New mother Lakeisha dropped almost 22lb and overcome postpartum depression

“The physical changes represent that commitment to self – that unapologetic love of self. But also fighting for myself and getting back to myself to be the best for my daughter. It just means so much.”

Lakeisha fell into postpartum depression following her deeply traumatic childbirth experience.

In the months that followed, her depression compounded the physical and mental challenges new mums face at the start of parenthood.

Slowly but surely Lakeisha found her feet – but she felt as if something were missing. Her strength and confidence were not what they once were.

Looking to reconnect with her old self and find the balance needed to be a strong mother, she made the decision to put her health and fitness first with Ultimate Performance.

After 16 weeks of commitment and hard work, she transformed her body and mind to put her in the best possible position to enjoy motherhood at her happiest.

This is Lakeisha’s story.

Tell us what motivated you to join U.P. and how you felt then.  

My transformation journey began with my experience as a new mother in a very new body.

I had my daughter on January 4th, and it completely changed my life, and it also changed my body. I had an emergency C-section, which meant I had an incision across my abdomen. It’s cutting into your abdominal muscles, required extensive recovery time. 

It was a traumatic experience of not knowing if my daughter would survive and being concerned if I would survive even six weeks, eight weeks out postpartum. I plunged into postpartum depression pretty quickly.

At the same time, I’m becoming a new mother and taking on this new identity, wanting to enjoy being a new parent but also wanting to take care of myself. I remember one of my first discussions with my obstetrician was about walking, which helped me with my mental health.  

I recognised that I had gotten to a point where I needed more help.

Meeting a therapist was great, but I also wanted to think about the transformation I wanted in my body. It wasn’t until six months postpartum that my husband and I decided to come here.

I didn’t feel as strong physically and wanted to feel that way again. I especially wanted to feel that way for my daughter.

I wanted to feel both physically and mentally strong whilst dealing with postpartum depression. 

How was your experience at U.P.? 

My first day at U.P. was really difficult. I recognised how different my body looked and how much I wanted it to change. 

To be honest, I felt like I shouldn’t be here. I thought I’m not strong enough to be here. I couldn’t do one split squat. For the first few weeks, I struggled.

But my trainer was very encouraging, and that’s what kept me going until I started to see results.  

Did the gym training become easier for you with time? 

Split squats, I thought, were just going to do me in.

The progress with the split squats felt like an evolution of seeing myself go through not being able to do one properly to finally conquering it.

Over time, I got stronger and stronger to the point where you’re like, “Oh, we can add weights now, and we can add more weight.” That just felt like a huge triumph for me. 

Tell us about how U.P.’s transformation impacted your life.  

One of the biggest differences I find in myself is that I learned real self-care, like how to put myself first in getting up for the workouts, no matter what’s going on, or no matter how I’m feeling.  

Through each workout, I did start to develop even more confidence in myself and my body.

I learned that if I treat myself well and put good things into my body, and if I come to the gym and really push myself, I will be able to meet this end goal.  

It wasn’t necessarily the self-confidence that came from seeing my abs and arms change. The self-confidence came from being a woman who now cares for herself differently.  

I was using sugary drinks to get through the day. Once I gave those things up and started to put healthy things in my body, my energy levels changed.

When I wake up, I feel prepared and ready for the day. Waking up at 5:00 am has just become a habit. Now I look forward to that time for practising self-care and mindfulness.

That’s made me feel both healthy in mind, body and spirit. I think that that’s the biggest gift!  

Overall, do you feel you have a good return on your investment in U.P.?  

This was a gift that my husband and I gave to ourselves as our 13th wedding anniversary.

In the same ways in which we invest in real estate or our careers, we made this investment in ourselves, and it was important for us to do it together as partners. 

We felt like, over 13 years, we put on these pounds together. Now, especially after my pregnancy, it seemed as if we should lose them together.

It was an opportunity for us to just do something together. When I think about those returns, how my husband and I are just stronger together as partners, those are the ways in which the program made huge deposits in our life that were completely unexpected.

There’s no value on my mind, body and spirit. I can’t place a dollar amount on my marriage.

There’s no question that it was absolutely worth the investment. I think we’ve received dividends in return. 

Lakeisha found peace and strength to enjoy motherhood at U.P. Now you too can uncover the best version of yourself at U.P. Get in touch here.  

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