Postpartum Fitness Series - Setting a Goal

You've just had a baby and gained a ton of weight, or maybe not. Either way, most of us are ready within a few months to work on getting at least some of our pre-baby body back. This is the first part in a series about how to get fit after having a baby.

Set a Goal
It's hard to get anywhere if you don't know where it is you want to end up. Setting a goal is more than just saying, "I want to lose 10 pounds" or "I want to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight."

You want to make SMART goals, but first you need to do a little personal assessment. Realize that post-pregnancy workouts for most normal people who don't have all day to exercise are a phased process. Here are a few steps to get you started making a goal that you can achieve:

Think about any current limitations
Physically, how are you feeling? Have you healed? What limitations do you have right now that you need to consider when beginning an exercise program? Are you nursing? Have your ab muscles grown back together?

Set a short-term and long-term goal
Your body is constantly changing, and your hormones are shifting. You will steadily be losing weight, healing and getting stronger. Start with a short-term goal of maybe 30 or 60 days, along with a longer goal, looking toward where you want to be 9 months to a year from now.

Be Reasonable
It takes everybody different lengths of time to lost the pregnancy weight. Some of us never lost it all, and that's okay. For me, the weight always came off slowly. I gained 55 pounds with each child, and about 6 months out, I usually still carried a good 15 to 20 pounds of that weight. By a year, with moderate exercise, I was able to lose it all. 

Because nursing and hormonal shifts affect our weight, and it can vary a lot from day to day depending on how much water you're holding. Your short-term goal may not need to be weight-based. Maybe it could be to ditch the maternity clothes or to be able to do a certain number of sit-ups or push-ups.

Be consistent
No matter you're goal, make sure it's something you can be consistent with. For most moms, yes, we want to look good, but more than that, we want to be healthy and be role models for our kids. We can achieve that even while carrying some leftover baby weight.

Write it down!!

Accomplishing Your Goal
Now that you have your goal written down, you're ready to get started. We'll talk about that in the next part of this series.

21-Day Fix - Results & Review

I completed the full 21-Day Fix program this weekend. The 21-Day Fix is a 3-week program following a specific nutrition plan of clean eating using color-coded containers to portion out your food along with 30-minute workouts every day. I was part of a support group focused on healthy eating and exercise during the 21 days, which is the biggest reason I was able to stick with it all the way through.

Results
During the past 3 weeks, I lost 1.5 inches in my waist and dropped 2 percent body fat. Weight wasn't part of my goal, and I don't own a scale, so I don't have a measurement to report there. Toning up was one of my primary goals, along with improving my eating habits.

Although I wasn't great about staying on track with the containers, I definitely paid more attention to what I ate and made far better choices. I limited sweets and carbs and added more protein to my diet. By eating more healthy foods, I have less tolerance for junk food, which has encouraged me to keep going.

Below are my before and after shots:

Review
The workouts
I loved the workouts. It was really easy for me to fit in 30 minutes. I had days where my 17-month-old played in the corner while I worked out, where my husband picked out a movie from RedBox while I exercised, or where I just fit it in during naptime or after bedtime. I took the DVDs with me on a weekend trip to the beach. My 5-year-old even joined me for at least part of the workouts. In all 21 days, I only missed one day of exercise. The workouts have simple moves, and everything has a modification, so it's great for beginner and intermediate fitness levels.

The food plan
The eating plan is absolutely designed for losing weight. That made it tough for me to find the right balance. It is a low-carb, low-fat diet and heavy on protein, mostly from meat. I don't regularly eat a lot of meat, so it was a tough adjustment. But soy protein, eggs and yogurt counted toward my protein containers. I bumped up to the second calorie bracket (1,400-1,700 calories) during the second week to help avoid losing weights. The containers were pretty easy to follow, especially with some planning, and I didn't feel like it added time to meal preparation.

I cheated a little more than I would have liked, but overall, I felt like the plan made me much more aware of what I was eating, I stopped the nighttime junk food snacking, and I feel able to continue making healthy choices. My pantry looks much different now than when I started.

Recommendation
The 21-Day Fix is a great all-around program, but I would only recommend it for certain people.
This program is a good choice for you if you

• are new to following a fitness regimen or if it's been a long time since you've exercised regularly
• have a primary goal of losing weight
• need an easy way to manage portions
• want to develop clean eating habits

If you are at more of an advanced fitness level or are looking for a more intense workout you can do at home, I would recommend a different program. After this, I plan to add muscle with ChaLean Extreme.

Feel free to comment here or message me on Google+ if you want to know more about this program or fitness groups that I lead.

Pursuing Me

This is my first blog post (ever), which is pretty scary, as sharing personal information is not something I'm comfortable with. But, this year is all about stepping out of my comfort zone. 

I’m a stay-at-home mom of two: a five-year-old girl and a 16-month-old boy. I do part-time freelance writing and editing work during the occasional naptime or between 8 pm and midnight, and I help people meet their fitness goals through coaching.

Being an SAHM is great, but it pretty much means your life revolves around your kids. And every time you make an effort to have a life of your own (or let’s be honest, to pee alone or shower undisturbed), they find a way to barge in. As I write this, my youngest is pulling all the papers off my desk and pulling everything out of the trash, probably looking for food, because he never stops eating. That being said, I have made it a priority to be fit; I’d like to feel confident in my post-baby body. But finding the time to fit in fitness and good nutrition is HARD! And I don’t just want this for me; I want to set a positive example for my kids (because, of course, everything I do has to be related to my kids somehow).

I work out at home and at the local Y when I can. I also do my best to keep junk food out of the house. We do decently well, but there’s always room for improvement, and sweets are a big struggle for me. I do well for a while and fall off the wagon. The past two years have been rough for me. I’ve withdrawn and not pursued the things I wanted. But no more! I’ve chosen to make a huge effort to improve myself this year through personal development, fitness and proper nutrition. To stay on track, I am sharing my journey to find a better me.