… Is This Thing On?

Well hello, fancy seeing you here. And me here, right? It’s been so long!

Ya know, blogging is funny. At one point this was my full-time job and something I put my heart, soul and full focus into for years. I constantly created, edited and published new content up to twice a day, five times a week.

This was, of course, back in the day where lifestyle blogging was it. It’s what you did if you wanted to share content, think pre-Instagram and TikTok. YouTube was around, but I relate that a bit more to blogging because of the long-form video format. You can share a lot of helpful information for as long as you’d like, which is much different than the popular 6-15 second short video formats we heavily rely on today.

This space has morphed into many different things including an online diary of whereabouts and vacations, and is always something I enjoy looking back on when I’m talking about a specific trip or time in my life with people in person. Almost anything I wrote about would be available with a quick google search. I liked that, but most importantly, I liked that I was able to share information on health and fitness in a lighthearted and fun way. My goal has always been to educate first, entertain second … and that will never change.

And then came Skyler. Oh man, long-time readers remember how long we prayed to have a baby and how the process was anything but easy. He is without a doubt the best miracle in our lives, and there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t thank God for being able to have him, know him and watch his (huge) personality grow. Don’t get me wrong — we have our challenges, and I have my moments of wanting to pull my hair out, ha — but parenting has been the most unexpected journey and biggest blessing in my life overall. There’s no other job like it in the world.

I wasn’t sure what to make of this space once I realized how long it took to produce the kind of content I thought would be most helpful for you to read, and how little of that time I had to dedicate to it. I think any parent reading this can relate to the uncertainty that is parenthood, where anything and everything that could happen to affect your goals and plans … does. Sick days. Days out of school. Situations that arise at the last minute because something falls through. The balance of getting your work done, but getting them out of the house and filling their calendars before your own, it’s all-consuming.

It got to a point where I could feel myself staring at my screens more than my son, and that gave me a big reality check. At the end of the day, being present with him as much as I can is my number one priority.

So I decided to take a break for a bit, and I’m so glad I did. I gave myself the grace we ALL deserve and often forget to grant ourselves. I took the pressure off of cranking out constant content (at least twice a week here on top of something daily on social media), and let other parts of my business develop.

Currently, I’m focused on being a Health Coach, both online and in person. I help my friend Giselle run her group coaching programs online (there’s a new 6-week Summer Ready Challenge starting Monday if you’re interested), and it’s been a fun way to learn that side of the business while I train 1:1 clients in person as well. I’m completely working for myself, which is unlike my past jobs as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer at boutique studios and gyms, not to mention helping open and managing a fitness studio for three and a half years pre-pandemic.

My ultimate goal with training would be to have the space and equipment available to train clients in my own home … when we’re not living in an apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

As inciting as that (and the thought of owning our first home lol) sounds, we’re just not in a hurry to get out and settle down in the suburbs, either. City life isn’t for everyone, and it’s not something I saw myself doing for the seven years we’ve been here, but I’ve grown to adore the quirks and experiences that come along with all of the inconveniences. I am in love with our neighborhood, and it’s an incredible place for Skyler to grow up and be exposed to many different cultures and unique opportunities. He just got accepted to a top-rated elementary school right across the street from us, and it all just feels surreal.

I remember thinking that “one day it would be cool to have our kids go there” the day we moved into our apartment, now seven years ago. (Whoa!) It just doesn’t make sense that this is actually happening now. What is time.

Here we are, still doing the commutes, still taking the subways, still struggling to walk and carry the groceries home, still paying a ridiculous rent check towards something we don’t own every month … the whole nine.

This is life.

We’ll get the home someday, but we’re enjoying the perks of living where we do for a little bit longer in the meantime. We’re taking things one month at a time and are living in the present instead of putting all of the focus into the future.

We’re taking each day for what it is and getting everything we can out of it, which has sometimes resulted in me pulling away from sharing it to the masses. It’s a shift, but it’s one that was needed.

And all of this feels good.

On top of coaching, I still love and am very proud to partner with Beautycounter, my go-to clean beauty brand you can read all about on the Clean Beauty page! I run a private Facebook group for anyone who wants to hear about switching over to safer skincare and makeup with my product recommendations and inside info.

Also, I’m developing my first course that covers information that I would coach any personal training client, teaching the foundations of exercise and good nutrition practices with real-life strategies on how to make healthy habits consistent, sustainable and get you the results you’ve been looking for. It’s taken a lot longer than I anticipated, and this is one hundred percent related to my need to strive for perfection. Thinking everything has to be perfect to put out there, and it’s actually set me back quite a bit. (I mean, don’t we all struggle with this?!) The good news is that this exact topic is one I cover in the mindset module, and I have been listening to my own advice.

We tend to overthink everything which causes us to freeze and doubt ourselves.

We put unrealistic pressures on ourselves to hit the standards in our heads that no one else will ever know or miss, and it all comes down to just hitting post or publish. We (and I) have been living in the “all or nothing” mindset for far too long.

As I was sitting on the subways coming back from Manhattan this morning, I was thinking about how I wanted to utilize the two hours of uninterrupted work time before going to pick Skyler up. I randomly decided that I wanted to blog and sat down to start typing this post after lunch.

No real structure, no evergreen content, not even a real reason outside of just saying “hey” to those of you who would still click over to read the latest on Life In Leggings.

I originally opened this dashboard to give you the “latest, latest Friday Favorites” as I had several things on my mind, but the post you see here was the result. A long-winded response to several questions I’ve gotten about the blog, our family, our plans for the future, what exactly I do these days, and so on.

But really, this is my way of saying hello and that I haven’t given up on this space quite yet. LIL will always hold a very special place in my heart, and I’m looking forward to see how it develops with less pressure and more grace this time.

So what can you expect? I guess only time will tell!

I plan on finding the balance of sharing relevant and helpful health and fitness content with a little bit of life sprinkled in, too. The same as always, but when the inspiration hits instead of “because it’s Tuesday and Friday,” … because life is too short to just check the boxes on the things you really love to do.

I’ll be back soon enough, and I hope you’ll stick around!

And please, I’d love to have you help me plan the content you’d like to see the most. What do you enjoy reading about and what do you find the most helpful?

Friday Favorites? Workouts? Quick Tips? Skyler Updates? NYC lifestyle and outings?

Leave your vote in the comments or hit reply if you’re seeing this from a newsletter.

Much love to you, always.

xo,

Heather