Fitting it all in

Finding time when you’re a Mommy, especially a brand new one, is tough.  It seems like every time I have a schedule figured out, the baby decides that’s not going to fly and changes things up (again).

I thought I had it figured out last week, and would just wake up super early to get my workout in before she gets up for the day.  The thing is, I’m not sure if it’s the small house or just baby’s intuition, but me getting up earlier means SHE gets up earlier.  So there’s no way for me to get up early enough to pump, workout, then nurse her if she’s waking up within 10 minutes of me getting up..and honestly it’s throwing her sleep cycle way off since she’s not getting enough sleep at night getting up an hour and a half earlier than normal! So, as much as it pains me to do it, I think I’m going to have to start working out at night, after she goes to bed.  I’m not sure how this is going to go, since workouts usually give me more energy and I’d be doing it within an hour or so of my own bedtime, but I’m hoping my body will adjust.  Last week the weather was gorgeous so we took the baby on a walk each night after dinner.  I hope to keep doing that as the weather gets nicer, but I know I need a real workout in addition to the walking too, so I’m going to try to see how it goes this week.

Every day is an adventure as a new Mom…plan as much as you’d like, but sometimes that baby has her own plan in mind!

Day 1

Today officially marks day 1 of the 21 day fix.  I’m not off to a great start.

Let’s start with last night, when my normal bedtime routine with Clara got thrown for a loop…she basically screamed uncontrollably for 2 hours, wouldn’t nurse, wouldn’t sleep, and eventually we had to give her a bottle of pumped milk to get her to eat before bed.

We finally got her down around 9:30 – an hour and a half later than normal, so all of my food prep stuff that I was planning on doing during that time frame didn't get done, and I still had to pump since she didn't breastfeed.

I didn't let that stop me though, so I prepped as fast as I could, and did some of it WHILE I was pumping (multitasking at its best, right?)

I set my alarm for 4:30am, and went to bed around 11.  Fast forward to 2:30am, and my baby is screaming her head off.  Growth spurt maybe? Who knows, but she was eating her hands fiercely so I knew she was hungry (even though she hasn't woken up for a middle of the night feeding in over a month).  By the time I fed her and got her back down, it was almost 4am…and oh did I mention, I have a nasty cold? Yeah now that Clara is in daycare she’s bringing all the germs home to me….luckily since I’m breastfeeding her she hasn’t gotten sick yet, but I’ve had no voice all weekend and a nasty cough, which means that I couldn’t fall back asleep for the life of me.  My last clock check was around 5ish…you better believe I turned off that 4:30am alarm when I put her back down in the middle of the night! I finally fell back asleep and then overslept and didn’t wake up until quarter to 7 this morning, so I was running around my house like a mad woman trying to get the baby ready, me ready, and of course my food for the day ready too! (Thank god for a helpful husband or I never would have made it!)

I didn’t get my workout in this morning.  And you know what? That’s ok.  I’m a new mom.  There will be bumps in this road.  It’s not realistic to be perfect 100% of the time, so I’m going to really focus on my nutrition today and maybe I’ll go for a walk at lunch to get close to 10k steps today.  Progress, not perfection.  I will get back to a better routine eventually, but days like this will happen, and I’m not going to beat myself up about it.

Here’s to a better tomorrow!

Easing back into things

I can’t believe I’m already in my second week back at work….it’s crazy the way time works once you have a baby.  So slow and so fast all at the same time! 

  I’m not sure if this will ever get “easier”, but daycare didn’t seem as traumatic this morning.  It was really nice to have 3 days with Clara at home, so I’m really happy with my decision to do a 4 day work week for now.

So, all that being said, I'm glad I gave myself another week of leeway, because waking up extra early to workout just doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards right now.  Clara can wake up anytime between 5 and 6:30, so realistically I need to get up at like 4am to get in a workout before her morning meal…and that seems pretty daunting to this tired mama! I’m going to try to work on waking up early this week to get my body used to it (no workouts just yet) so that next week it won’t be as bad.  I'm trying to get more steps in each day with my fitbit - last Friday with the day off I had (and the slightly warmer weather), I took the baby out in the stroller for a couple long walks - enough for about 17k steps that day.... I can't believe how sore I was that night from it though!

I am also going to try simple calorie counting this week as well to help ease myself back into the 21 day fix style of eating – this no dairy thing has really thrown a cramp in my style since greek yogurt and string cheese were regulars on my list, and whey protein was a big part of my daily protein intake as well, so I’m still fumbling with that a bit.  In any event, I have about 30 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, so it’s time to get focused and get those pounds off.  I know it took time to put that weight on, and it will take time to take the weight off, so I’m ok with that, but it sure would feel good to be confident on the beach this summer!

There's a lot of "I'm going to try to's" in this post.  Because I'm being realistic.  I'm not perfect, I won't figure this thing out over night, and I will have bad days. This is reality, and I"m not going to beat myself up over it.  I'm easing back into things the best I can, and no one can fault me for that!

My next “official” round of the 21 day fix starts Monday April 13^th (one week from today).  I’m hoping to get some big numbers from this first round, so I need some accountability partners; shoot me an email at babebeforebaby@gmail.com or leave a comment if you’re interested in joining me!