Wordless Wednesday: Motivation

While I focus on losing about 20lbs of baby weight, I will use my prior success as motivation.

The week ahead... fitness.

One of my major goals post-pregnancy is to get back into the swing of things in terms of fitness and eating better. Before I was pregnant I was going to the gym 5-6 times a week and working with a personal trainer. Through my pregnancy, I continued to go to the gym (or walk outside) 3-5 times a week. I actually worked with my personal trainer until I was about 8 months pregnant as well.

After W was born, I walked outside with him in the stroller when the weather permitted and in the final weeks of my leave, I started going to the gym 1-2 times a week. I will admit that I did not watch what I ate because I was worried about not eating enough and having it mess with my breastmilk supply. Of course, I suffer from low supply and I'm not sure anything I ate could ever have helped that situation.

I started Weight Watchers online in February but struggled with the new system. About 6 years ago, I lost over 80 pounds using South Beach, Weight Watchers, and working out. I have used Weight Watchers to maintain my weight since then. I think this is one reason I found the new system so challenging. So now I'm just trying to make better choices and reduce my calorie intake.

Last week I made it to the gym 3 times and I feel okay about that. My goal is to make it 4 times this week. Last week I did about 20 minutes of cardio and 10 minutes of strength training each day. When I weighed myself, I was up in weight which I know can happen but is always frustrating. This week I plan on doing cardio every day that I go to the gym to try and knock my body back into the swing of things.

I've decided not to weigh myself once a week. Perhaps I will just do once a month or once every two months. Right now I get too discouraged if I don't see a loss. I am going to go more on how my clothing fits and hopefully I will be back in my pre-pregnancy clothing before I know it!

I need to lose 20 pounds to be back down to my pre-pregnancy weight range and to have a BMI that makes me feel comfortable. I know I can do it and I just need to take one day at a time and stay focused! It is so challenging though and I applaud anyone and everyone (new mothers and all others too) who is working on getting healthier and losing weight!

My Life as a Mom

One of the goals I had this week was to get back on my gym schedule after work. Yesterday was my first day back and we had a meeting after school so by the time I got out and on my way home it was later than usual and I was exhausted. How exhausted was I? Apparently in the middle of the night I woke up and changed my pajamas. Yes, I went to bed in one pair of pajamas and woke up wearing a different pair. I don't even remember waking up. This was an unexpected development!

Today I planned to go to the gym when J got home from work, but once again I was exhausted. I don't think I was as tired as I was yesterday but I was pretty wiped out. I wonder what I will wake up wearing tomorrow morning as a result!

I'm quickly learning how challenging it will be to balance everything in my life. I know I will figure it all out with a little bit of time but it's challenging right now. To top it all off, W went to bed earlier than usual tonight. i had to put my emotional desire to hold him and put his needs ahead of mine. Oh, the life of a mother.

A day of success!

Today was my first day back at work in 15 weeks and I would put it in the successful category! I teared up some as I left the house and when I arrived at work and was walking into the building. Once I got started with the day, I was okay. The day was insanely busy so that probably helped. What also helped was the fact that my mom brought W up at lunch to visit. It was great to get to hold him in the middle of the work day. I could get used to that! My mom and J have both offered to bring him up as often as I'd like and I may take them up on the offer once a week or so. It's just a nice pick me up.

The second success of the day was the night time cloth diaper! Last night I decided to give it a go and start trying different combinations. Last night I stuffed one of our BG 3.0s with the insert, an AFFF hemp insert, and a doubler. I left for work before W was awake but my mom told me that he woke up with dry pajamas and swaddle blanket. Success! I am using the same combination tonight to see if it works again. I would feel pretty darn lucky if my first attempt was a successful combination for now.

The final success of the day was the fact that I definitely eat less/eat better when I am at work. I can only eat the food I bring with me rather than just wandering into the pantry throughout the day. Plus, I was so busy today that I didn't think about being hungry except at the times I'd planned to eat! This could definitely help with taking off the rest of the pregnancy weight! I would have headed to the gym after work except we had a faculty meeting after work so I went straight home to see W!