I wanted to write a post about my post-baby fitness hopes for a few reasons. First, I’ve found that putting it out there really helps me stay motivated and excited. Second, I’m pretty pumped to get back into the swing of things; I really love exercise as “me time†and have truly missed that physical release and mental break.
I’m not going to allow myself to chase some ideal of “before.†I may never get back to my before-before or even my before-Little One-before. And I’m totally okay with that because I’m exactly where I want to be at this point in my life. Still – it’s really important to find ways to maintain your identify when your kids are young, even when they are very little. Taking care of yourself is a huge sanity-saver. So my post-partum goals have a lot more to do with how I feel than anything else.
My plan after Little One is to simply be focused on surviving feeling healthy, strong, and capable. I want to focus on feeling balanced and nourished. I want to recover from pregnancy and childbirth and sustain my body throughout breastfeeding. I want to focus on carving out small slices of “me time†and maintaining my sense of self amongst the diapers and feedings and craziness. I think have a pretty balanced idea of what this will look like.
It takes a long time to truly “get over†childbirth and adjust to the emotional and physical challenges of caring for another person. For my first pregnancy, I did a Mind and Body After Baby post series, which I liked because it allowed me to document both the subjective emotional and objective physical changes that I went through on a month-to-month basis. Maybe I’ll do that again? I’ve also just done less pregnancy documenting this time around, so maybe an official documentation is not necessary? Thoughts? I’m open to suggestions!
Here are some of the practical ways I hope to reach that balanced, happy state – at least when it comes to my health – after Little One’s birth.
Goal #1: Walk as soon as possible.
This was something that I did with Henry, and I really think it helped my immediate recovery. I was walking to the end of the block fairly quickly, and within two weeks or so, I’d do two (slow) blocks. That was all I was up for, but it was enough – it helped with blood circulation, made me feel less exhausted, aided in digestion, etc. I know that I’ll be tempted to spend my post-partum period on the couch watching TV or on the floor playing with the kids, but I know that I’ll need to move a little, too.
Goal #2: Do PiYo {once I’m cleared by my doctor, of course}.
I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I’m planning to buy the PiYo workout DVD series. I’m not a huge fan of workout DVDs, but I know it’s going to be hard to get out of the house for outdoor workouts with a newborn born in December. I can’t wait to write more about PiYo – I think it’s going to be really fun!
Goal #3: Do a {relatively fast} 5K.
I did a triathlon when I was 11 weeks post-partum with Henry, and it makes me feel SO proud to look at the pictures from the event. Training for a race made me feel like “myself†when I was so otherwise so consumed with the newborn period.
So… I signed up for a 5K at the end of March! It’ll be about 4 months after I give birth to Little One and probably 10 weeks or so after I’m given the clearance to really exercise again. I think a 5K is realistic, and I’m pretty excited to train for it. I’m going to use the Couch to 5K method again, and I’m definitely going to set some time goals for myself, although I won’t know what that will look like until I start training.
Other Goals…
I would LOVE. LOVE. LOVE to do triathlons in Summer 2015. I’m hoping to at least do a sprint and an Olympic, but I’m really not sure how I can possibly fit in training with two kids under 2.5 years. I know other moms do it, so hopefully I can figure it out!
My other (more immediate) goals include eating really clean, minimal sugar, not relying too much on coffee, and drinking enough water. I had a moment a few weeks after Henry’s birth when I realized I was eating crap to power through the newborn sleeplessness, and it was wrecking havoc on my body. I *really* want to avoid making that mistake again. It takes effort to eat healthy post-baby, but I want to focus on that just so I can be the best (most awake and least irritable) mom/wife/worker I can be. Hah!
I’d love to hear your stories on balancing new motherhood with fitness and health. How did you find balance? What goals did you have? Did having goals help motivate you? Or did setting expectations simply stress you out?
Great post! It’s so important to set these goals now, so you have them to drive you once the sleep deprivation and exhaustion hit. I started running less than 2 weeks after my daughter was born, and ran my first half marathon when she was 4 months old. Not saying that was the BEST decision, but I think it was necessary for my sanity at the time. Running gave me energy to deal with the sleep deprivation, and that 1-3 hours of alone time on Sunday mornings was exactly what I needed to collect myself and refocus on my health and family.
We’re not ready for #2 yet, but I already know how I will do things a bit differently next time around. Less coffee. More low impact exercise to start, instead of jumping right back into running (it all worked out and I don’t regret it, but in retrospect, I should have respected the recovery period a little more). More high fat/low carb foods to fuel me while nursing. I just started P90X3, even though I hate workout videos too, because I know I need to get used to them before there comes a time (with two little ones) that exercising outside the house before work in the morning won’t be an option. It’s actually not so bad! And really convenient, to be able to workout barefoot in my PJs if I want to 🙂
I’d love it if you document your “body and mind after baby” just like you did before! A lot of bloggers focus on the body aspect of things, but I like how you covered the physical/mental/emotional adjustments thoroughly. My daughter is 6 weeks younger than Henry, and your posts were SO helpful while I was going through the same period.
I’m getting more and more excited for you! Can’t wait to see the newest little one!