I had to pause as I began to type the above title... should I still be thinking of my body in post-partum terms? But then I decided, yes. I will take a piece of my own advice that I give to anyone trying to lose weight or get in shape: Give yourself as much time to get the weight off as it took to put it on. Thus, I will be doing a post-partum updates for another 3 months, because even though I feel very much back to "normal" I know that my body is still recovering from both pregnancy and birth.
I just read my 4 month post-partum update and got a little down. I remember writing it and can recall how I felt awesome about my body at the time. I was eating a ton, losing weight quickly and feeling bad to my old self again. Things have changed over these past 2 months in both good and bad ways I think. In the past few weeks I have found myself being critical of my still-flabby tummy and my chubby-ish arms. David commented that he thinks I am just getting my old eyes back, and I think I agree. Soon after having a baby I felt awesome! I mean there were pains and swelling and things like that, but I left the hospital feeling like I had lost 20 pounds... because I pretty much had. But being 6 months away from carrying my ginormous belly around I think I have forgotten what it felt like and I have started to crave how my body used to feel... pre-pregnancy. It is a somewhat difficult place to be. Again, I am giving myself more time before I expect to be back where I was, but at the same time it feels like it was forever ago that I was pregnant, and surely by now I should be comfortable in a bikini.
Diet: My appetite has decreased over the past 2 months although I still eat a bunch! My breakfasts consist of coffee and cereal, but most days I don't need a snack before lunch anymore. I am very hungry by noon, and most of the time for lunch I eat a sandwich, yogurt, and fruit.
I do still need an afternoon snack at about 4. Usually I each chips and salsa, a granola bar or some crackers with cheese. At dinner time I continue to eat the same portion as David, and I am trying very hard to make an evening snack an occurrence only 2-3 times a week.
I eat a lot more than I used to, but there are times when I feel full! I am not kidding when I say that between 3 and 5 months post-partum I never felt full.
Exercise: This month I have started teaching aerobics and it has been a reality check. I have lost strength and endurance, but I do feel like I am quickly getting it back. Teaching aerobics has given me the motivation that I needed to get serious about getting back into shape, and now that I don't have to worry about graduate school I also have the time. I have loved teaching weight lifting, and circuit training and every once in a while I can attend a class. However, the one thing that I have really been missing is a good cardio workout. During these beautiful days I really want to take long walks, but Lydia has developed a strong hatred toward the jogging stroller. This is posing a big challenge to getting into a daily routine of walking which is my ultimate goal.
I am not sure what to do about this issue. Any advice from you out there? For now I hope to try and take a walk in the evenings after I put Lydia to bed. That way David can study for a little bit more and I can sweat a little. This obviously cuts into the time that I have with David, which is far from ideal, but even if it is just 2 good walks a week it would be better than nothing. I am also considering (I can't believe I am saying this) trying to jog again. In the past I have truly, truly hated it. But it would give me a way to get a good cardio workout in less time. This where I really need advice... any runners out there, how do I start??
Mostly I think that I need some sort of goal to get me motivated and keep me accountable. I thought aerobics would do the trick, and maybe next month when I have more classes it will, but if I find something I will let you know.
In general I really do continue to feel better and better and honestly sometimes I can't believe that my body went through all that it did!
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