[MELISSA VOGEL]: The Bomb Mom Podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice podcast network, a family of podcasts that are making the world better. You’ll also probably like the Imperfect Thriving podcast, Beta Male Revolution, and Empowered and Unapologetic podcast. Check them out at www.practiceofthepractice.com/network. Hey, what’s up, everyone? If you’re looking to be inspired, motivated, educated, and entertained, you have come to the right place. Welcome to the Bomb Mom Podcast, the podcast where we explore your fitness, life, mindsets, and actions that help you become unstoppable. You’re worth it and it’s time to finally make changes in your life that will last you the rest of your life. Hello everyone and welcome to the Bomb Mom Podcast where I’m going to show you how fitness isn’t a fad. It’s part of your life. It becomes your life. My name’s Melissa Vogel and I am your fearless leader. I am going to be your host of this podcast and ladies, I’m just going to tell you that this podcast is going to change your life. I’m going to keep you motivated, inspired, I’m going to take you on the journey of my crazy daily insane life of being a mom, an actress, a model, working personal trainer, like everything. So just know you’re in for a real treat. You hit the jackpot when you found this podcast. I’m a real mom. You know, I know the struggles of working, raising kids, maintaining a household, trying to have a social life. And then on top of that, we’re supposed to work out, eat right, be the PTA mom. I’m a freaking taxi driver. It feels like, my kids play sports. I’m a sports mom like, you guys, I live it. I breathe it with you every day. And through this podcast I just want to talk about the things that like no one else will admit to. You know, no one else will tell you what happens when your kids get older and you know how you’re trying to teach them to live a healthy, strong life. But you know, you don’t want to mess them up and have them have wrong body image issues. But you have to pay attention to your calories. You have to pay attention to your workouts and stuff because the older you get, the harder it gets. So, I just want to be real with you guys. So, I want you to feel like you could trust me, you’re comfortable and you know, be raw. I’m probably getting a swear a lot. So, if you have little ones in the car, then you can put headphones in, you know, but you’ve been warned. I’m just, I want to keep it real for everyone, you know? I take pride in that. I take pride in being a real genuine person and that’s something I think that we’re losing a lot nowadays, especially with social media and we only see the good all the time. I don’t know about you guys but that kind of really bothers me. We only see the best pictures. Everything’s got a filter on it and I can’t stand it. When you see someone like on Facebook or Instagram, you know, and then you see them in real life and you’re like, “Bitch, you look like that?” Like that bothers me because that makes us feel bad about the life we’re living. And that’s, no, we shouldn’t feel bad about the shit show that’s really going on. So, I take pride in being real. You guys can start following me on Instagram if you really want to see me. I post a lot, I share a lot because I want my followers, my listeners, everyone to just know that I’m right there with you. So, you can find me at Melissa Vogel Fitness on Facebook and Instagram, but I don’t do a whole lot of sugarcoating and this podcast isn’t going to be any different. But I want to start this podcast, I want you guys to follow along and be on this journey with me because I want to help you learn more how to live that health of life, wellness, fitness, food, family, like all that good stuff. Like I said, when I came on, you know, I’m going to show you how fitness isn’t just a fad. It literally can be your life and that doesn’t have to be in a weird way either. It doesn’t have to be like you’re obsessed with it. I’m going to teach you how to be like a good obsessed with it, but then you have results that are going to last you for the rest of the life. Now seriously, how good would it feel to be off of that hamster wheel of where you’re just going and going and going or better yet, like a roller coaster where you have results and you’re doing good and then you’re like, life happens. All the kids get fricking pink eye or lice or the flu and that’s enough. Can you tell that I have children and then that’s enough to like make us stop going to the gym for two months for some reason. Oh, well she had a science project so I couldn’t get to the gym. Like, no you guys, it doesn’t have to be that way at all. And that’s what I’m here to teach you about. That’s what I want to talk about. And I firmly believe that women deserve to hear the truth and I want you to hear it from someone who gets it and just someone that’s going to be honest with you and prove to you that you can have your cake and eat it too. Like you can, you can be a mom, real woman, a rough female, busy, insane, crazy, like literally a hot mess 90% of the time and still be sexy, strong, fit, lean, tone like 365 days a year. Like girl, I get it. Like I need that on a tank top. It just says, “Girl, I get it.” Because I do. I really do. You know? And I want you to know that you know when you’re on your grind, when you’re going to the gym and you’re in full blown softball season or volleyball season or it’s dance competition or cheer, football, basketball, baseball, like those are really hard times for us and if you’re a mom listening to this, you’re going, yeap, I’m starting that season right now. My weekends are no longer mine. Like you get it, but you can still maintain you. There is a way, and I’m all about living the insane life and still being just hot as fuck. Like let’s, let’s just be real. It’s possible, but, it’s hard and you have to be dedicated and you know, you want help and support with that because it’s a really, really cool life to live. And here’s the really cool thing. You guys, you don’t have to be rich to achieve this. You don’t have to have a chef, you don’t have to have a driver, you don’t have to spend massive amounts of money or time and like, you don’t have to be famous. And you don’t have to hear this from a famous person. You just have to want it. You have to be completely sick and tired of looking in the mirror and being disgusted at what you see. And I know that sounds super harsh and like, oh my God, like I look in the mirror and feel that I look disgusted. You do, but you do. It’s true. We look in the mirror sometimes and we’re getting ready or we’re changing and you see yourself and you’re like, “Oh my God. Gross.” Right? And we totally body shame ourselves. We do. We stand there and we’re like, “[inaudible 00:07:40] with this. Like you guys know. You totally know. You turn to the side and you’re like, suck it in and like put your hand on your stomach and you’re like, “Yeah, if I can just get it to be there,” you know, or you like grab the back of your leg and like pull like your skin and your fat together and you’re like, “If my thigh was only that big.” You know I’m right. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. And we just, we feel bad about ourselves. And I know it’s hard to hear that we do that and admit to that but when you can identify and admit that you do that, that’s when the magic happens, you guys, because that’s when you can stop it. And the next time you do it and you look in the mirror, you can be like, “Oh, I’m so gross. Nope. Nope, I’m not. I’m going to love myself today. You know what, that stomach grew three humans inside of me.” Like be proud of it. And do you want to tone it up and get it stronger and flat? Hell yeah. Then let’s do it. So just know, you don’t have to be extremely out there. You don’t have to go to extreme measures or extreme surgeries to get that. All right? But we’re going to talk about these things. And if you’re ready for it and you’re ready for the truth and you don’t want to read another boring book or watch a YouTube video of some chick that doesn’t get it, and you’re like, “She’s had one baby or she doesn’t have any babies, or she probably has a trainer and a chef.” You know, we’ve read all these stories about people, but if you just want someone that’s real and raw and living, you know the shit show with you. I’m your girl. I’m your girl. So, I’m going to tell you guys a little bit about myself. I want you to know where I came from. I want you to know my journey, my background, and more about like what this podcast is all going to be about. I’m going to take you way back when, I’m going to take you back to my days of growing up because I think it’s important to kind of know so you guys can feel like you trust me a little bit. So, I grew up in Michigan. I’m actually a Michigan girl and some of you probably can hear the accent. We’re very nicely, like out here, I’m in California and out here in California everything’s very like drawn out. Like they have a grocery store called Vons, Vons. I say Vons and they say hockey out here really weird. So, I say hockey and out here in California it’s like hockey. It’s crazy. It’s weird. I know I don’t fit in, but I do fit in. I grew up in Michigan, so I’m a total East coaster. I get that life and I have lived in California for about six years now and I love it. I wouldn’t change it either way because I love that small-town East coast mindset, you know, just hardworking habits and routine that I developed there. But I do love California and the sun. I’m going to lie. I’ll never go back to Michigan probably. But I grew up there, born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan and I have a very interesting family. I love all my siblings and my brothers and my parents. My mom was a stay at home mom. She didn’t work. She didn’t do anything. Us kids were her life. We will talk about that later in this podcast but my dad was a cop and he was on SWAT and he was in the army and he was very into working out. Like my basement was like a complete gym growing up. So, whenever I had friends over, we were literally down there like climbing the monkey bars and hanging out and stuff. And it’s a wonder we didn’t like break our feet and toes more because we were always barefoot and I don’t know how someone didn’t just drop a dumbbell on their own foot or someone else’s foot, but that’s what I grew up in. I saw that. And it was interesting because I got to see my dad hustle and work hard and it shaped me. It truly did. Now it didn’t shape all of us. My siblings aren’t all like me, so I find it very interesting, the dynamic of how we all grew up in the same house and yet just took different paths. So, I use that knowledge today with my girls. Did I tell you that you guys? I don’t even think I said that. So, I’m a mom of three. Well, let me introduce myself now. I am a mom of three. I have a 14-year-old. Oh my God, I have to think about it. I have a 14-year-old, I have an 11-year-old and I have an eight-year-old. Holy cow. Totally bombed brain right there. Can you see? I’m real. Told you I’m real but yeah, I try to use the dynamics and just learn from my environment growing up and apply it to my three kids now too. But yeah, I saw my dad working out, we had this full gym, but he also was really into martial arts. So, I grew up doing martial arts. We had like the wooden dummies and stuff in the basement and I was like colliding on it and like we had these sacks, these like, I can’t think of the word right now, but they were like filled with beans and we had to like punch it and you didn’t stop until your knuckles bled, like, yeah. Okay. Get tough. I don’t know. It was crazy. I told you. It was interesting. It was very interesting. But you know, I played sports, I grew up doing martial arts too. I did Sensei Kai and Karate and my parents were very into Wing Chung and stuff. So, I went to the seminars and competitions and I got to see all that. I was not the little girl in glitter and sparkles and I didn’t wear no Tutu. I had a geek and I hit shit. I didn’t dance. I think I tried it later when I was a little bit older. I was probably like a teenager and I loved it because I love to dance. Oh my God, I love to dance. Just wait till you see me on like Instagram and stuff and Facebook. But we’re talking like booty shaking dance and back in the day all the little girls did ballet and jazz and tap and that wasn’t me. I had a gian, I got out of school and went right to class and funny stuff here. So, in karate and back in the day, and I don’t know what parents agree to this, but you have Fatas and Forms and stuff that you have to learn. I don’t know if any of you know much about martial arts, but they’re just forms, you know, a series of punches and kicks and stuff like that. And you have to put them together and the higher belt you get, the harder it gets. And they had this stick, no lie, I’m not shitting you. They had this stick, it was made out of bamboo and they wrapped it and sheepskin at like the end and if you were out of position, wow. Like just hit the shit out of your leg, for reals. Like I’m totally not kidding. What parents signs a waiver and is like, “Feel free to beat my child whenever you want. And feel free to hit her with a stick.” Like am I right or what? So, I got really good, really fast because my sensei didn’t mess around and yeah. So, it’d be like, you know, straddle stance position. I love how I’m doing it now even though you guys can’t see me. I’m like in a straddle stance position and like if your knee was too far forward, well like you’re getting hit. If your punch was not right, well, you’re getting hit. So again, I did wear no tutu. That’s what I grew up doing. But I love it and as harsh as it sounds, I love it because it really did teach me discipline. It really did teach me respect and discipline and I use that stuff today and how I teach and train. I don’t beat my clients with a stick, but I still use that discipline and you know what I learned back then, I apply it till today. I’m thankful for that and definitely thankful for that. But growing up, did all that stuff, moved into high school now, now I’m in high school, I loved basketball, volleyball, all that. And this is where my journey really began. So, I was at class one day, go down the halls and I see this flyer on the wall and it says, ‘Looking for someone to clean gym equipment in exchange for a gym membership.’ And I’m like, “Oh hell yeah.” I was so excited. I’m like, “Yes, this is going to be awesome. I’m totally going to do it.” I couldn’t drive because so I was probably like 14 or 15 years old and I was like, “That would be really freaking cool.” Like what teenager thinks that’s school? A girl, a female, you know? Like a dude. I probably think that’s cool. So, I went to the gym, I had my mom take me there after school one day and they showed me around and they’re like, “Yeah, this is what you have to do. Clean it, dust it, keep disinfecting the pads and stuff and you have the use of the whole gym.” I’m like, “Sweet, I’m totally going to do this.” That was my first entry into a gym, besides my basement. That was my first entry into a gym and I loved it. I took it very seriously and they didn’t care when I came. So, I made my own schedule, I had my parents drop me up and, which they were fine because then I was out of there they’re here and I did, I cleaned, dusted everything and then I would go and use the weight equipment. I’d look at the pictures and learn how to do it. And I really started like self-training myself and then they had classes there as well. And I’m like, “Well shit, I’m going to do some classes. Why not you?” This was like back in the day and there were step aerobics and I kid you not, this was when they wore the leotards with the thong and you wear over your spandex so your thong was on the outside. Yeah, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about or remember that. I’m waiting for that to come back. That’s what they taught in. I didn’t wear it, but that’s what they taught in. I was really young and I started doing classes and this step aerobics and like, I guess it was Jazzercise. I don’t fucking know but that’s what we did and I picked up on it. Now again, I said I wasn’t a dancer. I did martial arts, but I still knew an eight count and what like what punch went with what motion. So, when I added music to it, I was really good at it. I got the beat, I could do it all, and I kept going. I’m like, “Oh, that was a really good workout. Oh, that was really sweet.” And then I noticed it was affecting my sports. I was getting more in shape for volleyball and volleyball was my jam. And when I was in high school, I played four years of varsity. My sister was a senior and I was the freshmen on the team with my senior. That was a little weird but I was good. I was very into it and athletic and I noticed, I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m getting conditioned the more like, I am now, like playing because I’m faster and I could jump and I’m beating these seniors.” So, I loved the results. Well, one day one of the instructors pulled me aside and she was like, “You’re really good at that. Are you the girl that’s cleaning the equipment and stuff now?” And I’m like, “Yeah, that’s me.” And she’s like, “You’re really good at it.” And she kind of took me under her wing. I thought it was really neat and she’s like, “Do you want to learn how to teach?” I’m like, “Oh my God, I don’t know. I guess so. I never really thought of that before.” So, she started showing me how to do the music, how to put moves together with an eight-count beat and it was neat. And then she’s like, “Okay, tomorrow I want you to be here at this class and you’re going to take five minutes of it.” She’s like, “Just, I’m going to be in the back. You take five minutes.” I’m like, “All right.” And then it just grew. Next thing I knew I was taking 10 minutes of her class and she’s like, “Oh, go do 15 minutes.” Not getting paid. Let’s not forget that I wasn’t getting paid and before I knew it, they were like, “Hey, do you want to start teaching here?” And I’m like, “Sure.” So I was literally 15-years-old, I might’ve been 16 by then teaching classes at this gym, not certified, don’t really know what the hell I’m doing, and they told me, they were like, “Just don’t tell anyone your age if they ask, you know.” And I’m like, “Are you telling me to lie?” Like okay. And they’re, “Just don’t tell anyone your age.” And I started doing it and I loved it. I loved the fact that I could stand in front of a room and motivate that many people at once. I just thought that was like the coolest thing in the world and like get a workout and stuff while doing it. So, I started teaching back then and then I got really cocky and I’m like, “Well I know how to do all this martial arts stuff. Do you guys care if I start doing kickboxing?” And that’s what I called it, like kick boxing. And they’re like, “No, go for it.” So, back then I started taking all my kicks and punches and knowledge of what I knew from all my years of martial arts and stuff and I put it to music and I started teaching like this kickboxing class. I still do it to this day and I love it because it really is a form of like cardio workout, punch kicks, martial arts, yet it’s fun and you’re burning calories and you feel empowered and there is self-defense in it. So, I started doing it and they loved it. My classes were packed, I soon became the number one instructor at the gym. Sometimes it was waiting room only in the back and if there was a spot then you could come in and I packed it. I was like 17 years old just with this packed class. And I wasn’t afraid to just be raw and real with them and like get up to someone and not scream at them like a drill instructor but just be like, “You got this, you can do this, you’re better than that step. You kill that step.” You know, I wasn’t afraid to do it and that showed way back then. I did it all through high school and my coach, my volleyball coach would have me lead the team in like exercises, routines, and then sometimes they came up to the gym and the whole team would come up and I would just lead the class. We’d block out the room and I would just lead the class. That was really fun to do after a two-hour practice. If you can’t tell by my voice, I’m being completely sarcastic, but I was like, “Okay, sure, I’ll totally do it.” And I did that a lot. I would go to a two-hour practice and then I’d go to the gym and teach or I would lead another class after with the girls and stuff. It’s just what I did. Then I went onto college and I played ball in college as well and I taught at the same time. And that was really interesting because college ball is a whole another level and there’s two days. You know, you get up in the morning and you’re fricking conditioning and the heat and running the Hills and you want to die and then you come back at night and you have real practice and they’re killing you. And I taught in between. I’d go in the morning and then I teach in the afternoon and then I go back and it was hard. It was really, really tough but it was a time in my life where, again, I learned dedication, discipline, and that’s totally shaped me to who I am today. That’s helped me be the amazing podcaster I’m going to be today. It did. It really, really helped me but then at that point, you know, I was out of the home and I moved out and I didn’t have anyone helping me. I didn’t have anyone giving me money, I didn’t have anyone supporting me, I had to do it all on my own and it was literally like teacher die. Okay, maybe not. Maybe that was a little too dramatic. It wasn’t teacher die, but it was definitely, if I didn’t teach, I didn’t eat. That became my means to an end because I had to pay rent, I had to pay for my food. Sure, I had other jobs. Eventually I had other jobs I worked like at Express, I worked at Chuck E. Cheese. Yes, I was Chuck. I swear to God. Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that. Yeah, I worked at Chuck E. Cheese, that was the [inaudible 00:23:52]. Oh God. I have to find some pictures, but hey, it was a way to make money. I didn’t last there very long and then I worked at Express because I heard it was always good to have retail experience, but you know, just in and out, I did work as I got more and more into my degree, which is in social work, again, still use those talents and skills that I learned with that degree. But I had another job. It was great. I was in home Parent Aid, I worked with kids, I loved it. I helped change their lives and stuff, but I was still teaching. So, I would go to work, I would teach, I would leave, eat, go teach at another gym. At one point I was teaching at six gyms at once, no lie, because they didn’t really want me teaching more than two classes a day. And then I’m like, “Well, I could teach two classes here and then I could go down the road to powerhouse and I could teach two more classes there.” And yeah, I don’t recommend that to anyone. That was really dumb. it’s probably why my knees hurt today. Oh, that’s about it. Just my knee. But it just wasn’t smart. But when you have to teach and you need to make that money in order to eat, feed yourself, you’re going to do it. You’re going to do it to survive. And then, you know, sometimes my books weren’t covered by scholarship and there was a lot of expenses and I had to do it. And then when you’re teaching, you’re really hard on your clothes and your shoes and I need to choose about every three months or so if not sooner and they’re not cheap. But also, I learned really quickly that I can teach one hour of class and get paid and get in and out and at another job, I would have worked like six or seven hours to work that same amount, you know, well and minus taxes and stuff. So, I wasn’t going to complain. I didn’t complain. I would even teach a class in the morning after coming off of third shift at my other job. I had to stay with kids who were at a facility and I would work third shift with them and then I’d get up, I’d maybe sleep maybe an hour if I could and then I’d go teach and come back. I was just really efficient with my time, but I loved it. I loved working with that many people at once, inspiring them, motivating them, moving up. And again, it gave me the practice for where I am now. I used all of that, those hard times and just the hours and hours of teaching to make me who I am today. And I’d never changed that for anything. And then I started training people. Teaching totally led into training people because people will come up to me and they’d be like, “I love your class. Can we work together?” And I’d be like, “Sure.” So eventually the gym was like, “You need to get certified.” And I’m like, “Okay.” So, they paid for me to get my first group fitness certification done, they paid for me to be a personal trainer, and again, I became the number one trainer in the gym. I was always packed, people were trying to like slip me cash to be like, “If you stay later, I will pay the gym and the regular feed, but also give you $50” I’m like, “How long you want to stay?” And I did it. So, apparently, I do everything backwards. Apparently. I like to do it and then get certified. That’s fine. But it worked, you know, but fast forward, then I started having babies and I got married and I had my first one, pretty young and after I had her, after six weeks I was doing a lingerie modeling shoot. I was like, “Oh my God, I look back at these jeans already.” Yeah, you can hate me. But I was young and she was my first one and I worked out throughout my whole pregnancy. I taught kickboxing still up until I was about six, seven months pregnant and then when every time I brought my knee up, I was like, kneeing my baby growing inside of me. I was like probably doing damage. Like you probably shouldn’t teach Kickbox anymore because you’re like kicking your baby. I’m like probably a good idea. So, I had her, it was great, I felt like I bounce back and then I got pregnant again. My second one I had problems with. I almost lost her at five months. I had uncontrollable bleeding and it was scary and I wasn’t put on bed rest, but I got it under control and I just was very limited. And you know, now I’m running around with a three-year-old and or two-and-a-half-year-old and after she was born it was problem after problem after problem too. And we thought we were going to lose her then and she wasn’t going to make it but she’s 11 now. She’s our little miracle baby. She’s my little miracle baby. And it was really hard. We spent a lot of time in and out of the hospitals. I gained a lot of weight with that pregnancy. I still was pretty active, but not so much but after she was born, it was really hard to get back into it because now I had these two kids, you know. You guys know what that’s like. If you’re listening and you have a couple of kids, you get it, you lose yourself. That’s when you start to be like, “Hmm, I’m outnumbered and I don’t really know what I’m doing. How in the world do I make time for myself?” And then I got pregnant again and this one was a little bit more of a surprise. And if you guys have more than two children, you know there’s just something special about that third one because she is wild and insane. That pregnancy was hard on me as well. I’m very sick when I’m pregnant, very, very sick at the beginning. It didn’t stop me from eating though and I put on, oh my God, this is so hard to say out loud again. I say it often but for some reason it’s hard right now. I put on 60 pounds with that last pregnancy. That’s when I really changed. Motherhood changed me. Motherhood changes us. It does. And the sooner that you can admit that, the sooner you can move forward because it did. I was overweight, out of shape, I was in this body now that I didn’t even recognize. Like you guys just heard my story, you heard what I came from and how active I was and what I did and how I hustled before I had kids and to be in a body that’s carrying the 60 pound fat suit and looking in the mirror, that’s how I know, like I said in the beginning, the body shaming and, “Oh my God, I’m so disgusting.” That’s how I know that takes place because I was there. I was living it. So, I had this, you know, preschool. This little one that was sick, very sick child in and out of the hospital. And then I had my third crazy, insane one who has crazy curly hair and she’s just as curly as her hair. And I’m like, “I’m supposed to be in shape now, too, and have friends and eat right. Like shit, I can’t even function or go to the bathroom by myself right now, let alone go and find time to do weights.” And I hit rock bottom when my little one was born. I had a rock bottom moment. She was, God, she had to be about eight months old or so and I had started trying to work out, you know, doing the Billy Blanks in the basement, even that was old back. But I was trying to do things. What was the other one? The beach body, I’d put in like the DVDs, I would do the insanity, you know what I could. Like they’d nap and I’d go down and I try to do it and yeah, I lost some weight. Yeah, it came off, you know, because I was increasing my activity. I was increasing my work expenditure and I was losing some weight, but it just wasn’t happening and it was very sporadic. It was like, “Oh go down to this DV.” And then I couldn’t like walk for four weeks. So, I didn’t do it again. My rock bottom moment with you guys and then I’ll wrap up here. My rock bottom moment was when I was on the floor and I was doing mountain climbers. Do you guys know that move? You’re on your hands and you’re running your knees into your chest on the ground and my stomach was hitting my thighs. My stomach had never hit my thighs before. I was fucking amazing and could do mountain climbers for 20 minutes and not feel or do a thing and not even bat an eye. And now I was huffing and puffing and my stomach was so large that it was hitting my thighs every time I ran my knees into my chest. Yeah. I stopped, I felt it and I lost it. I crawled my sorry ass over to the stairs because I was in my basement and I just bawled. I was like, “Who did I become? How the hell did I get here?” And I didn’t want that moment to define me, but at the same time it did define me. It was a moment of like, “You can’t get any lower than this.” And then I think the baby cried. I probably started like, I know price started coming out because I was all wet and it was just this moment that I’ll never forget of being sweaty, sloppy, lactating, Melissa on the floor with a stomach so fat. It was hanging over my pants and hitting my thighs and that moment changed me for the rest of my life. I vowed then in there to get my shit together and become hotter than I was in college. Like I vowed to become a mom of three that was so fucking hot in a bikini, they thought I was the nanny. Like that’s what started going through my head. I dried my tears, I sucked it up and I got to work. I was this trainer, I was this instructor. I know about food nutrition. I’m like, “Damn it, I’m going to do something about it. I’m going to do something about it.” And that’s when, that is how my first program focused and fit was born. If you guys go to my website, which you guys will see in the show notes and stuff, it’s melissavogelfitness.com. I have three different programs and one of them is focused in fit and that’s how it was born. I could go to the gym because I was nursing so much and I had the other two little ones and I was alone a lot and I couldn’t get to the gym. So, I created this whole, like six-week program of everything that I did to get in shape but do it at home. So, we’re literally using water bottles, dumbbells, resistance bands, anchoring it onto your stairs. We’re using the kitchen chair and that’s how focused and fit was born. And that’s what I developed and created and it worked. I think I dropped like 3% body fat in about six weeks, which is a lot. It’s a lot. I try not to talk in pounds. Pounds is important, but it’s really about the body fat and I took everything that I did and wrote it down and logged it and then it was like 10 years later. But that’s how focused and fit came about. but there’s always a, but life happened. Kids get older, things get harder, kids get involved in more sports. Was I fit? Sure. We moved twice, then I moved out to California and I was in shape, I was thin, my stomach wasn’t hitting my thighs anymore but it, you know, I wasn’t who I had vowed to become. I made that vow to myself and I still wasn’t her and that bothered me. And after we got settled out here, I was like, “That’s it. I’m changing. I want more, I deserve more, I am worth it.” And I went to town on self-love, self-talk, bringing awareness to what I’m saying to myself in the mirror. I researched and started just becoming a human Guinea pig with my body and learning about carbs, food and nutrition, macros, calories, protein, everything. And I tried it all out on my body. I used it and I figured out what was working, what wasn’t working. You know, I thought I was eating healthy before and we’ll get into this later in more podcasts. I thought I was eating healthy. I eat a lot of organic, non-GMO you know, but there’s a difference between eating what’s healthy and for health and eating what’s going to make you ripped. There’s a huge difference and that’s what I learned and I started working out and training differently. I became a different beast. I made sure I made it to the gym, I outgrew my home, and that happens. You can start working out at home for sure. Absolutely. But you will outgrow your home and all my years since I was 15 years old of knowledge, experience, food, weightlifting, nutrition, everything, work, cardio, you name it. I brought it all together to where I am today. And that’s how I created the program Busy to Bomb Fit Mom. And it’s literally the last six years of my life combined into one program. And I went from being, I called it Mom Blob. I’m not going to lie, it’s my term. I know it offends some people, but that’s what I felt like I was. I was just like this mom and I was like this blob. I went from a blob to bomb basically, and everything I did, I logged track and I created the program Busy to Bomb Fit Mom. And I’m coaching and training women now to do exactly what I did. All of the right workouts, all of the right mindset, all of the right nutrition, everything. We bring it all together in one program and I’m extremely proud of it. And everyone works together and that’s how Bomb Mom podcast became about and that’s how Busy to Bomb Fit Mom came about too. You guys can check that out. You can just go to www.busytobombfitmom.com. It’s got a ring to it, right? This is the www.busytobombfitmom.com and that, we’re going to talk a lot about that. But everything that I teach in that program, you guys are going to get, you know, little pieces and bits of that in my podcast as well because I want it to all come together. But I get serious. And today, I don’t know if you guys ever, you can Google me, follow me on Instagram, I’m very proud that any photo that you see of me is not photo-shopped. It is my real actual body. I take pride in that and I won’t let anyone alter it or slim it or change it or whatever. My stomach no longer hits my thighs and I am teaching and coaching and training women every day to no longer have their stomach at their thighs. To be a mom of five, be a mom of six, be a mom of two, be a mom of one and just be fricking hot as fuck. That’s what we deserve. We deserve to be going from super busy and to just being absolutely amazing and totally bomb. And I know bomb is so what, like 1998. I don’t know. I don’t really care. But I use the term bomb because that can mean anything to anyone. That could mean that you’re explosive, it could mean that you’re on fire, it could be that you’re about to explode. It can mean whatever you want it to mean. It can mean powerful, it can mean that you’re just destroying things that, anything. So that’s why I use it. I don’t use it to be like, “Oh my God, that’s so bomb.” Like it’s so fast. Like, no, it’s because you could define that how you need to. That’s kind of my history, my journey where I’m at now. Again, lots more to come in my upcoming podcasts. So, I hope you guys stay tuned. And I hope you enjoyed learning more about my journey and I can’t wait to share with you guys more tips, secrets, the five pillars of being a bomb mom. That’s all to come. So, I hope you come back. Make sure you guys rate, review and comment and just keep following along because I am here to help you on your journey because it’s not easy to do alone, but when you have the right support, guidance, the right coach and mentor in your corner, you will become amazing. You will be bomb. Until next time, guys. If you’re ready to become a Bomb Mom, join my free course over at www.melissavogelfitness.com/course. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. This is given with the understanding that neither the host, Practice of the Practice or the guests are providing legal, mental health, nutritional, or other professional information. If you need a professional, you should find one.