Getting Back in Shape: An Update

Back in January I shared with you my goals for losing the baby weight and getting back in shape in this post.   Since it's been four months since that post and six months since Matthew was born I wanted to give you all an update.   As I mentioned in that post I really wanted to focus my time not solely on losing baby weight but on getting myself back into pre-baby shape.  The journey has not been an easy one but I'm slowly working to get there.

After my pregnancy with Miller most of my baby weight came off rather quickly and my body went back to the same size.  This time around has been completely different and stuff is in totally different places. 

Here is a look at my progress.  I never intended to share these with anyone but since I'm hoping to document my progress and see how far I've come I decided to post them.   So apologies on the bad quality photos ;) 

6 Weeks Postpartum

8 Weeks Postpartum 

Shortly after I wrote my post in January around 8 weeks postpartum I was doing a decent job of making it to the gym 1-2 times a week and doing at home workouts.  Well between the snow, freezing cold weather, two small kids, and not being able to take Matthew to the gym daycare yet it got harder and harder to go. 
I was also feeling really defeated because by three months postpartum with Miller most of my clothes fit again and my stomach was flat.   This time around it was not like that.
Instead of feeling more motivated I spent most of February feeling sorry for myself and eating M&Ms.  To help get me motivated and feeling good I joined a new gym and Kyle got me some personal training sessions.  That still didn't help.   I just felt so blah and I was convinced I was never getting my pre-baby body back.
Yes I know at this point it had only been three months but I have always been lucky with my body type and metabolism that I could eat like crap, or skip workouts and still be skinny.   This time around that was not happening. 

Finally when Matthew was four months old I knew I needed to do something.  I am lucky enough to stay at home with my kids and I was so sick of being out of shape and stuck inside that I knew I needed to take advantage of the gym daycare and start taking care of myself again.

I started taking them to the gym daycare the first week of March.  The first two weeks were really rough with Miller and he hated it but after that it was fine.  Now he loves going there and loves seeing all his friends. 
I started to slowly ease myself back into running and lifting but I still felt a little lost.  My friend Amy had told me about this women's strength training class she was going to take and encouraged me to sign up. It was a 10 week class that met two times a week and focused on strength training specifially for women.  It sounded like exactly what I needed to do so I emailed the instructor and signed up.   

It's been five weeks since our class started and I haven't felt this good in a long time.  I'm lifting weights I didn't know I could and I've seen more progress in the five shorts weeks I've been in this class than I have in years.  The goal of the class is to help women feel strong and to make us realize that we can deadlift 100lbs and we're not going to look like bodybuilders!  Our trainer is encouraging and supportive without being scary or screaming at us and the fact that it's all women encouraging one another is awesome too.  The plans that she has built for us are really easy and could be done on your own at the gym or with weights at your house. 

Here is how I look today:

6 months postpartum

Weight wise I'm still about 7lbs from my comfortable weight and about 12lbs from my ideal weight but to be honest I'm not worried about that right now.  I'm still nursing Matthew 80% of the time and I know I will hold onto some weight until I quit for good.   I'm still working really hard for my flat stomach but core workouts don't come as easy as they used to so I'm taking my time with those too but I'm losing inches all over.  I can fit back into a lot of my pre-pre baby clothes but not all of them. 

I'm slowly coming to realization that it might take me a long time until I feel comfortable again with my post baby body.  I'm also realizing that I'm the only one who can make a difference about it.  Sitting around feeling sorry for myself and snacking on m&ms is not going to get me back into my old pants again so I might as well be proactive no matter how slow I have to go. 

My workout schedule looks like this right now:

- Tuesday and Thursday- Strength Training Class for 1 hour from 8:30-9:30
- Walk 1-2 miles 2-3 times a week (with stroller and dog)- this varies day to day. 


I would really like to add 3 days of hard cardio/metabolic workout into my schedule and I'm going to be testing that out next week.  

I will be back on Thursday to share an example of my strength training workouts, what my diet consists of (still can't kick that sweettooth), and some of my workout gear favorites. 

Would love to hear from others about your favorite diet, exercise, or workout gear that keeps you motivated!!

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