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Postpartum Workouts

3 Sep

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It has been so long since I have written! I exercised through my entire pregnancy, altering movements and intensity as needed in order to maintain a healthy pregnancy.  It was not always easy to keep moving towards the end of the pregnancy, but I did it.  Then, I had a sweet little girl born on April 1st, 2015.

Between her and my toddler, life has been interesting, exciting, tiring, and chaotic.  I needed to figure out how to fit workouts into my day.  I knew that although it would be a challenge, working out would make me feel better and be a better mom.  So, as soon as my body felt ready, I resumed my workouts.

It was important to pay attention to my body and how it felt in order to ensure my safety and healing.  As a nursing mother, it was also important to progress slowly in order to maintain a healthy milk supply.  I altered movements and intensity of the workouts as needed.  I also had to workout when I could, even if it would be only for 10 minutes.

My baby is now 5 months old and I am proud to say that I have managed to keep it up.  I feel good because of it.  In all honesty it has not been easy to find time to exercise.  Between the two children, nursing the baby, working, and other important family obligations… it has been tricky.  I do what I can, when I can, and I adjust my plan as needed.  Sometimes workouts get cut shorter, sometimes workout plans change, sometimes workouts including wearing or holding the baby, sometimes I workout holding two baby monitors up to my ears, sometimes I don’t get to workout.  But if my plan is a lifetime of health and fitness, then I just go with it and do what I can.  On average I think I am now working out 20 minutes a day at least 5 times per week.  Not my ideal, but something has got to give!  I continue to be on the road to weight loss, as I have 10 more pounds to lose.  It will happen in time.

Here are a few clips of what I have been up to:

Note: It is important to follow your doctor’s orders about when and how you can begin your fitness routine postpartum. Your body requires time to heal and beginning a workout routine too early can hinder that and cause larger problems.

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Getting back into routine after…digressing

10 Jul

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It happens.  We gain some, we lose some.  Sometimes the pounds or inches creep up without us realizing and sometimes we get some well-earned pounds or inches.  Either way, once you catch it, you can make the needed changes to your fitness routines or diet and keep moving forward.  Travel and vacations are when I tend to gain pounds and inches. I do consistently workout when traveling, however my eating habits completely shift to more carbohydrates and sugars.  My most recent vacation was no exception and now I am faced with the challenge of getting back to my routines and back to feeling healthy.

Whether you are not feeling good because you are out of routine or because you have not had a well-balanced routine for a while, accept the challenge to make some changes and move forward.  Even if you have minimal time to focus on yourself during the day, start with making simple nutritional changes in your diet and start moving more.  You will begin to see and feel changes which will motivate you even further.

Best,

Shana

Body Weight and Calisthenics – 20 Minutes

20 Sep

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My son is 10 months old and I can’t believe soon enough he will be one year old!  He is truly amazing and he has recently started sleeping through the night.  I am finally able to sleep more than a 3 hour stretch and I feel like a new woman! He also has started napping.  It took a while for us to get into the rhythm of napping, but it is finally happening.  Sometimes only for 20 minutes and sometimes (when I am truly lucky) it can be nearly 2 hours.

Because he was never much of a napper, I had to make very good use of my time.  When he would fall asleep, I would run around like a mad woman trying to determine what I could complete in the next 20 minutes.  By the time I started something he would be awake. Up until now my fitness routine was running with him in the jogging stroller, doing exercise drills at the park while he was in the jogging stroller, or working out in my fitness studio after I had clients (when I had a sitter).  This was great but there were some days that I was unable to take him out in the weather and that I had no sitter.  Now that he is napping I have the option of using a portion of his morning nap time to workout.  I figure 20-30 minute workout, then shower, then get done whatever I can before he wakes up (laundry, cooking, etc).  In order for this to work I will have to push aside some toys and workout in my living room…

Postpartum weight update: I am still a few pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and my core is still not as tight/strong as it was (which is why I am still not in the pre-pregnancy pants size yet).  It ain’t easy….but we gotta keep focused.