Work it. Make it. Do it.

Makes us harder, better, faster, stronger! =)

Part one in the goal to get my pre-baby body back is to get my butt back into gear. Before Carter & even during the first 7 months of my pregnancy, I did a great job at staying healthy & continuing to work out. After that, working out regularly became increasing difficult (especially when I was unable to breath well) & we ended up dropping our gym membership to save money.

After Carter was born, I had planned to resume my work-out routine at 6 weeks PP. I was going to get back into it right away after I got the okay from my doc. Ha! Well that was the plan anyway...

Obviously that did NOT happen. I was tired, I never had any time, & with my supply issues I just didn't make myself do it. I felt overwhelmed with my new life. Now that we are approaching the 5 month PP mark it's time to get serious again. Not working out consistently for this last 8 months had made getting back into it REALLY hard. I've done it before though & I can do it again. Before I got pregnant, I had lost 50lbs. Now, I only need to lose 15 to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I'd like to lose an additional 15, but I will be thrilled just to get back to where I was before Carter.

The first part in reaching my goal is to start working out again. I got a new Nordic track treadmill for Christmas & have already started to put it to good use. I really want to be able to get back into running like I was before, but now even a brisk walk requires a lot of exertion. To get my body used to running again, I am going to start slow & do the Couch-to-5k program. I know that I can devote myself to 3-- 20-30 minute work-outs a week + plus weight sessions twice a week.

The next part of my goal involves starting to eat more healthfully & watching my calorie, fat & sodium intake. I don't want to get too restrictive with my diet since I am still breastfeeding, but I am going to start tracking what I eat in a notebook again & trying to make the healthiest choices possible.

I found in the past that keeping a food diary really helped to keep me accountable to myself. I am hoping it works just as well this time.

I don't want to drop weight too quickly while I am still breastfeeding Carter so my plan is to lose the first 15lbs over the next 4 months. You know what they say about 9 months up & 9 months down. If it happens a little quicker I will be okay with that, but I'm not going to kill myself to do it. I think this is a more then reasonable goal. If we decide to stop breastfeeding at the 6 month mark (I'm doubting we will at this point), then the process may speed up a bit. Today was Day 1 of  my new regimen & so far so good. Wish me luck as I embark on this fitness/health endeavor.