Shedding the Baby Weight
WHEW! Now that I am done being pregnant, I’ve turned my sights shedding the baby weight and getting back into running shape!
Even though I did exercise the majority of my last pregnancy, I was not able to maintain my previous fitness level.
Setting a Goal
Back in 2010, participated in my first Ragnar Relay run. It was a 200 mile-ish run from Cumberland, MD to Washington, D.C.. It was crazy, challenging, and more fun than I could have ever imagined!
Fast forward 6 years and all the Road Sharks have gone in different directions. There have been moves, marriages, and babies oh my! I’ve seen some of them over the years but sometimes life gets in the way.
Well in August an email was sent out asking if people were interested in a reunion run. I love running, I need a goal, and I loved running with the team. Without thinking I said YES!
As I was talking to my hubby about it, he pointed out that it was about 8 months after giving birth and winter was coming. Would I be ready by then? Ummm…I guess I better be!
Losing the Weight
I’m going to use this blog to be honest about my current weight, progress, and how I’m feeling. I’m not going to commit to regular updates, because I have 2 babies in diapers at home, so I don’t know how much time I’m going to have to blog.
Throwing Out the Diet
In order to shed the baby weight, I am going to have to focus on diet first. Maintaining my healthy diet has always been tough for me. I hate cooking and I’m a lazy eater. In the past I’ve always preferred convenience foods to actually cooking, well anything. I’ve lucked out with a husband who is an amazing cook and likes to eat healthy. Sure there are occasional cookies in the cupboard but for the most part we eat pretty healthy.
I decided to take a radical new approach to my diet by not dieting.
My decision to not diet is twofold:
- Calorie counting sucks. In the past I did various methods for calorie counting and had different levels of success. I know a lot of people swear by calorie counting but I absolutely hated it! I always felt so restricted by it and it is something I could not maintain for the rest of my life
- Ditching the emotional rollercoaster. Why should I feel like a failure if I’m “bad” for having a piece of cake or ice cream? There are so many foods out there that dieters love yet label “bad”. I spent years on diet rollercoasters where I would go weeks “being good” only to feel like a failure for eating something “bad”. I like cake and ice cream. I’m not going to punish myself for eating it.
- Teaching my kids a healthy body image. I don’t want my kids, especially my daughter, growing up with body or food hangups. I don’t want them to hear me talking about how I was “bad” for having a piece of cake. I don’t want them to hear me obsess over my weight. I want them both to have a healthy body image and a healthy relationship with food. And that starts with me.
Instead of focusing on a number, I’m going to focus on the types of food I eat. My goal is to continue to push lean meats and veggies, especially veggies, and look for healthy alternatives to unhealthy dishes. Most of all I want to stop feeling like a dietary failure if I have dessert every now and then. I’m still logging everything in My Fitness Pal, but mostly so I can get an overview of what I am eating.
Working Out
When the doctor clears me for working out, then I will come up with a workout plan. Right now I’m only focusing on food with slow-to-moderate walks every day. It is going to tough to figure out a balance with 2 babies, husband, full-time work, and fitting in workouts. I’m sure there will be a lot of trial and errors until I find what works for me.
I’m only 10 days postpartum, so there is no workout plan yet. I’m starting to do daily walks and hopefully I will be able to restart yoga in the next week or two.
Goal Weight
In the past I’ve focused on getting to a certain weight. I based how “successful” I was, on how quickly I could get to that number and how long I maintained it. I decided I’m not going to focus on getting to a certain weight, instead I’m going to focus on getting healthy and fit. I’m still going to weight myself and post it, because it is a measuring stick, but it is no longer the most important one.
That is it for now!
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