Cricket cricket…anyone still reading?

Well…where the hell have I been for the past 15 months??

It’s ok, I’m mad at me too…and I owe you an apology if you’ve been checking back for posts that I haven’t been providing.

The truth is, I am finding it all very hard, balancing life as a new mom, health and fitness, a new position (more demanding) at work, and throw in a move this month and you’ve pretty much got yourself the perfect storm of stress and no time for anything else.

So what have I been up to?

Well, I joined a new Bootcamp near my house that hosted a weight loss challenge back in January.  After 6 weeks, I managed to drop 24 pounds, and seemed to find my groove back.  I’m still chugging along with that Bootcamp, and trying to use a more intuitive eating approach rather than counting and measuring everything that goes into my mouth.  I’ve slowed down quite a bit in my losses since the end of the challenge, but I’m another 7 pounds and a few inches down from that point, so I’m still headed in the right direction.

I found it so hard to come post on this blog over the past year or so….I felt like such a failure….like a fraud that couldn’t keep true to her word about making health and fitness a priority in my life. 

I’m done beating myself up over it though – life happens, and I needed that first year to be about my baby.  Now, I’m learning to squeeze some me time into the mix, and for right now, that means I need to leave the comfort of my home to get in a good workout.  The mom guilt is a little too strong still, so if I’m home and hear her crying during my workout, I can’t help but stop and run to her.  Leaving the house takes away that factor, so it’s what’s working for me.  I’m planning on getting back to my home workouts again soon, but I realized this was what I needed to take away the excuses and interruptions.

I have a personal goal this month to get back to my wedding day weight by our 5 year anniversary on April 30^th….less than a month away, so I’ll have to work hard at it, but I think it’s doable.  I’ll try to get back to posting here more regularly, since it does help with accountability for me for sure.  Sorry again for the long hiatus, I hope you’re still with me J

Keep calm and Holiday Party on

These past few weeks have been insanely busy for me, and I've been traveling for work quite a bit - day trips, but they require me to be out of the house by 5:30am, so workouts didn't happen those days.

I told you in my last post I was aiming for three workouts that week - which I had all intentions of doing, and then my poor baby girl came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth, and all plans went out the window.   I got in two workouts the week of Thanksgiving, the end of that week and beginning of the following week were miserable at my house since no one was sleeping very well while she got over the worst of the virus. The rash is still hanging on now, 10 or so days later, but her personality is back to normal so at least there's that!

I managed to get two workouts in last week too, so I'm ready to commit to another attempt at three days this week, and I've already got one day under my belt from my workout this morning so I'm off to a good start. 

I'm easing my way back into calorie counting again, since we all know weight loss is 80% diet, and mine hasn't been so stellar. I haven't eliminated anything yet, but I'm hoping to keep making small progress each week and build back up to more of a 21 day fix style, probably after the holidays. This month will just keep getting crazier with holiday parties on my schedule the rest of the month (2 or more a week!) so I'll do my best to keep track of my diet, but I'm not going to freak out about it...I've got far more important things to stress about! 

One day at a time

Here I am, rolling into my second week of making a better effort to focus on my health again. I've had to ease myself back into things, which means I'm not making any noticeable progress other than trying to rebuild those old (healthy) habits, like getting up early for a workout. 

Two weeks ago I got in only one morning workout. Last week I got in two. This week I'm going to aim for three. If this had been two years ago, I would have been ashamed to write that schedule to you....now I'm just happy to be doing anything at all. 

This week I'm also going to make a better effort with food, which seems to be my biggest downfall lately. Nothing crazy or any specific diet, just an effort to eat better more days than not, and eventually I'll build back up to a stricter eating plan. 

One day at a time...and when the good days start to outnumber the bad, that's when the good stuff will start to happen

Square one

I feel pretty defeated. I'm literally back at square one, back to the beginning of my journey and now I have to do it all over again. I did everything I swore I would never do. I stopped making time for myself. I chose sleep over early morning workouts. I chose convenience over healthy foods. I chose to emotionally eat. Out of stress. Out of bordem. Out of anger. Frustration. Sadness. Happiness. Sleep deprivation. Anxiety.   Being a new mom is so many emotions wrapped into one messy, messy ball, and I'm pretty sure I ate my way through all of them. 

I wish I could tell you that I broke through the stereotype. That I stayed on track throughout the most stressful months of my child's first year of life. But that wouldn't be the truth. The truth is I gave up. I stopped posting here because I was embarrassed how far off track I got.

I've started over what feels like a million times now and I'm sick of it. So as they say, if you're tired of starting over, STOP GIVING UP!  It's about time, right?

Trying something new

I never seem to find the time to write anymore...thinking about keeping you updated via periscope...whatcha think??

https://www.periscope.tv/w/aJp3njEwOTU2NDIwfDU5MTczODI5vCrVIgW9qX5uYhNsVQmBGHQl2ZVpthfvCsoJBXzn0Wg=

Where to find the time....

Where to find the time....I'm actually writing this post using the voice to text option on my phone while I feed my daughter.... multitasking at its finest right?

I know I've said this before, but man is motherhood hard! Just when I think I've got it all figured out, something else goes and changes. 

To recap, the month of May SUCKED. Big time. My entire house was sick with the nastiest cold I've ever had, and after almost 3 weeks, we finally all got antibiotics and are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Clara didn't handle this cold well at night...literally waking up every 30-45 minutes sometimes, so you can imagine how well I've been sleeping. I've been in survival mode all month...I haven't grocery shopped or meal prepped in weeks because I honestly just haven't had the energy.

If I'm being honest with myself, I never thought I'd be here....4 (almost 5) months postpartum with still about 30 pounds of baby weight to lose. I thought I'd be able to get my act together faster, but knowing what I know now, I obviously have to adjust my expectations.

I'm going to do what I can, when I can. I'm going to work out, but I'm not going to give up completely when I oversleep after a rough night.  I'm going to make better food choices, even if they are convenience foods, there are still better choices available than some. With the 4th of July just around the corner, I think it's a good milestone date to shoot for - this also coincides with our 6 month milestone!  So...hopefully I can say at 6 months postpartum, I'm that much closer to my pre-pregnancy weight.  It might take me a year to get there, but I WILL get back to where I was, my health is important to me and my family, and I know it will make me a better mother.

I'm thinking of hosting another accountability group, starting Monday June 8th, that will run for 4 weeks so coincide with my July 4th goal - I'm happy to have you participate, the only catch is that I have to be your coach, and you have to be following any one of the beachbody programs, or even just using shakeology daily.  I could use a little (BIG) kick in the pants, and these groups always motivate me, so if you want to join me drop me an email! babewithababy@gmail.com

 

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!