My last post was July 26th, 2009 - just four days after our baby girl introduced herself to us. Life has totally and completely changed. More on that shortly (might not be what you think :)).
Why am I back? Well, let me share my top ten list with you starting with #10:
10. I soooo miss this aspect of my pre-baby life.
9. The community of support I receive from blogging is AMAZING.
8. It's a great way to share my thoughts/opinions.
7. It's a great way to share my experiences so that they might help others.
6. I can say the STUPIDEST things and you guys love me anyway.
5. Being a mom is tough - knowing there are others out there with my same challenges - time, patience, weight and balancing makes me feel like I'm part of a team.
4. I need feedback from a larger community - one that gets what I am trying to do and why I am trying to do it (which is ultimately to be healthy, fit and show my kids why health is so critical to life - and yes, I said kids - plural - more on that in a few).
3. Kelly Olexa pretty much double dog dared me. Actually more of a triple dog dare if you ask me but regardless, I will take that challenge!! :)
2. My husband told me one day how proud he was of my blogger commitment and the happiness he saw it bring me.....he was right - blogging is a part of my life!
1. I love each and everyone of my blogger peeps. Without you, this journey wouldn't be as fulfilling.
So, let's get to the nitty gritty. Let me give you the reader's digest version of the last year and a half.
July09 -February '10: Holy crap having a baby is HARD!! I had about 22 stitches (sideways no less - sorry to any guys reading this :)) and walking was very challenging for the first two weeks. Breast milk came in and I had NO idea I could be that hungry. OMG, I was starving all the time breastfeeding. Literally thought I could eat a horse. Total weight gain was about 25 lbs with Frankie. I would say I lost most of the weight (and yes, I wish I had kept better records) in the first 4 weeks and was back in my regular clothes as quickly but still had another 5-7 lbs to go. Frankie had colic so I had a lot of trouble with getting my diet to a place where she could tolerate it - literally ended up eating only green beans, chicken and rice. Ugh. I went back to work at8 8 weeks and started exercising with about 5-7 lbs to go - but when I would do anything more that a light lift, two things happened - first, my milk supply dropped drastically and secondly, she would react negatively to the lactic acid. Ultimately, I decided to not stress or obsess, I enjoyed breastfeeding and put my daughter first. It sucked mentally because I wanted to workout but knew it wasn't what was best for her. And here's why:
February -August '10: I had stopped breastfeeding and had about 3-5lbs of weight to lose but really needed to focus on my body composition more than anything. I had lost a lot of muscle and had some of the typical belly weight to lose.We had a trip to Mexico planned and I was determined to look good for just having had a baby. I was on a mission! But I also had a LOT less time. Balancing a baby, job and trying to squeeze in workouts changed everything. I used to workout an hour + each day - sometimes twice a day. I used to stayed at the office until 6 or 6:30 pm and had plenty of time after to workout at my leisure. With Frankie, I had to leave the office at 5:15 to pick her up from daycare, get her home, feed, bathe and get her in bed around 7:00 pm. After that I would work to try to catch up on not working later and then if I had any energy, I would workout. I finally figured out I had to workout in the mornings. Now that my boobs were back to regular size again, I felt more comfortable working out.
I started out with p90X workouts but did them in a cardio format....I literally fast forwarded to the next exercise after I finished my reps so I would literally finish an hour long workout in 25 minutes and I would be drenched in sweat.
Then I got really crazy and ordered Insanity from Beachbody. OMG!! I thought I was going to die after the warm up much less the workout but I could get in a great workout in about 40 minutes. Insanity is an awesome workout - Shaun T is a great instructor and the workouts were so much fun. The premise is high intensity intervals or HIIT training and I was hooked. The regular Insanity program of 6x a week of that type of workout was too intense for me but I created a hybrid between P90X and Insanity that I LOVED. I did one of the 40 min Insanity workouts, a P90X Plyo or Interval workout every other day and did a P90X weight workout on the alternate days with one day off.
My eating was less regimented as I just didn't have the time to prepare food or plan the way I used to but I would guess I was around 2000 cals a day. But certainly not all whole foods or anything else crazy. I lost all the weight and THEN some. If memory serves me, I was around 129-130 when I got pregnant with Frankie. By the time we left for Mexico I weighed about 122 which is the lowest I had ever been EXCEPT when I was getting ready to compete which was so crazy.
How could it be that I was in better shape than I had ever been (except post contest prep) and I was working out less than I ever had???
No more 90 minute workout sessions or two a day workouts and I was smaller and leaner than ever?? What???
Here's what I learned:
- HIIT workouts WORK. Your body becomes a fat burning furnace during and long after the workout. With Insanity, your whole body is engaged.
- Workouts that are short can be just as effective. My hubby has been doing this for years - he is 43 years old and has the body of a 25 year old.
- Being laid back about my diet and workouts and putting my daughter and husband first made me workout harder and smarter and the results showed.
We went to Mexico at the beginning of August and had an amazing trip. In late August, I found out I was PREGGERS again!! YAY!!! So, it's now January and I am 27 weeks pregnant. So far I have gained about 15-16lbs but am about 4lbs lighter than I was at this same time in my pregnancy which is awesome.
Weekly workouts right now, look a little like this:
- 3-4 HIIT cardio worktouts on the spin bike or TurboFire HIIT workouts (30-40 minutes)
- 3-4 weight workouts - mostly upper body, possibly a total body weight workout - usually P90X or a Cathe upper body circuit (30-40 minutes)
I am due at the end of April and we don't know what we are having (gender wise). We're so excited!!! We knew if we had one we would have two and although I am totally freaked out about two, I can't wait to invite baby two into our lives.
And before I sign off, I want to say how awesome my husband has been.....he is still my best friend, my love, my soul mate. Though our lives have changed and our time is now more divided than ever, I know he sees me for me and gives me all the support I could ever ask for. I love you pumpkin.
I am so glad to be back and look forward to following you all again as well! Miss you guys - thanks for being so awesome!
XXOO
Jess
