Making Self-Care a Priority After Babies
Baby weight.I really don't like those two words when they're side by side like that because they make me feel like a bit of a failure. See, when I was pregnant with the boys, I felt amazing. After I gave birth to them I felt really good about my body (well, maybe not immediately after, but a few weeks later, yes). I was breastfeeding and pumping and could basically eat whatever I wanted and no fatty foods could touch me. I burned through them so fast! Then I stopped breastfeeding, and for a while it was fine because I was eating relatively well, having my husband there to remind me to actually eat. Then Marquis went back to work, and I didn't have someone reminding me about meals. I started relying heavily on coffee and foods that were easy to eat. I certainly wasn't exercising. I definitely wasn't great at self-care, even with him at home.It's all caught up to me now. I've put on more weight than I care to admit. And that's why I don't like the words 'baby weight.' Because that's not what this is. I didn't gain weight while pregnant. I went back to my pre-pregnancy weight within 10 days of having the boys - and I'm not saying that to brag because I've put lots of that back on, but here's what I'm talking about.
I'm not sharing a "before" picture because that's not what this is about. I'm not aiming to look like I did in either of those pictures up there, I just want to feel better. About myself, my body, the clothes I wear, my ability to touch my toes (because as of this moment, I can't)... This is a journey.I've done things like the Whole30 before and shared recipes here, and that was really helpful for me to learn what foods have certain effects on me and how to read labels properly. I won't be going back to the Whole30 right now, though, because it seems like an unrealistic challenge when I'm struggling to not just drink coffee and eat toast all day.In looking for balance in my day-to-day, I've started doing Barre3 workouts at home. You can sign up online and it's a great way to get a little cardio and some stretches done, and the exercises range in length from 10, 30, 40 or 60 minutes. Sounds pretty manageable, right? If you sign up using this link you get $10 off, so you can get 3 months of workouts for $30, which is amazing because you also get healthy recipes to go along with it. Personally, I love it because you can do them with either no props at all or with very simple things like a yoga mat, an exercise ball, some weights, a resistance band or a chair.So what's my plan? Well for now...
- I've started trying to have at least one smoothie a day with fresh ingredients. Nothing pre-made, no protein powder or anything. Just real food. I'll share my favourites with you soon and I promise they don't require a mile-ling grocery list, either.
- I'll going to keep going with Barre3 and try to do work out for at least 20 minutes a day to improve my general well being, flexibility and strength.
- I'm going to be checking in often with my sweet friend Danica who has some weight loss goals of her own so she can keep me accountable and so that we can be a source of support to one another.
That brings me to sharing with you that thanks to Danica's idea of opening up about her own weight loss journey, I'll be joining her in a Facebook group for accountability, recipe ideas, encouragement, and an occasional kick in the pants to just DO IT and go work out for at least 20 minutes a day.Does that sound like something you need, too? Do you have tips you can share? Want to be accountability buddies with us? Let me know in the comments. We may just make a series out of this. Plus, there's strength in numbers. If we can all work together to keep one another accountable and motivated, we're bound to make better choices and move in the right direction. What do you say?