Baby Fat

 First day home from the hospital I felt heavy and saggy. I didn’t care about what I looked like until a few weeks later and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Woof. Even though I didn’t like the way I looked, because of breastfeeding I couldn’t restrict my caloric intake by much. I needed to do other things to lose the “baby weight”. (How long after giving birth is it actually called baby weight?) There wasn’t much cooking going on the kitchen and lots of take-out was being brought-in. First things first, that had to stop. I started cooking again and eating healthy snacks in between my meals. I started munching on carrots and nuts instead of chips and queso. Don’t get me wrong, I still eat some junky food but I limit it. I am a MAJOR sweets person so there’s no way I was giving any of that good stuff up totally. All in moderation, right? ;) I learned you just have to know your limits and not sit on your butt all day and expect anything to change. I wasn’t going to let “having a baby” be my excuse for anything. Obviously, Sophia became a huge part of my life and I am going to make her be a part of a life that is healthy.  Everything on this blog is not going to be healthy, that may be obvious from the last post with the biscotti recipe.

I waited 6 weeks after giving birth to start exercising again. I literally did nothing at all for 6 weeks except be tied down to the couch to feed Sophia. I've read that breastfeeding around the clock burns about 500 calories a day. I was losing weight but I started to look deflated.  After my 6 week postpartum doctor’s checkup I was ready to get physical! My husband and I (it’s great to have a workout buddy and motivator!) started Insanity. I’m not even exaggerating when I say it kicked our ass everyday for 9 weeks. For the first 2 weeks our bodies were achy, but we started seeing results and my body wasn't so deflated.. I was definitely building tons of muscles. I’d put Sophia is her MamaRoo or Lounge and pop the DVD in. She really enjoyed watching us jump up and down for an hour everyday.  

After becoming an Insanity graduate (Thanks ShaunT!) I wanted to do something different. My friends opened up a PowerPlate Studio here in town so I bought a membership and jumped on the vibrating PowerPlate train.

Angelo & I powerplatin' at New wave Fit

Sophia & I watching Angelo do Insanity

Exercise has always been pretty important to me. I've always been a runner but running was put on the back burner until Sophia was old enough to go in the jogging stroller. Now exercise is on a whole new level of importance. It’s helps me get stronger both mentally & physically. I've read too many stories about women and postpartum depression and i know getting out and doing some exercise is a HUGE way to avoid it. I have started to run again 2-3x a week. It is therapeutic for me because it clears my mind and gets me and Sophia some fresh air. Even a short 15-30 min walk around the neighborhood puts me in a better mood!

At some point in my blog journey, I'm going to write a review on all my exercise adventures.

Love,

Alex