AND BABY MAKES 3 . . .
(Well, 5 if you count my furry babies). Last year I got pregnant for the first time, and my hsuband and I were esctatic. I managed to work full time and work out 5 days a week during my first trimester (despite the fatigue and frequent throwing up). I often worked out after school with a fellow teacher and we did the Insanity workouts. The support of others holds you accountable and motivates you through any obstacle! Sadly, we miscarried at 12 weeks. Since I had remained active and eaten healthy, I recovered quicker than expected after a later term miscarriage than is the norm. We continued trying to get pregnant and finally were successful 7 months later. I worked out my entire pregnancy utilizing mainly T25 and P90X3 for my workouts. I also ran up until 24 weeks along. Now we have our beautiful baby girl, Grace, who was born on April !5. Although I labored for 25 hours, I am sitting her 11 days post partum and feel pretty good - I believe that my speedy recovery is due a large part to maintaining fitness and nutrition while pregnant. I am excited to work on getting body after baby and get back into more intense workouts. I am thrilled to be a new mommy, and want to set the example for our daughter on leading a healthy lifestyle and being a good steward of your body.
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​MY FITNESS JOURNEY . . .
I started my fitness journey at a young age through sports and weight training. I was blessed to grow up in an active family that lived a healthy lifestyle so I haven't had many bad habits to break. In college, I continued to exercise regularly and eat healthy, cooking many of my mother's recipes. I met my husband who is a fitness and nutrition guru. Despite always maintaining a healthy weight, I struggled with body image issues. I am 5'11" and was surrounded by my three best friends and roommates who are all petite, thin, and beautiful. I struggled with comparing my weight (usually from 145-152 lbs) to their MUCH smaller weights and thought I should weigh less. I developed a love for running and eventually eliminated all weight lifting from my exercise routine. I ran, cycled, and did spinning classes up until when I got married with the hope of weighing less (sadly, due to poor body image, my goal weight would have deemed me unhealthy and underweight for my height). My husband took me rock climbing (one of his many talents) and I quickly realized (much to my dismay) I had the upper body strength of a bird. I decided to renew my weight training habits and regain the strength I once had. As you probably know, muscle weighs a lot, and I had to give up trying to "lose" weight so that I could gain muscle and strength and a more balanced, healthy body. I began my strength training with P90X and soon was able to do more pushups and finally, a pull up! I continued incorporating P90X along with my cardio workouts as well as weight training. Then I ordered Insanity and fell in love! It is HIIT training and not only helped me to be stronger, but shaved some time off of my running pace as well. Now I'm training with T25 and still some Crossfit workouts alongo with running. Currently I am doing predominantly the new P90X3 program! I've come to learn I want to be strong and lean, not just thin or skinny!
A LITTLE ABOUT ME . . .
First off, thank you SO much for visiting my website! I am Jennifer Barter, a Beachbody coach, a lover of fitness, and a fanatic about clean eating and making healthy choices. I am an Army doctor's wife (yes, he's a stud in my book!) and a new mommy. I hope to lead by example - I worked out my entire pregnancy and ate clean for the most part along with drinking Shakeology, and I now am doing the same post-partum. I have until recently been a full time teacher and love helping others, including my past young students, choose and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I would love to be a part of your fitness, health, and nutrition journey!
