dieting alone. She learned that achieving permanent weight loss means leading a healthy lifestyle that includes fitness, so she signed up for Daily Burn after finding a Groupon deal. Fast-forward nine months later, Brown lost a whopping 83 pounds.
“I wanted to be able to keep up with my daughter. She has so much energy, and it was a struggle to chase her around the park,” Brown says. “My husband and I would like to have another child someday, and I knew that I needed to get my health under control before then,” she adds.
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Getting Fit at Home — and Beyond
When Brown joined Daily Burn in June 2017, she kicked off her home workout routine with Daily Burn 365 every morning. “It’s just a great way to start off my day. I have more energy and it gives me something to look forward to. My daughter is often in the background of all of my Instagram workout videos,” she says.
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In addition to Daily Burn 365, Brown enjoys working out to Power Cardio, Cardio Sculpt, Undefeated (kickboxing), Barre Harmony and DB10 (a series of high-intensity 10-minute workouts). Brown says Daily Burn has expanded her fitness repertoire and inspired her to try different workouts. “I played soccer for eight years growing up but wasn’t very active as an adult. I love Erika’s workouts the best, especially her kickboxing routines. It helped me try workouts I otherwise wouldn’t,” she says.
Living in Portland, Oregon — an outdoor mecca — Brown has also grown to appreciate being active in nature. On sunny days, she and her daughter will go for a walk in the park or hit up a new hiking trail. Being outdoors has helped her realize that you don’t have to be at the gym to get moving. “I’m going to Hawaii in May and I’m excited to learn how to surf for the first time. I would never have considered doing something like that before,” Brown says. Brown recalls during the last family vacation she went on, she didn’t even want to get out of the car to go for a short hike. “I limited myself so much because I didn’t think I could do it,” she says.
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Meal Prepping to Make Clean Eating Easy
Brown continues to follow Weight Watchers to help her maintain her weight loss, but she also adopted meal prepping to ensure she has healthy meals on hand for her and her family. “I usually prepare some sort of soup or chili in my crockpot, grill meat and roast vegetables in the oven,” she says. Brown plans her meals for the week every Saturday or Sunday, and sometimes, her husband will join, too. “My husband is a garbage man and starts work at 4:30 a.m., so he has to have all his meals prepped before he gets up. When he sees me cooking in the kitchen, he’ll start prepping stuff for himself,” Brown says.
Brown uses the Weight Watchers’ points and calorie system to help her prepare a balanced meal at home. “Every meal usually has a starch, like sweet potatoes and brown rice, lean protein and veggies,” Brown says. For a healthy snack, she’ll pair fruit with a protein, like an apple or banana with peanut butter or string cheese.
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Posting Sweaty Selfies, Workouts and More
Aside from the physical benefits of exercise, Brown also enjoys interacting with other Daily Burn 365 members on social media. “Staying at home with my daughter has made me feel very isolated at times, so it’s nice being able to connect with other people on the same mission as me,” Brown says. “I’ve connected with so many amazing and driven people on [Daily Burn’s] community Facebook page and Instagram.”
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Brown also feels better in her clothes and dropped eight pant sizes. She even had to get her wedding rings adjusted two full sizes down. These changes have given her more confidence to try new things and improved her self-esteem. On her Instagram, Brown often posts her Daily Burn kickboxing routines, heart-pumping Tabatas and weightlifting supersets.
“I can actually do push-ups and burpees. When I first started, I had to modify almost everything,” Brown says. And on days when she’s lacking workout motivation, she looks to the community for support. “They all motivate me to keep putting in the work, especially on days I don’t feel like it.”
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In an age when social media can sometimes be a difficult place to share your weight loss struggles, Brown says that Daily Burn is a safe place to share her journey. “There are so many negative people out there who will compare you to everyone else, but I haven’t seen anything like that on Daily Burn,” she says. “It’s so uplifting.”
To join the Daily Burn community and get and a new, LIVE workout every day, head to dailyburn.com/365. Start your free trial today!
*Note to reader: The content in this article relates to the core service offered by Daily Burn. In the interest of editorial disclosure and integrity, the reader should know that Daily Burn owns and operates this site. Always talk to your doctor before beginning any exercise or weight loss program and note that the results highlighted above are not typical. Daily Burn users who worked out for 30 minutes or more at least five times a week for 60 to 90 days reported an average weight loss of about one pound per week. For those seeking to lose weight, keep in mind that extreme weight loss can be harmful to your health if done improperly or too suddenly.
The post How Daily Burn Helped Me Lose Over 80 Pounds Post-Pregnancy appeared first on Life by Daily Burn.
