1st maternity shirt worn for BOTH of my pregnancies! Coincidentally, I happened to wear it working out at the YMCA this morning AND remembered to grab a photo of it. Baby #1 on the left, 22 weeks, March 2010 and about two years later, Baby #2 on the right, 20 weeks, March 2012! With Baby #2, I'm about 10 pounds lighter, but you really can't tell!
This morning I met some girlfriends at our local YMCA to do some walking and let's be honest, a lot of talking too. In light of that, I thought today would be a very appropriate day to update you about this post.
Well over three months ago, I posted about how much more exercising I was going to do and my intentions to lose 10 pounds.
There's good news and bad news.
Bad news: I've failed at getting in shape.
I haven't worked out at all. I maybe did the 30 Day Shred one more time after that post. I walk even less because I live in Minnesota and it's a wintery tundra right now. No one walks outside in the winter. No one even goes outside. Unless you are walking from a building to your car.
If I were to pie graph my day, you'd see a large portion of that graph dedicated to me sitting on my couch - writing this blog, Facebooking (can that be a verb?), feeding India, reading the news....
Well, here, I just conveniently made a graph - for the visual learners.
OK. So maybe that's exaggerating a bit. But it feels like I spend that much time on my couch.
And the 1% devoted to exercising? Well, I hope you don't mind that I added up how many times I walk up and down the stairs (2-4 times) and the minutes I spend bouncing India on my hip (10 minutes) and the times I pick her up (countless) and totaled that as my only exercise. That all equaled 1% of my daily time.
No squats. No push-ups. No lunges. I can't remember the last time I did a sit-up.
I did have good intentions. But I have a busy husband so he can't watch the baby. But I just want to relax while India naps. But I hate wearing a sports bra while nursing. But we only have one car so I can't get to the Y. Butt, butt, butt.
I know, I know, I promised good news.
The good news: the 10 pounds are long gone (thanks to my father's metabolism and breastfeeding).
I know most people would be elated to lose 10 pounds, but I'm still mushy. And the fact that I didn't lose it the way I intended (working out), is still a little defeating.
I still eat pizza with hot buffalo sauce on it. I make (and eat) chocolate chip cookies. I eat Nutella and peanut butter by the jar.
AND I sit on my couch.
Yes, half of my goal was accomplished - the weight loss. The other half wasn't - I wanted to firm up. I want to be able to run a few miles any given day. The numbers on the scale don't mean much; I want to feel good. I think we all know the natural high after a great workout.
I'm not about to make this a New Years Resolution or anything, but I do need to be more active. I'm thankful I have some girlfriends with some of the same intentions that encourage me to make my pie chart look a little more balanced.
We may even partake in a little jazzercise, perhaps. Who wouldn't want this to be a part of their daily routine?
What do you do to stay active? Do you find yourself coming up with lots of excuses to skip working out?
"1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and get them sit-ups right and Tuck your tummy tight in, do your crunches like this"
Ahhh, it's time to get in shape. Meh. I suppose I could stay this way, but I really don't like being so mushy and wobbly. And I've developed a case of Mom Butt, aka Saggy Butt. In addition to all that, I want to set a healthy example for my daughter. I want to be able to run a few miles, play volleyball, wrestle with my brothers and sisters, or Dallas. :) Plus, I really do love working out - it's quite euphoric.
Last fall, I picked up Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred because of all the hype about it being pretty hardcore. Well, I was disappointed. I suppose it was because I was already SO buff. No, not really, but it really wasn't hardcore enough for me. I guess I should have bought P90X, but I found that out after my 30 Day Shred purchase. Because I'm very frugal, I still put my 30 Day Shred to good use and used it on my resting days in between my normal workout routine.
Throughout my pregnancy, I really tried to stay in shape, but being that my only remedy for my daily nausea was food, I ate A LOT. And therefore gained A LOT. I ran up until 30 weeks, when I quit running because any time I ran I could barely get out of bed in the morning from hip pain, and had to go to the chiropractor to get all cracked up. My dear chiropractor told me it was time to stop running as my hip was literally turning backwards and I really needed to take it easy. Dangit. Around 30 weeks is when I stopped most activity besides walking, which after a mile or two of that I would be in excruciating pain and have to stop and go home and eat frozen pizza with buffalo sauce on it. :) So there went my plans to stay in shape.
Sooooo....now it's time to do something. I know I said in a previous rant that it's impolite to ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained, but I did really gain a lot. (Hint: it rhymes with nifty-nive lounds) Praise God I had a midwife who was happy with my weight gain and didn't chastize me(like the mean WIC lady did....grrrrr). She always said that my body knows what it needs, so listen to it. Thankfully most of the weight I gained was gone by two weeks postpartum, but I've been at a standstill since then and have about 10 more pounds to go. Yeh, that means 10 pounds of mostly fat.
I've been walking regularly with India, which is great, but not enough for me. I went on one 2-mile run 3 weeks after India was born, which was incredible, but sadly, that has been my only run so far, as it's pretty tough to jog with a newborn. I do have a membership at the YMCA, but my husband isn't home very often to watch India. I'm fairly hyperactive so sitting around nursing most of the day has left me with lots of energy to burn.
Genevieve + energy to burn + no outlet = crabby Genevieve
So what did I do? I brought out the old standby, the 30 Day Shred. AND I was even a little SORE after my first rendezvous with Jillian. Mmmm-hmmmm. So, thank you Jillian for kicking my butt. But I am still contemplating P90X because I need a MAJOR butt-kicking.
"That's right, go to work Move your butt, go berserk"
