Sunday, December 29, 2013

First workout after Wren

I finally started working out again yesterday. You would think seeing as this is the third time I have begun this journey postpartum that I  would be a pro. After the birth of Bean I got myself into better shape than I had ever been in, and after Tadpole I had gotten myself into the best shape of my life. Last year, I had the most muscle mass I have ever had, the least amount of body fat in my entire adult life, a visible 6 pack, and I  was stronger than ever before.  I can't say I am not a little discouraged, at the moment, trying to get back to where I was. It isn't as exciting as when you first accomplish a goal, but I need to get back to where I was.

For one thing I love to workout. I love the challenge, and compound lifting gives me an awesome challenge. I also need to get back to where I was, not just for me, but for the people I love the most.  I  need to exercise for my health. Being de-conditioned makes me so much more symptomatic with my POTS which makes my daily life a lot harder, and leaves a very exhausted Mama to care for 3 little ones. Mentally I feel so much better when I exercise which makes facing the physical issues I deal with a lot easier to cope with.

 So people ask how I make time to exercise so often (which is there way of politely trying to really ask  how I don't feel selfish as a mother working out so much), or how do I workout with all the health issues I said I have. All I have to say is that working out makes me a better mother. It helps me physically accomplish what I need to do to take care of my children, it gives me a time out from everyone needing something from me, and it teaches my sons and soon my daughter that women are strong and capable.

So where I'm  at currently:  Wren is 10 weeks old. I have about 10 pounds to lose, give or take. I don't focus as much on weight as I used to as muscle mass can easily change the scale. I did some circuit training in my house yesterday and worked out for about an hour. I did squats using an exercise ball, reverse hyperextensions on the exercise ball, overhead band pull downs, chin-ups, push-ups, single leg bridges using my couch, a bunch of other exercises I do for my hip issues, and I jump roped for quite a while. Overall I was discouraged by how weak I have become after being so sick this pregnancy, but I was also pleasantly surprised with how much I actually did do yesterday. I didn't keep diligent track of my workout yesterday like I normally do, because basically my goals yesterday were to do anything in the realm of exercise to assess where I am at. I am pretty sore and the idea of sitting makes my quads cringe, so all in all I think this is a good start.Pin It

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