Body After Baby #2

Here we are, 11 weeks since we became a family of 4 and our little baby Eric joined our family.

As amazing as pregnancy is, it is always hard for me to accept gaining weight.  I have never been a confident person when it comes to my body and image.  I have battled my own brain for the past 10+ years on the constant, "you're fat" "you need to tighten up here" "you have a flabby tummy".

4 weeks with Caleb

Well becoming pregnant with Caleb was so exciting and wonderful, but I worried about my weight gain each and every day.  I swore I was going to only gain 20 pounds during my pregnancy and eat the best I could and exercise every day.  Well, winter came and then tired mama days hit, and I ended up gaining 33 pounds with Caleb.  Not terrible, but not the 20 pounds that my doctor wanted me to gain either.

Night before Caleb was born

After having Caleb I was determined to lose the weight, fast, and get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight and even less if possible.  I dealt with other mamas around me losing weight a lot faster then me and I would get upset with myself and my body.  I was really proud of myself, although I knew I could have done better, for losing all of my baby weight 3 months after having Caleb and lost an additional 5 pounds by the time he was 6 months old.

Fast forward to Caleb turning 1 and us knowing that we were wanting to try again for another baby.  I had maintained by weight from when Caleb was 6 months old and pretty much knew that that would be my weight.  I was happy, not thrilled, but not upset with myself either.  I had grown a human, a freaking human!  My body was amazing for what it had given me and I couldn't blame it for not getting smaller or thinner.  I was content.

1 month before finding out I was pregnant with E, probably a few days pregnant here.

I got pregnant with Eric and life was crazier then ever!  I started showing right away and Caleb was learning how to walk and be more independent.  We were in for a ride over the next 10 months.

Baby E - 13 Weeks

I gained a total of 21 pounds with Eric.  I once again was concerned about my weight gain but knew that I would gain what I needed and would work my butt off after he was born to get where I wanted to be.  I would like to think that my lower number of weight gain this pregnancy was due to the major fact that I was chasing a toddler, working full-time while trying to get a promotion and hire someone for my old position, and keeping our lives moving while Ryan was gone a lot more for Army.  Everyone told me that I wasn't gaining as much also because he was going to be tinier than his big bro, well they were wrong when he came out an inch longer and 4 ounces heavier. LOL.

Was pregnant for 11 more days after this picture was taken

We are now 11 weeks postpartum and I am thrilled to say that I have lost 29.5 pounds since having Baby E!  I honestly am not one to ever want to put it out there because I absolutely hated the feeling that I felt when other moms lost weight faster then me or looked better then me so much sooner, but for me, I am at the lowest weight I have been since Ryan was on deployment, 3 years ago!  I honestly credit most of it to breastfeeding.  I wasn't able to exclusively breastfeed Caleb ever and with Eric I got to do it for 3 weeks and I think it made a major difference.  Also, I have gone on a walk at least 4 days a week every week since Eric has been born.  We have to get out of the house and walks are the easiest way to make both of my boys happy, plus it gives me an excuse to go get a Pepsi or a donut some days :)  Another thing that has helped lose the weight faster is having a toddler.  Caleb is very busy.  He doesn't sit still for any amount of time unless he is ready for bed.

I still have plenty of room for improvement on my body, as in toning and tightening up, but for now, I am so proud of myself for losing the baby weight and then some.  I have now passed my goal weight from 2014 and am trying to go for another 5, but not pushing it.

I hope that all you soon-to-be mamas or new mamas out there understand that this is in no way meant to discourage you or make you upset with me, but to maybe encourage you, better yet remind you, that you can do whatever you set your mind to and that includes losing the baby weight.

Move Your Booty Challenge!

I'm joining my favorite farmer wives Karli and Amy for a wonderful fitness challenge for the month of July!

I have talked about it many times how I want to be a fit mom, not only for my kids and husband, but for me.  I want to feel good about myself.  I want to feel as though being a mom doesn't mean I can't still feel good when we go out to dinner or for a walk around the neighborhood.

I joined the gym in town - hilarious that we have a gym and yet no fast food right? Anyways!  Joined the gym back in February, do you think I've ever gone? NOPE!  Big waste of money!  But we are in a 1-year contract and it isn't too outrageous so there it sits, waiting for me to go and taking my lovely $19 each and every month for nothing!  Bitter?  Me?  NO WAY!!  So since I haven't set foot in that gym I haven't been necessarily on it with my fitness.

I am happy though that I did manage to lose every bit of my baby weight, plus 3 extra pounds just 6 months after having Caleb!  I am not one of those that loses weight easily, so for me, losing almost 40 pounds in 6 months is something I am ecstatic about!  But with that being said, I still want to lose another 5 pounds - and hopefully before we have another baby.

This gets me to my point!  Karli and Amy are awesome and encouraging and set up a fitness challenge that utilizes what we - those who joined - all have already and do on a daily basis!  WALK WITH OUR PEDOMETERS!  The goal is to log 200k steps in the month of July!  That's right, 200,000 steps!  Seems daunting?  Well not really when you break it down.  It breaks down to just 6452 steps a day for the entire month.  Technically everyone should be walking around 10000 steps everyday, and I don't know about you, but that it terrifying to me!

I have an office job.  I sit at a desk from 7-3:30 M-F getting up to go to the bathroom or back and forth from the printer/copy machine.  On average, before this challenge started, I was walking an average of about 4500 steps a day - HOW PATHETIC IS THAT?!?

I am in no way proud of this fact and it was even more encouragement for me to join in on this challenge.  PLUS, the winner gets money!  We all paid $1 - ONE DOLLAR - to join and in the end out of the people who complete the challenge one person will win all of the moolah!  I think I heard that there are about 60+ people involved so I could potentially win $60+ dollars just for getting my booty in motion, like I should have been all along!

Since starting the challenge I have already noticed a huge difference in my commitment to this.  I have told Ryan everyday that I need to strive to get at least the 6452 steps in and he is encouraging me more then ever to do it also!  

I am so excited to see how well I do with this and hopefully it gets me in a better routine to make me walking, and fitness in general, more of a priority since it is something that I really want.

Here's to another 149,232 steps in 23 days!  I can do it, right?!? :)

Serious Healthy Time

We all say it, right?  That next week we will start a "healthy lifestyle".  That next week we will join the latest lose-weight-quick trend.  That next week you will give up all this stuff that you like in exchange for things you don't like so that you can get "skinny".

Well as often as we all say it, especially in January due to New Year's resolutions, how many of us actually go through with it?

I can tell you that for me, personally, time and time again I have tried to do things to get "skinny".  Ever since I was a teenager I never thought that I was thin enough or pretty enough to be friends with the other girls.  I don't know how, but I managed to score a pretty hot husband who loves me unconditionally and for that, I am forever grateful.

When we met I was probably the thinnest I have been - ever!  I was going to school full-time, working the server lifestyle and not having a good eat-sleep-repeat schedule going on.  But hey, isn't funny how being unhealthy makes you see the results you want?  Yet when you diet and exercise it takes longer to get those results?

I digress.

After graduating from college I got a desk job big-kid job and quit the nightlife lifestyle and the skinny-ness that went along with it.  I gained around 10 pounds probably after the first year working at my job and moving out with the hubs - i.e. pizza, take-out and really bad food that is really cheap.  Blah Blah Blah, time went on and I would "work out" every now and then.

Ryan went on deployment and things got serious in my brain with wanting to lose weight.  Me and a bestie joined a gym and we actually did it.  For 4 months straight we went to the gym 4 days a week and worked out for an hour.  I was so proud of myself, and her!  I ended up losing 13 pounds!

Then the hubs came home.  And as hard as we tried, sedentary snuggling took over and I gained some back.  We had the wedding and the honeymoon and starting trying for a little.  We were successful and keeping weight off just wasn't an option.

10 months later we popped - well not really, read his birth story here, here and here - out a little and now I was left with 33 pounds weight gained and 41 pounds away from my goal weight.

I went walking with the babes as often as possible after having him.  We would pack up the stroller and strap on our tennis shoes and off we went.  We did that everyday until he was 12 week old - when I went back to work.

When I came back to work I was 5 pounds away from not having any "baby weight" left and only 15 pounds away from my ultimate goal.  Work is crazy and hectic and after being away from my baby all day I didn't want to spend another 30-45 minutes without him while I worked out.  So I just didn't.

Well after this super long story up above, here is the short of it.  This is a new week and a new year.  I am now 12 pounds away from my ultimate goal and it will happen.  I want to lose the rest of this "baby weight" and a little extra in the next 4-5 months.  Seems extreme?  Well if you want something bad enough it is bound to happen, right?

I am now dedicating myself to healthier choices and changes in my life.  I started by walking again with my baby and making homemade granola.  I am going to work on packing healthy snacks to take with me at work and focus on portion control - because this girl can eat and likes to.

Wish me luck and if you want to, yell at me daily to make sure I do something!  I am a person who needs motivation in the form of someone else yelling at me to do it.  LOL.

Operation Pre Baby Body

Hi there!

So we are officially 4 weeks post partum and feeling great!

I have decided that it is time to get my butt in gear ::slowly of course:: and start getting back into shape.

Now when I say "getting back into shape" I guess I should really just be saying get into shape. I wasn't in the best shape pre-baby but I wasn't the worst either. I had some extra fluff here and there but overall I was fine. I'm not a twig but not a rollie police either.

During pregnancy I was really concerned with gaining weight. I have never been super impressed with my body and the idea of gaining weight had a little effect on me mentally. I stressed about weight gain at each doctor's visit and that they would tell me I had gained too much weight.  In the last month of pregnancy I decided that my baby and I were both healthy and that was all that mattered. I stopped worrying about weight gain and in the end gained a total of 33 pounds.  This is only 3 over what my doctor wanted so overall I was thrilled.

Now that our precious little boy is here and Mama is healing well I have decided to start getting in motion.  Me and the babes will be walking everyday that the weather permits us. I also will be using my Jillian Michaels DVDs and let her yell at me and I will yell back - well only loud enough to not wake the sleeping prince of course. I also have a Danskin Pilates box set that I bought on Groupon a couple of years ago and have never used. I can't wait to start using these helpful tools.

I also will be tracking my walks with MapMyRun. I love this app.  I used it everyday during my maternity leave before baby came and loved seeing how it tracks your workouts. It tells you distance, speed, average, mapping and how many calories you burned. I also love it because you can link it to you MyFitnessPal app. This is a wonderful app that tracks your calorie intake per day as well as your water intake and workouts. I am a person who needs structure and reinforcement. These apps keep me focused and disciplined. Although they are just apps, they will let me know when I am doing a good job and a poor job.

I can't wait to start meal planning for us again. Meal planning is good for us on multiple levels. It keeps our bank account happy by us not eating out as much and it is healthier. We can control the sodium and fat levels in every meal if we stay home and make them ourselves. I need to look up some tasty recipes and get some variety going for the hubs. If you have any good ones, please send them our way :)

I want to lose all of my baby weight and possibly an additional 10 pounds over the next couple of months. Ideally I would like to be 10 pounds lighter than when I got pregnant by the first of the year, my birthday :) I know that it will take a lot of hard work and discipline but I am motivated. I don't want my husband to forget who he married ;)

Wish me luck!!