Monday, September 8, 2014

Starting Over

Tomorrow marks 6 weeks since the newest squishy was born. 6 weeks! It's flown by. She is becoming a responsive little person, smiling and starting to find her voice. She is still an excellent nurser and still doesn't sleep for squat, at least for longer than a 2 hour period.

As for the rest of the weight I was carrying, well it hasn't budged. I nurse often, you know, breastfeeding, the magic burner of calories. BS plain and simple. I cleaned up my eating. Way too many fruits and veggies and not enough tasty food.
Those who tell you these good for you foods can be fun and delicious, they secretly cry into their spaghetti squash. We go out to eat and I get a salad, with a light vinaigrette dressing as not to overwhelm my sad spring mix and baby spinach. No soda. No sweet tea. Just water, with a lemon if I'm feeling frisky. Tons and tons of water. 14-16 cups a day to be exact. Yet the extra weight, it sits there. I started the pregnancy at 123 lbs. I finished around 175, over 50 lbs gained. I now hover just under 150 lbs, 25 lbs up. I've been here since 10 days post birth. I just finally sucks up my pride and bought some new shorts, a size 12, since none of the 4s-8s I have here come close to fitting and I've been chilling in maternity shorts for 5 weeks. Because there was something prideful about wearing maternity shorts for months pot birth.

I haven't officially been cleared for activity yet, but close enough. I decided to ease into exercise because I don't know how my milk supply will respond. I'm hoping that with plenty of water, I won't have issues. I decided to start with PIYO, a new program that is lower intensity but builds muscle and helps with flexibility. I figure this will not just be easier on my body but will also help me build up my body for running. I've gone through injuries as a runner because of lack of core strength. My DVD set came Saturday, and I started today. Not before a few before pictures.

This is me, being not impressed


This might not look horrible to some people, but it's more than I am comfortable with, and it needs to go.

Now when you are the mother of 4, it's not as simple as popping in a DVD and going for it. My 3 year old is only in school 2 days a week. The newborn has to be changed and nursed and sleeping. And random household chores need to be done when I think of them, otherwise I will forget. So working out went something like this.

Feed 3 year old lunch.
Change baby. Nurse baby.
Send 3 year old to her room for quiet time. With her Kindle(electronic babysitting, don't judge). Change into workout clothes. Try several sports bras on before finding one buried deep that actually covers these massive boulders sitting on my chest. Don't forget nursing pads. I don't feel like stopping midway because I'm leaking.
Remember I need to wash our comforter, so throw it in the wash(postpartum night sweats are no joke yo).
Come downstairs and get baby to sleep in her swing.
Baby sleeping, check.
Pop in the first DVD. It tells me I should have a yoga mat, water and a towel. Well the cat destroyed my yoga mat. Quickly add yoga mat to my Target shopping list. No time to run upstairs for a towel. Notice the 3 year old left her t-short balled on the floor. Pick it up, lay it next to my water. It'll do.

Then I pressed play. It was just an intro DVD but still a little workout. The baby slept for the entire 40+ minutes. The 3 year old, well she played in her bathroom and got into a few other things but nothing harmful, so that's a win right?
Done and done.