Body After Baby -- Part III

Well, it's been over 3 months since Benji was born and I'm finally starting to see some progress.  Here's the pics and measurements.   Interesting to see how my hair has grown a bit!  So I am down to 135 lb, which is the same weight I was at my wedding.  Yay!  Even though it's the same number, my body composition is different... I'm still a bit more flabby and less muscle-y than I was.  But I have definitely seen some changes in the last few weeks and am steadily getting stronger.

         January                                                                                    February                                                                                      March
          153 lb                                                                                        145 lb                                                                                        135 lb

Measurements

                  January                                             February                         March

Bust               40"                                                      38"                                36"

High Waist    37"                                                      33"                                30"

Belly           39"                                                      37"                                 33.5"

Thigh             22.5"                                                  21"                                 21"

Arm               12"                                                     11"                                  11"

Hips               41"                                                     39.5"                              39"

                   

Weight          152-ish lbs                                         144.6 lb                           135.8 lb

Body After Baby -- Post 2

It's been a month since my first post, so it's time to update my progress...

I will start off with showing the pictures, then post my measurements.

                    Jan. 4, 2013                                                  Feb. 4, 2013

 

 

Measurements

                                                       January                                             February

Bust                                                 40"                                                      38"

High Waist                                      37"                                                      33"

Belly                                                39"                                                      37"

Thigh                                               22.5"                                                   21"

Arm                                                 12"                                                       11"

Hips                                                 41"                                                      39.5" 

                   

                    Weight                                         152-ish lbs                                             144.6 lb

I'm glad I took these pictures and measurements.  It's nice to look back and see that I have made progress, even if it's going way slower than I had hoped! 

What I did this month...

1.  Joined a gym!  The gym that my husband and I had been going to for the last year closed right after I had the baby, so I decided to join a new gym.  For the first few weeks, I was trying to exercise at home because I could not find a gym that was a good price, had childcare, and was close to home.  Exercising at home proved to be difficult, though.  By the time I got in my workout clothes, the baby needed to be fed, and I had to change out of the tight workout shirt in order to feed him. And my work outs were interrupted several times to tend to the children, so it was nearly impossible for me to get my heart rate up for more than a few minutes at a time.  Thankfully, I found a gym that is perfect for us.  It is a small family-owned place, which was important to me.  The employees there really care about their clients and are very knowledgeable about diet and exercise.  It also has childcare that accepts kids of all ages.  Many other gyms would only accept babies at least 6 mos old and would not accept school-aged kids during the day.  Since I homeschool my 7 year old, I needed a place that would keep her while I worked out.  

2.  Nutrition was on point!  Mostly meats, veggies, fats, and a little bit of fruit.  I thought this was going to be really hard, but I feel so much better when I eat clean that I don't even want much processed food anymore.  Really the only time I ate junk food was when my husband "cooked" dinner for me one night -- frozen pizza and ice cream.  It was a nice treat and I managed not to over-eat, so I didn't feel horrible afterwards.  

3.  No more fast food!  I can't even remember the last time I had fast food -- over a month, I guess.  We used to stop by Mc D's or Chick-fil-a after my daughter's gymnastics once a week.  The last several weeks, however, I just take the extra time before we leave the house to pack a cooler.  Usually turkey, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and grapes.  Those are my go-to travel foods because you don't need silverware and they don't leave a mess.  

4.  Lots of water.  I have been drinking about a gallon per day for the last 3 years.  It really makes a difference.  During law school, I would get a headache everyday around 3:30.  I thought it was just from doing so much reading and thinking throughout the day.  But when I increased my water intake, the headaches immediately went away.  Yay!  

Thanks for reading!  See you next time!

~Patti 

Breakfast

My Favorite Omelet -- Half of an Orange -- Glass of Milk (from grass-fed Jerseys at Butter Patch Farms)

Omelet
3 pastured eggs from Wil Moore Farms
Grass-fed butter from Happy Cow Creamery
Red Pepper
Green Pepper
Onion
Garlic Powder 
Kale

Lunch

Eva's Lunch

 

My Lunch

-- Tomatoes & Cucumbers
-- Carrots
-- Squash & Zuccini Stir-Fry
-- Grilled Chicken









-- Squash & Zuccini Stir Fry
-- Grilled Chicken Salad
     - Romaine & Spinach
     - Tomato
     - Green & Banana Peppers
     - Red Onion
     - Ranch Dressing






Dinner

Spiedies (grilled chicken), Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes

 

I'm baaack!

So... I haven't blogged in well over a year.  Oops! 

I'm hoping to start posting more consistently, tracking my progress losing the weight I gained with my recent pregnancy.  I am mainly using this blog as a personal journal to document my life.  It may not be interesting to many other people, but I want to have a place where I can record the funny things my daughter says and the cute pictures I take of the kids. 

I am also planning to document what I eat and how I exercise in hopes that it will be a form of accountability and help me stay on track while I try to return to the level of fitness I was before my pregnancy. 

Before I got pregnant, I was the healthiest I had ever been.  I exercised 4-5 times a week and was doing pretty well eating Paleo. 

August, 2011

Easter, 2012 - 8 weeks pregnant

During the pregnancy, I continued to exercise at the same level.  Around month 5, however, I started feeling pain in my pelvic bone after I would jump rope or run.  So I quit running and jumping rope, but still did HIIT on the elliptical, as well as circuit strength training. 

July, 2012 - 4 mos. pregnant.  Linville, NC

Midway through month 7, I started feeling the pelvic pain anytime I would exercise at all.  Even just walking around the office at work would be painful.  So I decided to quit exercising because I did not want to risk injuring myself or the baby.  Unfortunately, I began eating less healthy as well.  I worked close to a Chick-Fil-A... 

October, 2012 - 8 mos. pregnant

So in total, I gained 50 lbs during the pregnancy.  I started out at 120 lbs and ended up at 170 lbs. 
The first few weeks after my son was born I continued to eat fairly unhealthy.  It's hard to get to the grocery store or find time to prepare meals with a newborn!  Excuses, excuses... 

 I am now at 150 lbs. 8 weeks postpartum. 

Here are my "before" pictures.   I hope to update the progress pictures each month.  These were taken 2 weeks ago.  Since then, I have been much more conscious about what I am eating and have been way more consistent in my exercise. 

Measurements  

Jan. 4, 2013

Bust = 40"

Waist = 37"

High Hip (Belly Button level) = 39"

Thigh = 22.4"

Arm = 12"

Wordless Wednesday

Mrs. Love is calling!

I decided to do a homeschool lesson on 1 Corinthians Love. You know, "love is patient, love is kind...." I got this lesson from a couple of really awesome homeschooling blogs. It was supposed to be a Valentine's Day lesson, but due to recent incidents, I felt Eva could you a refresher course on how to love others ;-)

All day, the song by Toby Mac was running through my head: "This is love calling..." However, Eva has acute lyricosis, and she sings the song "Mrs. Love is calling..." Hence, the name of this post.

So anyway, I told her about the lesson the night before, and she was really excited about it! She usually is not very eager to do homeschooling, but on this day, she came and woke me up asking when we were going to do school! I think I am going to start doing more themed lessons, since she loves it so much.

Here are some pictures from our Love Day:



...Playing a game that teaches 1 Corinthians 13...




...Memory Verse...


...Our first ever lapbook...

Wordless Wednesday