We’ve all been there – post baby and anxious to recognize our reflection and fit into our old clothes. This is my second round and I’m excited to share it with YOU! Well, I say “excited” but really it’s more like terrified. Inviting others to witness the challenges and successes of weight loss – hence “venture” in the title.
A little background: I got into fitness at 18 when my Dad handed me a VHS workout video called The Firm. Never having been an athlete, this introduction into fitness was all new to me. But at 18 I coupled it with eating as little as possible…stupid. In college I worked at the gym and learned more about exercise, including the difference between how athletes train for strength, speed and agility, and how I worked out to get skinny. My then-boyfriend now-husband was a soccer player who ate like a horse and introduced me into eating actual food and not the “minimal amount of calories for my organs to function” kind of eating I had been doing. He taught me the balance between eating foods we love and working out.
Fast forward 10 years: at our last duty station, I was getting my masters degree and decided to work as an indoor cycling instructor for some income and allow the rest of the day for research, writing, and studying. After all, I was going to go to class anyway. Why not get paid to work out?! The experience was enlightening because it allowed me to accompany so many on their fitness or weight loss journeys.
When I got pregnant with my first son, I taught cycling until I was 6 months pregnant. Now, before you go all “she’s inhuman” on me, understand I wore a heart rate monitor to track and control my heart rate, which directly affects my growing baby. Once I could no longer maintain a healthy heart rate, I stopped teaching. With this child, I gained 52lbs. FIFTY-TWO POUNDS. I enjoyed eating things I loved and didn’t deprive myself, but nor did I over-indulge with the excuse of pregnancy. It was an easy 52lbs to gain and working at it slowly, it took me a year and a half to lose, plus 10lbs. Pretty proud of that!
During my second pregnancy, I gained 55lbs. FIFTY-FIVE POUNDS. I wasn’t exercising at all past 4 months but felt more physically agile because I was chasing a toddler. So I gained more but felt stronger. Again, I didn’t deprive myself of foods but didn’t over-indulge either. At one check-up with my midwife, I had gained 10lbs in just a month and she slyly looked at me and said, “Really…ten pounds?” I shrugged because I wasn’t concerned.
Pregnancy was a time I lived inside of myself. I was in tune with my growing baby, my growing body, how my muscles and joints felt, how I was feeling, my thoughts, and most of all I listened to my heart growing in love for my second child. No, I wasn’t going to care about 10lbs.
So here I am, post baby #2 and about 35 more pounds to lose at the 6 week post partum mark. I feel good and think my stitches have mostly absorbed so I’m ready to exercise.
First things first, I changed my food choices. This means less butter, less cheese, less bread later in the day, higher protein meals and no sour cream. Oh how I will miss sour cream! Since I’m exclusively breastfeeding, I still need to take in an adequate amount of calories for my health and for high-fat, calorie dense breastmilk for baby. This means an extra snack each day with a glass of milk.
Here’s one of my favorite snacks: Banana Pancakes: 1 banana and 2 eggs, mashed and cooked over medium heat until the center is firm. Add cinnamon for more flavor and fresh fruit if I have it.
They’re very filling, high in protein, super healthy and delicious! I’ll cook a few bananas worth and keep in the fridge.
See my other blog post about other eating changes here.
Exercise is important to gain my core strength back and retrain those posture muscles to hold my body upright. Our weight shifts to the front during pregnancy and those muscles aren’t used the same so we have to retrain them to hold our trunk upright again. The most effective way to do this is by doing Pilates and Yoga, which I will start this week. These exercise routines focus on core strength and use body weight to strengthen muscles and ligaments. Another thing to do, when I remember to do it, is pulling in my abs when I’m cooking, washing dishes, brushing my teeth, bending over to wash my face, etc. Small things each day can make a difference!
Since my exercise will have to be timed with an infant and a toddler in mind, I won’t workout every day. But when the stars align and I am able to, I will. I WILL! And when hubby is home on the weekends, I can sneak away to workout then, too. I will start with 20-30 minutes of Pilates or Yoga a few times a week and go from there.
I will have the DVD and my mat set up and ready so when the time is right, I can get to it straight away and not waste time with lugging out equipment or finding the DVD. The more prepared I am, the more time I can focus on getting the work done. This means waking up and putting workout clothes on and my contacts in so I’m ready when the time comes. Also doing household chores or phone calls ahead of time, or knowing I can do it afterwards, will help as well. It’s EASY to find an excuse. When you eliminate the reason to use the excuse, it disappears.
Welcome to my venture! I’ll post meal ideas and my workouts weekly so you can see what I’m doing. It’s not magic and it will be a challenge. And I’ve never done this with two babies, which I will share those struggles as well.
Ok, now I’m excited. And I’ll be more excited if you join in this venture with me!
| A mother of two and a Colorado Native, she grew up in suburbia Denver and met her husband in college at Regis University. They were best friends for years before he kissed her and well…as they say, the rest is history. He joined the Army after they graduated in 2002, so they moved several times and just came back from living overseas. Being gone for over 10 years, Colorado is still their home and they feel so good to be back!
<strong><em>Click here for more “New” mom articles from Crystal!</em></strong> |
