Postnatal Fitness: May Update

I can’t believe it!!!!! I survived #shredapril and I didn’t miss a single day! 

If you know me well, you would know that this is a HUGE accomplishment and milestone in my almost 30 years of life. I’ve NEVER been the workout type. Sure, I dabbled in playing sports here and there throughout my life, but as far as a set workout regiment. NEVER. I’ve never been able to stick to one. Even my last attempt at 30ds pre-wedding was short-lived.

I’m not sure what it was, but I think the main motivator was “me-time” and feeling like my old self again. Not that I’ll ever be the same person. Motherhood has forever changed me (into a better person), but I wanted to feel like the new me, in my pre-preg body. Am I making any sense? Anyway– this is the month that I lost the least amount of weight on the scale. But, I didn’t let that discourage me. I knew that my body was changing fat into muscle. And it is SO true. While the scale might not reflect big losses like my previous months, I can feel my body getting tighter, stronger. I actually see definition of muscles in different areas of my body. And my clothes? Boy do they fit better and more comfortably too. (Aside from button downs, which I figure I won’t be able to wear until after I wean from breastfeeding.)

I mostly stuck to Jillian’s 30ds– I started on Lvl 1 and did each Lvl for 5 days. Sometimes, if Mr.Dubs and I worked out together we did p90x Cardio and one time when I was feeling really sore and tired, I did Jillian’s Yoga Meltdown. It was a great kick start what I was hoping would happen mentally. I saw a quote on IG the other day and it’s stuck with me ever since: “The body achieves, what the mind believes!” And IT.IS.SO.TRUE. My body never gave up on, it was always my mental game that was the big hurdle.

I’m not going to lie, there were days that were SUPER hard to get motivated. Especially after getting the babe down, eating dinner beforehand, and running errands. There were many nights that I had 10pm workouts and the last few days were at 11pm! But, I am SO happy that I kept it up and got it done.

Like I said last month, I still have a long ways to go. But, I’ve been bit by the fitness bug and I hope to keep this going! I’m going to give myself today off, for the last 30 days of every day workouts. Although, I’m tempted to do a quick AbRipperX tonight just to do something, but we shall see! In May, I hope to keep up at least 5 days of workouts. The fear of painful soreness is what’s keeping me going this time around. Every night after I work out, I feel a good soreness. I DON’T want to feel the pain from the first few days again. This month, I’m going to try to run outside (yay nice weather!) and mix in different Jillian and p90x DVDs!

Moment of Bravery (Before #shredapril | 4/1/13)

 

Second Moment of Bravery (After #shredapril | 5/1/13)

No sucking in, no editing. I wanted the comparison before & after pic for myself. You see, I was never a believer of workouts (for me) and had I stuck to my addiction the numbers on the scale, I would have quit weeks ago. I wanted to document a before and after pic to prove to myself that working out would make a difference. I’m definitely still aiming to reach my pre-preg weight, but I won’t be disappointed if I never reach 128 again. 128 with no muscle and being “skinny fat” (what I’ve been all my life) is not what I want anymore. I’ll take a lean, tight, strong, fit, toned 135 any day!

And a few more pictures because what’s a fitness post without some vanity pics:

In terms of diet, I still didn’t eat too many breads or rice. But, I also didn’t really stick to Paleo like my previous months. We eat Korean food a lot for dinner, so that helped a lot– all I had to do was avoid the rice. And in general, I still tried to be conscious of portion control and not overeating. Anyway, as I head into May, I am gearing up to go hardcore 90/10 Paleo.

A typical day of meals looks like this:

Breakfast: Banana, black coffee, apple, eggs

Lunch: Entree (Salad, Sandwich, etc.) from Cafe or leftovers

Dinner: Meat entree + Veggie Sides

Snacks: Nuts! Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, etc. Ice cream

Stats

My normal: 128 lbs

Pre-pregnancy: 136 lbs (+8)

Pregnancy: 174 lbs (+46)

Post-pregnancy: 162 lbs (+34) (6 weeks pp)

LAST UPDATE: 147 lbs (+19) (18 weeks pp)

TODAY: 143 lbs (+15) (22 weeks pp)

Goal: 7 lbs ’til BFP weight | 15 lbs+ ’til GOAL weight 

Postnatal Fitness: April Update

This month was kind of a mash-up of being fit and eating healthy, to slowwwwwwwwly adding in carbs here and there. I didn’t lose sight of my goal. But, am beginning to realize that Paleo isn’t going to be a lifestyle change for me. And I actually started to add exercise back into my life! I stuck to my DVDs, doing 30ds or Ripped in 30 randomly when I found motivation or time. The other night I did P90x Cardio with hubby and felt great afterwards! So on the workout scene, I did ok. Great compared to the previous month. But, when it came to my diet, I did have more than a cup of Starbucks lattes as a cheat. I had a piece of toast with breakfast. I had rice with a couple of dinners. For the most part, I still stuck to the paleo diet though. And I definitely haven’t eaten processed foods, which I’m glad to stay away from most days!

I finally hit the 140s this month and boy was I so excited to see that 4!! I also bought my first pair of postpartum jeans the other day for Easter Sunday– they were only $23 at Loft, and the best part? Size 2/26!!

(March 31, 2013 – Easter Sunday)

I still have a long ways to go. I look good in clothes, but I’m still soft everywhere. My upper arms/chest /belly area is a marshmallow heaven. But, I am definitely feeling great and am trying to keep myself motivated to make this a life change. Not just a quick “lose baby weight” fad in my life.

Moment of Bravery (Before #shredapril | 4/1/13)

I just joined my mama friends in our #ShredApril challenge! 30 days of Jillian Michaels. I had to take an impromptu work from home day today and got a head start on day one! (:

A typical day of meals looks like this:

Breakfast: Banana, black coffee, apple

Lunch: Fresh salad or soup/salad from work cafe

Dinner: Meat entree + Veggie Sides

Snacks: Ice cream! Total Paleo failure, fruit.

Stats

My normal: 128 lbs

Pre-pregnancy: 136 lbs (+8)

Pregnancy: 174 lbs (+46)

Post-pregnancy: 162 lbs (+34) (6 weeks pp) 

LAST UPDATE: 152 lbs (+24) (14 weeks pp)

TODAY: 147 lbs (+19) (18 weeks pp)

Goal: 11 lbs ’til Pre-Preg weight | 19 lbs+ ’til GOAL weight

Postnatal Fitness: March Update

So, in February – I started a modified Paleo diet. 85/15 Paleo – I cut out all grains, pasta, dairy, processed foods and started to eat a lot of protein, veggies, and fruits. Exercise pretty much went down the tube this month because I was more out and about with A and also wanted to spend as much time snuggling him before work started. (AKA, I got lazy and used my baby as an excuse). However, the major change in my diet has helped me feel so much better and has helped to keep the weight loss going, despite my lack of exercise.

Even two days in, I noticed a major change. At the end of the day, there was no belly bloat, and I felt more energized throughout the day even on little sleep!

In lieu of DVD workouts, I have been out mall-walking, etc. a lot more with A. And I’ve been pretty good about sticking to the 85/15 Paleo regiment. I still allow room for snacks like a skinny latte from Starbucks. While rice is a staple in our home, I’ve enjoyed eating protein heavy salads for lunch and at dinner, substituted lettuce for rice. I make lettuce wraps out of our usual protein entree and veggie sides. The first couple days were hard, but now I’m more conscious of what I put into my body and it gets easier every week. I also don’t feel the urge to “cheat” because of the 15% and am fuller now than I’ve ever been before eating a lot of hardy meats and healthy, fresh veggies/fruits.

And lo and behold, on February 16th – I fit into my prepreg jeans!! (@136 lbs. jeans) Who knew the power of jeans? I felt alive! Human! OMG I’m not wearing leggings or yoga pants anymore!!

It feels great to be in my prepreg jeans, without having to fight myself to get them on or zip them up. Aside from those bootcut jeans above, I also now fit into 3 more pairs of prepreg jeans and work pants! I haven’t had to buy anything new for work which has been a blessing. My selection is still limited, but with working from home a couple days a week and casual office days on Fridays, I’m golden!

In addition, I started running one mile a few times a week since about mid-February. Nothing regimented or structured. But if I can find time or energy, I try to do a quick 10 minute mile on the treadmill and sweat out the day’s stress.

I still eat a ton and probably need to work on ab workouts, because underneath that blouse is some major spare tire action.

A typical day of meals looks like this:

Breakfast: Omelette, Bacon, OJ

Lunch: Dinner leftovers or a fresh salad

Dinner: Usually lettuce wraps with a protein entree, sauteed veggie sides

Snacks: Fruit, baked sweet potato, nuts

Stats

My normal: 128 lbs

Pre-pregnancy: 136 lbs (+8)

Pregnancy: 174 lbs (+46)

Post-pregnancy: 162 lbs (+34) (6 weeks pp)

LAST UPDATE: 157 lbs (+29) (10 weeks pp)

TODAY: 152 lbs (+24) (14 weeks pp)

Goal: 16 lbs ’til Pre-Preg weight | 24 lbs+ ’til GOAL weight

Postnatal Fitness: February Update

Seriously. TIME FLIES. And yes – you’ll see this saying in pretty much every blog post this year.

Since my first postnatal fitness post, I took an accountability picture of me at 162 lbs. It’s on my phone and I’m too lazy to upload it and too shy to really show anyone at this point. But, I have it documented and one of these days I promise I’ll work up some energy and nerve to post on these updates.

For the most part, I spent January as a warm-up to slowly changing my lifestyle with healthy eating and regular exercise. I didn’t want to dive-in 200% with this gung-ho resolution energy, only to get burnt out two weeks in, and filling my head with excuse. When you’re at home, in terrible MI weather, & taking care of a 2 month old infant — it’s a difficult task to really make formidable exercise a part of your routine. And I wanted to be cognizant of my life and its new changes.

Nonetheless, I started off with the postnatal workout DVD that I mentioned in my previous post. It was on the easier side as far as physical stamina and it helped me to weave in time for exercise in between A’s cyclical schedule. But, I got sick of it pretty quickly. Even for an anti-fitness person like me, it was TOO easy. So I started back on Jillian DVDs. I did a few sporadic days of 30 day shred and found motivation through mamas going through the same regime on Hellobee. Last week, I started mixing in some of her other DVDs (I have six of them!), like 6 week 6 pack. She can get pretty obnoxious to listen to, so I just turn on the music only option and can get in a quick 30 min workout while A takes a nap or plays by himself in the swing or on his playmat.

(Source)

In addition to working out a handful of times each week (I try for 3-4x), the main change is my eating habits. In the weeks following child birth, I had a voracious appetite that left my pregnancy cravings in the dust. I ate like a man, like a 300 lbs man. Between the lack of sleep, breastfeeding, and no control of all the new changes in my life – food/eating was a constant. I ATE ALL.THE.THINGS. Healthy or not, I ate it. And in great amounts.

So as A and I got ourselves into a groove, I tried to slowly be conscious of the foods I ate and how much I was eating per meal; making sure that it didn’t affect my milk supply and that I was eating healthy things that would provide for A’s nutritional value as well.

I didn’t go on a diet, nor did I cut out anything in particular (though I have cut out eating a lot of processed foods and snacks). I just make sure not to overeat and to eat when I’m hungry.

A typical day of meals looks like this:

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with fresh berries and granola & Two eggs

Lunch: Leftovers or Pita Pit

Dinner: Usually a Korean dinner that includes rice, bbQ meat, and veggie sides

Snacks: Pretzels with hummus, apples, cereal, Starbucks (:D)

Stats

My normal: 128 lbs

Pre-pregnancy: 136 lbs (+8)

Pregnancy: 174 lbs (+46)

Post-pregnancy: 162 lbs (+34) (6 weeks pp)

TODAY: 157 lbs (+29) (10 weeks pp)

Goal: 29 lbs+ to go!

Postnatal Fitness

Totally lagging on blog posts. Figured I should document my first day back to working out. DH bought me a dvd set for pregnancy fitness, which to my surprise included a post natal bootcamp dvd. It isn’t hardcore, exercises are around 25 min from warmup to cool down. But, it’s perfect for my baby driven schedule!

I got the okay from my ob at my six week post partum appointment on Wednesday and with it being the start of the new year…well I think it’s perfect timing!

I’m trying to be conscious of my diet too. But I’m concerned about nursing and supply issues, so I’m going to do some more research than just diving into some crash diet binge etc.

I’ll probably take some before and progress shots to keep myself motivated on getting my prepreg body back! And honestly, my real goal is to be in even better shape than before. I’ve always been thin, but that didn’t always mean I was healthy. I really want to use this opportunity to make exercise a constant in my life.

Stats

My normal: 128 lbs
Pre-pregnancy: 136 lbs (+8)
Pregnancy: 174 lbs (+46)
Post-pregnancy: 162 (+34) (6 weeks pp)

Goal: 34 lbs+ to lose!

More details to come…