There are certain things you just don't discuss publicly and weight gain is one of those taboo topics you don't mention to a hormonal, sleep deprived new mom. But my six week postpartum check up was last week, I've been cleared for all physical activity, and it is time to face the music. I gained about 50 pounds with my pregnancy. (Sigh) I had such good intentions to keep the weight gain to a minimum. I had after all just lost nearly 80 pounds over the previous 18 months and I didn't want to undo all that hard work. Blame it on the emotional stress of the pregnancy, blame it on the PIO injections, blame it on the ridiculous swelling I endured from early in the pregnancy, blame it on my sheer laziness...the fact remains I need to work on losing those pounds all over again and quickly! Over the past six weeks I have come to the unfortunate realization that I am not one of those women where the weight melts away due to breastfeeding,etc. I have this one comfort: deep inside, beneath the dark circles under my eyes, below the belly bulges (yes there is more than one), under the (gulp) layers of FAT, is my inner athlete. I know she is still there ready to lay claim to my body once again. (Dr. B and Dr. C when they were doing my c-section had a discussion about my great set of ab muscles and I told them how I used to be in triathlon shape.) So to begin my renewed effort to bring out my inner "Athena" I have summoned a little help from some old friends:
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| Body Media Fit Armband - Knowledge is power and this armband helps me track my daily calorie burn, steps, and other such important information. As Bob Harper says: "It's calories in, calories out!". |
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| Spin Class - It is not the activity that burns the most calories for me (running is) but I attend on Tuesdays and Saturdays and that serves as "anchor" days for my exercise week. Attending spin motivates me to do my other workouts and even if I don't do them I never go more than three days without a good calorie burning session. |
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| The Bosu Ball - This funny looking bubble thingy punishes my abs more than any other activity. It is fun to workout on and helps me tone muscle without having to go anywhere. Key for a new stay at home mom! I will also get a little SAHM workout help from my Biggest Loser DVDs. I love Bob's weight loss yoga video the best. |
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| The BOB Stroller - Jogging is the activity where I burn the most calories. Right now I put Lena's car seat in the the attachment and we take the BOB out for 5k walks every week. Eventually when Lena gets older we will jog together! |
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| The Keurig Hot Beverage Machine - I LOVE sweets. One of my tricks is to replace high caloric desserts/snacks with hot beverages like hot chocolate and various teas. The Keurig makes this all too convenient. |
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| Farm Fresh to You - In general Dan and I have been working to get more vegetables in our daily diet. Now that I am a SAHM I have lots more time to cook. We are getting a fruit and veggie mix box delivered once a month to encourage me to try new recipes and foods. This month's challenge was fennel, bok choy, and white turnips. |
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| Vitamix 5200 - One of our most favorite purchases this year was our Vitamix blender. It is the same blender that Starbucks and Jamba Juice use. We use it mainly to make healthy smoothies with fruit, protein powder, flax seed, and veggies! My personal favorite is: blueberries, bananas, vanilla protein powder, milk, and tons of green veggies like spinach and kale. |
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I am also planning on entering a few races this year. I think my first race back might be the Knott's Berry Farm 5k/10k in March! I definitely want to do the Long Beach triathlon again next September and a half marathon as well. Getting physically healthy is something that I have always had to work at but it has been extra on my mind now that we are "older parents" in our later 30s and we need to take care of ourselves so that we are around long enough to care for Lena Joyce and see her grow up. Here is to unleashing my inner athlete, meeting goals, and never giving up!
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| Me after finishing my first sprint distance triathlon in Sept 2010 |
4 comments:
Hi, Elizabeth!
I am so happy to see you settling into motherhood so beautifully.
I chuckled a little reading your post, because we belong to a CSA (love it!), so ingredients like little turnips, kale, eggplant, etc. have become very normal around here. It has really taken my cooking to a new level. :) We don't have a Vitamix, but we have a Blendtec blender. I love that thing! My favorite smoothie is banana, frozen blueberries, frozen mixed fruit, greens (usually kale), a little bit of juice, and water. I did the protein powder for a while, but they all left a weird taste to me.
About the weight loss: I am also not someone for whom the weight falls off while breastfeeding. I actually find that between BFing and the sleep deprivation, it is really hard to make good food choices. My advice is to give yourself at least four months before you go too hardcore. With Sara it took me to 18 months before I had my body back. With Brady it looks like I am on about the same track.
Anyway, you are going through a lot of hormonal changes right now. For me, around 3 months is when my hair starts to fall out and the sleep deprivation starts to catch up with me...so you're not quite there yet. Go easy on yourself over the holidays. :) I know you know this, but it's a marathon, not a race. :)
Enjoy your first Christmas with your most precious gift!
YOU GO GIRL! I love your determination and know you can do it. So jealous of your blender have had my eye on it for awhile. You will have to share some more of your favorites that you make.
You'll do great! Ease into it though. Like Tina (above) said - there is still a lot going on in your body and you'll still need plenty of rest.
We love making smoothies too - I usually freeze some (milk/yogurt based) in pop-sicle molds for Genevieve to snack on. She loves them!
Hi friend, just checking into your blog. Your family is so beautiful! And, you are an athlete, and an ironwoman! But be gracious with yourself. It's amazing how much change a woman's body creates to create life. For whatever it's worth, I only recently had the realization that I can sleep all the way through a night again without having to get up and pee 2 or more times. And Sammy is 4! hahaha! All that said, you are absolutely inspirational.
Enjoy every moment! XOXOX Anna
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