My journey to find balance

[DieselsMom]

CONGRATS!!! Great news MM what a beautiful name.

Don't worry just slowly get back into the swing of things - enjoy your moments with Cora as we all know well they don't last and are gone ever so quickly.

Super happy even though it was long your delivery went well and you were blessed with your baby bean healthy.

[dreahere]

MM! So so very happy for you and your family. Biggest congratulations And great to hear from you!

And don't worry about the baby weight. Who do you think you are, Giselle? No one expects you to be back to pre pregnancy shape two months in. Big hugs.

[Echo814]

Wow! Great update MM I was hoping everything went well and sounds like it did!

Don't worry about the weight, it will come off in time. I managed to get down to preprego weight at the 7 month mark with just diet, still need to get the workout thing going. Take your time and do it when you're ready

In for cute baby picks!

[geek23ka]

welcome, cora!!!

[marathonmom262]

Hey ladies!!!

Guess who is finally back at the gym? Okay - it's not as many times a week as I'd prefer but I'm finding some time in my schedule

So Sunday mornings are now my one morning a week to lift - hooray! Two Sundays ago I went to the gym for the first time in nearly 12 months (holy cow!). I got in some DB bench press (with 25s haha - and I hurt so bad the next day!), DB BO row, and DB OHP (with 15s - so sad). I then walked to nowhere for 40 minutes. I was proud of just getting in there and doing something but it was pretty tough to see my chubby body in the mirror pushing those little DBs!

So yesterday I went in and went right to work. I got squats and SLDL in but kept my working sets at 85 lbs for my first time out. BP and BO row working sets were only 65lbs, and OHP was 35 lbs (eww!). It felt so good to actually get in there and do a full body routine! I wrapped up with 25 minutes of walk/run on the treadmill (okay who am I kidding my run was really a light jog at 11 minute miles but my heart rate was so high - I guess I should be happy that it will just get better from here!)

So my quads are already sore today and I kinked something between my shoulder blades getting Cora out of her crib this morning but dang it felt good to just lift again. I feel like such a chubby little newbie but that's okay, I went home and shouted "I KILLED IT!!" to my husband because I felt so good about what I had done. So I'm excited for next Sunday - until then I have my home workouts and sometimes I can sneak over to the gym on a Friday during my lunch break for a quick cardio session.

I've hit my first weight loss plateau but know I'm doing what I need to do so I'm just keeping at it. Halfway back to my starting point - I will get there when I get there, as long as I'm seeing progress (my fat pants are starting to get a little loose and I'm not so fluffy so that's good!)

Cora is doing awesome - she is such a sweetie and is all smiles and laughter. And drool - no teeth to be seen yet but she is definitely chewing and starting that whole process pretty early. She sleeps from about 9pm until 3 or 3:30 so I really only have to get up once in the night with her now and then get up again at 6ish which works out great since I'm usually up for work then anyway. Weekends I just put her back into her crib and climb back into the warm covers for some more snooze time!

Hope life is good for all of my friends out there. Will update again soon!

[marathonmom262]

Much later update than planned... I can't help it - my guilt about not actually getting to the gym for 2 weeks now is killing me!

So I ended up catching a cold for a week and it really threw a wrench in my weekday workouts. Crazy snowstorms here didn't help much either. I did end up getting in two great home workouts in that weekend for some good cardio - about 1:20 of a kickboxing workout and then a 25 minute run the following day (all hills and man it was cold but I was excited to get outside for a run for the first time since fall of 2012 before I got pregnant with Cora!)

This past week was just terrible because Cora first seemed to go through a growth spurt that messed up her sleeping then the end of the week she was really fussy and out of whack with sleeping habits - turns out she got her first tooth! She's not even 5 months old and now has a tooth sprouting out of her bottom gums. Thank goodness that one is through and she has slept pretty well two nights in a row.

So today I am recharged. I got up at 5:15am and did T25 for the first time. I know I need to get some cardio in regularly to help get the weight to move down. I'm planning to try to get to the gym for some training any day I can work from home and Sunday mornings from now on. So this week that means possibly Tues/Fri/Sun - 3 days! I doubt it will happen but I'm hoping I can at least make it 2x.

Oh - and I finally got my standing desk at work last week that I've had my heart set on for a while. My feet have been killing me by mid-afternoon when I'm in my office but I know I'm burning somewhere between 100 and 200 more calories a day just by not sitting on my big butt all day - so it's definitely going to help me in the long run! Of course I'm also starving when I leave my office now but I'm doing a good job of sticking to my calories (generally about 1750) every day.

So nothing exciting to tell as far as lifts getting better sadly, but I am getting more active and my fitness level is definitely improving. The fact that I could make it through 1:20 of kickboxing last weekend was pretty surprising and I was pretty proud of myself. I have a long way to go but I have definitely come a long way since the beginning of the year!

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead!

[Echo814]

Hey MM! Glad to see you updating

Man, I hear ya on getting sick. I joined the 100K challenge and got sick a month in and had to take week off from dieting and exercise but it was worth in not dragging the danged bug out lol.

It's amazing how many more cals just standing burns! I've always wanted to do the standing desks but never got around to asking before I quit.

Don't feel bad, Liam got his first tooth at around months too. Now he has 8

You're doing great getting back into it. It took me forever to be able to workout but at least I was able to control my diet Keep it up!

[geek23ka]

go MM go!!!

really glad you're here. you are totally breaking the rules, though, by not posting pics of the sweet n00b! <3

pretty cool that you get a standing desk. are you able to think as well standing as seated?

[marathonmom262]

Hey MM! Glad to see you updating

Man, I hear ya on getting sick. I joined the 100K challenge and got sick a month in and had to take week off from dieting and exercise but it was worth in not dragging the danged bug out lol.

It's amazing how many more cals just standing burns! I've always wanted to do the standing desks but never got around to asking before I quit.

Don't feel bad, Liam got his first tooth at around months too. Now he has 8

You're doing great getting back into it. It took me forever to be able to workout but at least I was able to control my diet Keep it up!

Thanks! Wow Liam had lots of teeth quickly! Cora is now working on her second tooth - I can see it under the swollen gumline but it hasn't made its way out yet, which means fussy days and interrupted sleep at nights until it makes its appearance :/ Oh well - more cuddle time!

go MM go!!!

really glad you're here. you are totally breaking the rules, though, by not posting pics of the sweet n00b! <3

pretty cool that you get a standing desk. are you able to think as well standing as seated?

Haha - sorry I'm breaking the rules geek! I post lots of picture of the kids on FB where it's locked down to my family and friends, hubs is pretty unhappy with pics of kids out there on the web (I'm breaking his rule by even making a mention of him here - he does not like to exist on the internet at all haha!)

I love my standing desk - I feel like I can concentrate more because I'm not getting physically and mentally lazy sitting around. That said - I'm still working up to it and my feet are always really tired and sore/numb by the end of the day. Especially since I've been working out in the mornings.

So speaking of working out - I didn't make it to the gym at all last week! I did workout 6 times though. The T25 first week kicked my butt. I did each of the required workouts which meant 2 different workouts on Friday. My legs were exhausted and sore all week - it is surprisingly an incredibly intense 25 minutes. I think this week will be a little easier because my body will have adjusted to the athleticism required a bit more. I don't think I'll be able to do my lifting Sunday mornings for a while - I would be too sore to get through the workouts at all and I feel like at least getting in this body weight work 5 days a week (and maybe a run on weekends) is helping me get into a routine that will set me up for better success for now. I don't like to miss something that is scheduled so this seems to be working for me. So I'll do the 5 weeks of the Alpha routine and then take a week or two off to enjoy lifting again and then head into the 5 weeks of the Beta routine. It would be nice to get to a better level of fitness towards the end of the 5 weeks so that maybe I can also add in some gym time without too much suffering of performance - we'll see.

Trying to enjoy the journey... even when I'm not losing a lot of weight in a week I do feel clothes fitting better and I'm getting more fit and athletic by the day it seems. Lost my measuring tape so I ordered one off of Amazon so I can track my measurements and not get upset when the scale isn't friendly.

Have a great week everyone!

[dreahere]

Hi MM! So glad to see you checking in and happy things are going well.

[gobbles23]

How did I miss so many of your posts!?? I'm so far behind!!!

Many, many congrats on the little on MM So excited and happy for you <3 <3

Glad you're back on the forums and back in the gym!!!

[geek23ka]

enjoying the journey should be everyones prime directive.

your husband is smart to protect the kids' privacy. i'm pretty middle ground about it, but i see nothing wrong with safe over sorry.

[marathonmom262]

Gaaaa!!! You'd think by now I would be smart enough to copy my posts before posting them - oh well, retyping here I go....

Hi MM! So glad to see you checking in and happy things are going well.

Thank you Andrea!! Life is good so I enjoy sharing - just wish I had more "applicable" sharing to do on here. On my way back to "average me" and hopefully within a few months will be on the road towards "awesome me"!

How did I miss so many of your posts!?? I'm so far behind!!!

Many, many congrats on the little on MM So excited and happy for you <3 <3

Glad you're back on the forums and back in the gym!!!

Thank you! You know I have been terrible at journaling for about a year so I have to give you a year to catch up on anything I write Plus some days I may be so sleep deprived that I don't make any sense - but hopefully those days are few and far between soon as my little lady just turned 5 months old - what what??? Time flies

enjoying the journey should be everyones prime directive.

your husband is smart to protect the kids' privacy. i'm pretty middle ground about it, but i see nothing wrong with safe over sorry.

Yes - definitely all about enjoying the journey! The one thing I'm not enjoying is the lack of wardrobe these days. Luckily I put on a pair of my "chubby" jeans this morning and they fit (moving down from my fat jeans to my chubby jeans haha!) - so I guess I'm moving in the right direction. Thank goodness I can wear jeans to work so no one notices that I am wearing the same clothes all the time (at least I hope not). I get so mad when I spill something on myself or the dog slimes my pant leg!

So no workout this morning for a few reasons:
1 - Baby's second tooth is hopefully coming through today - up 2x in the night with her. Thank goodness she just wants to eat and then go back to bed so it's not that bad - but the broken up sleep is tough. I could feel the tooth last night so hopefully that was the last night of that for a while - I guess we'll see! So after the second feeding at 5am I reset the alarm for 6:30 and climbed back into bed. I needed the extra sleep - fell asleep on the couch at 9 last night.
2 - I had the thought yesterday that I'm doing a crappy job with my early morning workouts. I just can't put in the same level of effort because it's not mindless cardio - I used to be able to do decent lifts at 5:15 at the gym after a good warmup - but jumping right into the T25 workout that requires a lot of focus and agility that early is not making me get my best use of the 25 minutes. So... I think most of the workouts will have to be done at night. I like getting my workouts out of the way while everyone else is sleeping but since it's only 25 minutes I think it will be okay to do them after dinnertime and the kids are settling down watching a show before bed. The downside is with my standing desk my feet are pretty achy at night - but I need to make this work Good news is I'm not terribly sore this week so maybe I can fit in some Sunday morning lifting sooner than later - we'll see!

Happy Wednesday to all!

[jjeane]

Hey MM!! Yes, if you just don't sit down you will burn soooo many more cals!! I give you total credit for getting back at working out with a little one. It is hard!

[Echo814]

Do what you can handle and if its T25 then do it. Something is better than nothing I hear ya on the getting woken up multiple times. When Liam did it I was getting like 4 hours a sleep a day.

Yay for getting into smaller clothes It's a great feeling knowing something is working even if the scale is not moving.

[marathonmom262]

Hello friends! Long time to journal for me so thought I'd share what I've been up to...

So a few months ago I tried to get myself started back up at the gym in the mornings just 2-3 times a week if I could. It usually ended up being 2 - but it felt good to get back at it. I also tried to get to the trail after work to run when that didn't work out. I felt like my fitness was improving, baby was sleeping more regularly, all was well. About 2 months ago I completely stopped nursing - it was about time because my production was getting so low and work was making it hard to manage the pumping during the day. Then my Granddad died. My life was turned upside down quite a bit, both emotionally and schedule-wise. I spent about 2 weeks working out of the hospital, then helping with funeral plans, now my weekends are spent cleaning out his house with my family and trying to deal with what I've brought home (lots of furniture, antiques, keepsakes, etc). As you can imagine, my fitness level pretty much plummeted just as I was starting to get going again.

When I got pregnant I weighed 157 (about 7 lbs higher than I normally like to be since I had had a miscarriage and multiple surgeries just before that). I recently had finally gotten back down to 160ish so considered myself pretty much at about pregnancy weight but at a much lower fitness level (and much fatter!). Now that things have settled down a bit and I stopped nursing - I decided to finally do a round of RFL!

So here's my experience thus far very briefly...

The day before I started we had a baptism for my baby (she's 9 months old - can you believe it???!!) and I knew I'd be eating more than usual so I weighed myself that morning for my starting point - 160.8

Day 1 weigh in - 162.8 (hello cookies and cake!)
Day 8 weigh in - 155 (hooray!!)

The first week went really well, I enjoyed a cheeseburger mid-week for my cheat meal dinner. My carb refeed got messed up a bit on day 7 because I got a stomach bug. No issues except for extreme fatigue and nausea, but I did eat mostly carbs over 5 hours that day. Unfortunately it was just under my carb goal and I didn't get in my protein that I should have, so I didn't get a normal bump on the scale afterwards as I expected, overall cals and food intake in general was low for a carb refeed day.

I also lost 2 inches on my waist - that seems crazy amazing to me!

I originally planned to definitely do 2 weeks and possibly do a 3rd week if I was still seeing great results. A week in and I'm thinking I will probably do just 2 weeks, maybe just a few days beyond that. Even though I eat chicken and egg whites all the time normally, the extremely low calories and inability to have other foods as much as I'd like is really messing with my appetite. I'm looking forward to not being so run-down feeling and hey - I want to enjoy a beer and some cheese and crackers at night haha!

So after this I'll go back to maintenance or slightly under, start wearing my BMF again, and try to get back to a lifting schedule in the morning before work. I'm really looking forward to feeling fit again, not just being thinner. It will be great to fit back into my clothes that are just barely too small at the moment, but I miss feeling like I can accomplish anything - it's been 2 years!! It would be awesome if I could get some newbie gains at maintenance - but I guess we'll see

Hope all of my journaling ladies are enjoying the summer! I'm looking forwarding to sharing the end results of my RFL adventure and start journaling my lifting progress in a few weeks!

[jjeane]

2 inches of the waist is the bomb!!

[marathonmom262]

2 inches of the waist is the bomb!!

Thanks jj! I thought so too! It's definitely always the one area that I hold a lot of fat besides my legs in general, and after having each of my kids it is always the worst problem area that takes the longest to get back to some sort of "normalcy". Still a ways to go - but I'm SO proud of my progress and know that I have much more to come!

[dreahere]

So great to hear from you, MM! I remember this time last year you were so worried about your pregnancy complications and whether you would go full term and here it is a year later and you have your beautiful healthy 9 month old and you are back to your pre-pregnancy weight. So awesome.

[marathonmom262]

So great to hear from you, MM! I remember this time last year you were so worried about your pregnancy complications and whether you would go full term and here it is a year later and you have your beautiful healthy 9 month old and you are back to your pre-pregnancy weight. So awesome.

Thank you Andrea!!! I certainly am feeling blessed these days

[DieselsMom]

glad to see you back in here, not that I don't know what your up too lol

[marathonmom262]

glad to see you back in here, not that I don't know what your up too lol

Haha! I doubt I'll be able to post in here often because my time is so limited these days but I'm going to give it a whirl to get in here once a week if I can!

So after 2 weeks I'm done RFL. I was glad yesterday (day 14) was a scheduled refeed because I was feeling really wacked out. I had zero energy and my face was tingling and I was dizzy - I was nervous walking around carrying the beebles so I took it as my sign that I needed to stop after 2 weeks and call it a success in weight loss but not a success in being able to live life :/ The scale was up nearly 3 lbs after eating carbs yesterday but I'm excited to see how things look in a few days. I'm going to try to keep it pretty light yet realistic this week, not tracking but keeping up healthly habits. My body definitely needs a fully refueling diet break, the trick will be keeping it in check!

My oldest (she's 7) starts her first night of cheerleading practice tonight - I'm super excited because I cheered all the way through college so it's cool that she's interested in giving this a try. She loves dance and gymnastics and hasn't really been in love with team sports when trying them (soccer, softball, etc) - so we'll see if this is her thing. Might just have to pick up a 6 pack of beer on the way home - it's been so long since I've had a beer that it would be a great way to end the day, having a beer on the couch with the hubs!

Happy Monday y'all - looking forward to hopefully sharing a new weight "low" soon, and hoping to get my strength back up to start hitting the gym at 5am again next week!

[crackbam]

gl!!!!!!!!!!!!