Welcome to the L.E.A.N. Mom Life blog!
I'm Kaitlyn-- Online health and fitness coach. Physician Assistant. Mom of 5.
Let me share a bit of my story if you're new here.
From PA to mom
I'm a Physician Assistant turned online health and fitness coach, which is not exactly what I envisioned when I graduated PA school...
When I applied to PA school, I wanted to travel and help treat people in impoverished countries or work in pediatric neurology. Pretty ambitious, right?
As I completed my clinical year, I discovered I loved the combination of procedures and the medical side. It was like the perfect combination of doing things and thinking, so I found myself applying for hospital medicine and emergency medicine positions.
Now one thing about me, I'm a bit on the cautious (aka anxious) side. I'm NOT an adrenaline junky by any means! But I enjoyed my clinical experience in the emergency department and thought "I'd like working there!"
I kind of did. At first.
The shifts were long and irregular, the patients a mix between super sick people and just straight up BS (I'll save these stories for another post!), I was a giant ball of stress...
I kind of hit burnout at light speed as a new grad.
But then I suddenly found myself in the midst of marriage, motherhood, and a totally different life path.
I left my full time job in the ER to stay home with my daughter. Honestly, this had always been part of my plan, the flexibility of a PA career allowing me to be home with my future children, something that my mom did and it was important to me to do for my own children.
From mom to mom x3
We accumulated children like kids collect rocks. I swear, every time I'd turn around, another one would appear!
Ok, not really.
I do in fact know where babies come from (thanks PA school!)
And I actually had some pretty rough pregnancies, so unfortunately there was none of that "I didn't know I was pregnant" type stuff for me. I was very aware and very miserable (and probably vocal about it too).
Basically my pelvis wanted to just fall apart and die, which is quite painful.
Each pregnancy, I'd try to power through the pain, staying as active as possible so I could remain healthy and set myself up for an easy delivery... but there's only so much you can do when it hurts to walk, sit, stand, lie down or move.
As soon as the baby was out though, I'd be able to move again, it was crazy! I'd slowly build up my strength again post-partum, feeling mostly like myself.
But then the third pregnancy came around...
It wasn't the third pregnancy so much as the timing of it. The pregnancy was pretty standard, delivery, smoothish, healthy baby. But just as I was hitting that 6 weeks mark and getting ready to go back to my gym- BAM! The world shut down for COVID.
I was suddenly trapped at home 24/7 with 3 kids.
If you have 3 kids, you may be familiar with the fact that 3 feels like A LOT! Maybe it's because I now had more kids than hands. Maybe it was just the normal change in dynamic.
On the bright side, I didn't have to lug them all out of the house to anything... we never left the house!
Slowly my weight crept up, my non-maternity pants still weren't fitting, and I felt weak and squishy and blobby.
Something had to change.
That's when my world opened up more, out of necessity. I went from being someone who craved the social atmosphere and peer pressure of a gym to push myself to 100% loving home workouts! I jumped full-in to macros to slow that weight gain and keep up my milk supply!
The flexibility was perfect with kids! The convenience of not having to leave the house was ideal for my hermit side! I was surprised by how much I loved it! The ability to enjoy desserts and STILL lose weight was like a dream come true! And it was easy.
I saw the baby weight drop and then some.
I basically found the secret all moms wish they knew.
Twins????
Aaaaand shortly after I hit the point where I really felt good, strong, confident-- bam! I was pregnant with number four... or so I thought.
Nothing prepared me for the surprise of the ultrasound tech asking "Do twins run in your family?" during my first ultrasound!
Uh. No, ma'am, they do not!
Now I find pregnancy very un-fun, but twin pregnancy is something else. EVERYTHING is amplified! More nausea, more exhaustion, more belly...
So I basically turned into a beached whale the 2nd/3rd trimester, barely able to move.
I had to let all of my exercise go, it just wasn't going to happen (existing was exercise enough!).
On top of this, we decided it was a wonderful time to sell our house and move halfway across the country with 3 small kids for my husband's job. Apparently we are insane.
Luckily, everything went as smoothly as it could! Healthy babies, good delivery (avoided that c-section I was worried I'd need too!).
We just kinda came home with 2 newborns, which is a lot!
Mom of FIVE!!!!
After the usual chaotic, sleepless 2-3 months where babies eat constantly, I finally hit the point where naps kinda happened and we were in a somewhat predictable routine. I felt like I finally had a little room to feel human again.
And you know what? I was uncomfortable and felt squishy and not right.
But do you know what else? I wasn't worried.
I knew EXACTLY what to do this time.
I started with the exercises I'd done in pelvic PT after my 3rd and slowly progressed to a full home exercise, making sure to work the core safely. I hit that sweet spot again with the home workouts (bright and early!) and counting macros, just like before. And just like before, the baby weight shed off.
My Intro to Coaching
As I was beginning this home routine, I happened across an old acquaintance's online program.
Now I'm not going to lie, her marketing irked me. It was a lot! Very sexy, very aggressive feeling, frankly very abrasive to me. So I decided I was in the prime position to try her program to either a) prove her wrong and a fraud or b) get some great results. I joined the month-long challenge!
I was blown away by how brilliant, but simple, everything was! It was such a great way to get healthy eating, exercise, and accountability to people who would otherwise not have the time to do so.
She and her husband were branching out and teaching others to coach with their style program. It felt like such a right time, right place kind of situation (despite a new state and twins...).
KR Coaching
My coaching has grown and developed from there, leading to what KR Coaching is today, but the dedication to helping moms who are in a similar position has never wavered.
The dedication to simplifying everything so ANY mom can get healthier, lose weight, and feel amazingly confident!
The dedication to educating moms so they have the knowledge and the freedom to continue a healthy lifestyle in the future without a coach.
With the development of new programs to open up the doors to help even more moms, I'm excited to see the continued impact KR Coaching with have on my fellow moms' health, happiness, confidence, and future.