Sarah Nicole Landry in Two-Piece Workout Gear Shares Inspirational Advice

Model and influencer Sarah Nicole Landry is sharing some inspirational words with her 2.5 million Instagram followers. Landry, 39, posted a video of herself wearing pink workout gear, walking outside and doing yoga poses on a mat. "I hear 'I wish I had your confidence' everyday and the secret is – me too?? I wish I had the feeling first, but I don't. And that's ok. I've gotten so comfy with the uncomfortable. Because the alternative is holding myself back, feeling badly and letting it bleed into everything else or not doing the things I so badly want to. So I make the choice, and I forge ahead. And my gosh, does it work. I'm on cloud 9 and I started on cloud like, 2… Life is short. We can't be waiting on feelings to give us permission to live!" she captioned the post. Here's how the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model stays fit, confident, and happy.

Landry found a routine she loves and sticks to. "In the beginning, I ran on a treadmill five times a week before realizing I hated running on a treadmill," she told HuffPost. "I switched to body strength exercises I could do at home with the kids around after I found a fitness trainer mom (@bikinibodymommy) who offered free online workouts. After my weight loss (and healing from dieting and stepping into exercising for reasons more than weight loss) I found I loved weight lifting, as well as some cardio, a good long walk with the family, and dancing in my bedroom alone for half an hour."

Landry understands how difficult postpartum fitness can be. "For me, postpartum acceptance took almost a decade and that's not uncommon," she told Experience Life. "Sadly, for many, it's because we've been led to believe we have to 'bounce back' to a body we once had, when realistically, how can we? How can we be expected to ever go back to the woman we were before when we have evolved and become so much more? The "bounce forward" is truly where the magic is: Letting go of your past self; honoring her as you move forward; remembering that she had her own struggles; having respect for your body and the good job it's done in carrying you — and your children, too."

Landry is a big believer in being surrounded by positivity. "Motivation truly comes and goes," she told Notable Life. "There will always be peaks and valleys and the key to staying motivated is seeking outside sources of motivation when your own is at a low. Surround yourself and your newsfeeds with people, places and things that help you form inspiring thoughts and decisions."df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

Landry says body positivity should not be stressful. "I feel like all it did was give everybody permission to kind of show up as they are, and we're still working through it," she told Glory Media. "I think there's a lot of mixed messaging too. When we talk about body positivity, a lot of people are like 'Well, I don't feel positive about my body when you talk about confidence,' or 'I don't feel confident in my body when you talk about self-love. I don't love myself all the time.' So that can be really confusing. It just feels like another hurdle to get over. It feels like we already failed at not looking the part, now we can't even feel it—and that sucks."

Landry says her thoughts fuel her creativity. "As humans, we experience thoughts all day long, positive and negative ones," she told Experience Life. "We're really good at having them and letting them flow through us, but to capture them, write them down and share them, it lends itself to a new form of creativity, vulnerability, and connection. It's why I typically write my captions before I find an image to pair with them."