My Post Baby Fitness Journey

The female body is designed to do amazing things.  Grow a life.  Birth a baby. Provide life for that baby.  It truly is amazing.  While I was pregnant, I embraced all the changes my body was going through - the weight gain, the back pain, the big(ger) boobs - it was all worth it to push that little bundle of joy into the world.

But being a mom takes a toll on your body. I gained around 40 pounds during my pregnancy.  I started at 135 and topped off around 175 I think.  Working out while pregnant was important to me. I tried my hardest to stay active, but once I hit the 7 month mark, workouts started to dwindle.  It didn't help that it was winter time and the motivation was not there.

I am writing this post to keep myself accountable. Not for you to compare.  Or judge.  Or wish you had what I have.  Or say anything about my journey.  Because that's what it is - MY journey.  Not your journey.  Everyone has different weight gain or starting points for their fitness journey.  I just hope by writing this post, I will inspire someone to get active or start their post baby fitness journey.

This picture is my motivation.  I don't know why, but I just love this picture of D.J. and I.  This picture was taken not more than a month before I found out I was expecting.  Heck, I was probably pregnant in this photo and didn't even know it.  Last summer I was in the best shape of my life.  I was working out hard almost every day, eating (somewhat) healthy and focusing on myself.

Now that I am 4+ months postpartum, I am trying to kick it into full drive with my workouts and eating habits.  I used July to focus on balancing work, life and working out and now that it's August, I'm trying to make sure that eating healthy takes more of a front seat in my priorities right now.

I am down to 152 pounds and hoping to be at 147 by the end of the month.  Given I am still breastfeeding, I need to make sure I am still giving my body the amount of nutrition I need, but focusing on what I eat much more. Oh and for all those people thinking "she's still breastfeeding, she should be dropping pounds left and right!" - well thats not the case for me.  I have noticed myself getting more toned, but the pounds aren't falling off like people say they should!

So right now, my post baby fitness journey looks a little something like this...

Body Back 2-3x/week: You can read more about Body Back here, but this program is truly inspiring.  Makes working out so fun and is really a challenge.  I really feel like this is the key to getting back in my pre baby shape. And we do it on the beach some days - who can complain about that?! BodyBack is a part of Fit4Mom - take a look and see if they have one in your area.  I highly recommend it!

Alexa Jean ab program: Alexa Jean is a quick and dirty ab workout four times a week.  It's 5 moves 3 times through for varying times on and off.  I like this program because I just need to dedicated 20 minutes of my day to it and then I'm done.

Healthy Eating: This is something I am struggling with right now.  Finding the time to go to the grocery store and get healthy snacks and dinners is hard.  But just by making smarter choices I have already noticed a difference in how I feel when I put good food in my body and not crappy food!

Right now I feel as though these things are helping me get back into things without overcommitting myself with D.J. still gone. To keep myself accountable, here are my numbers and everything before I started BodyBack a few weeks ago...

Half mile run: 4 minutes and 9 seconds
Bicep curls with red band: 41
Squats: 45
Push-ups: 26 (11 straight on my toes)
Full sit ups: 19
Plank: 1 min 6 seconds
Side planks: 40 seconds each side

41 1/4 bust
36 1/4 belly
39 1/2 hips

And here are my pictures...

If you ever question getting out and walking or getting a quick workout in, DO IT!