1) Pants. The lack of ones that fit.
2) A chronically bad/weak back which needs some strong core muscles to hold it upright and support it.3) Insomnia. The little guy finally starts sleeping through the night, and suddenly his mama can't. I can't seem to turn off my brain at night no matter how exhasted I am. I toss and turn to fall asleep, and have been waking up two and three times in the night with thoughts, worries, and plans for the future crowding my brain, and one ear open for that middle-of-the-night cry, even when it never comes. I know I need that healthy exhaustion that comes from a hard workout to make my body overrule my mind and just rest in the twilight hours.
4) Confidence. My body feels so out of whack, and having already felt like that for about 9 months prior to the arrival of the little man, well, that is a long time to go without feeling particularly cute. I'd like to bring back the cuteness. I am sure the husband wouldn't mind that either (me feeling cute that is, because he claims he still thinks I am cute even in my current state of out-of-whackness, and I love him for that).
Anyway, I am ready to get serious about all of this. But how? HOW? All you working mamas out there, please tell me how. I know from my past adventures in fitness that the real key to getting in shape is a resolute will, a mental commitment, an action plan; but every time I set about creating such a thing right now, I am overwhelmed by the how of it all. My particulars are that I work 5 days a week; two of them from home, three of them in an office in a small town sans gym. I commute nearly an hour to and fro on those three days, so that I end up being gone from my boys roughly 7:30am-6pm, and I'm none too eager to run out the door again once I am home. I found a Bikram Yoga class in town that meets at 6pm on Mondays, a day I am home all day, but that is an hour at which I am usually dealing with dinner, and enjoying catching up with the husband, and dealing with the little dude as he slowly turns into a pumpkin (5-7pm = arsenic hours in our house). I got a Tracy Anderson Post-Partum workout DVD, thinking that the woman who got Madonna and Gwyneth back in shape post-babe would be the key to my success, but a) our one TV is in our open-plan living room, meaning I'd have an audience for my efforts, and I really don't want that, seeing as b) the one time I went ahead and did the whole thing, I found myself swearing out loud for the duration. It wasn't pretty. Nor was my first run back... more audible swearing ensued. 
I know I need to start slowly and work my way back, but that really isn't my style. I tend to go to extremes. I need to just get back out there and do it, but can't quite get my mind around shoe-horning this into my schedule and my day. And while this is the subject of countless women's magazines and blogs, somehow none of it feels relatable to my experience and my life at the moment. Soon Baby J will be able to roll in the jogging stroller (his head is currently too wobbly), and that will help (maybe?). Until then, if anyone has ideas about how to fit this element into a tenuous work-life balance, I am all ears. In the meantime, elastic is my friend.
Hi Jane! Michael told me about your blog, so here I am! I, too, am slowly making my way back to a comfortable size, but it's been a long road. I am dealing with residual sciatica making working out challenging. I currently run with the babies 2-3 times a week with their Schwinn double stroller. I've tried On demand pilates which I highly recommend for building core muscles. We just bought this Your Fitness "game" for the XBOX...seems to be working well especially since you can say "I only have 15 minutes and I want to concentrate on lower body, etc." I somehow "hate" the virtual instructor way less than "live" trainers!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
~Stacey
As for not being able to sleep...once both twins were sleeping through the night, I went through about a month of that..waking up every couple of hours. It goes away, trust me!
Random ideas, in no particular order:
ReplyDelete1) Forget about trying to work out (isn't tailing a 1 yr old working out anyway?) and focus on food. Writing down everything you eat, regardless of your eating plan, is an excellent way to begin.
2) Buy a pedometer and start walking your booty off in between all that life that's happening. I firmly believe walking is the best way to shed weight. Of course, I hate it, but that's another issue.
3) Institute "Mandatories." This was something a group of friends and I did for a long time. Mandatories were 3 exercises that we did everyday. I usually did mine in my jammies at bed time. My favorite set of Mandies are: 100 crunches (on a ball if you have it,) 20 pushups, 1 minute planks. It takes 10 minutes, it's easy and it gives results. Once that gets easy, you can increase the reps/minutes if you want. Or you can pick your own 3 exercises.
4) Water. And more water. Water with ice. Water with lemon. Water through a straw, in a glass, from a bottle. Water.
5) Recruit your husband so you can do family time AND exercise instead of chosing between them.
Can't wait to hear reports back! Nothing feels better that being comfy in your skin.
Thanks, Ladies!
ReplyDeleteStacey, I appreciate the advice and the hope re: sleeping, and Ang, you are so very practical and wise.
Hey Mama J. I have found the only way to get my exercise in is to do it in my lunch break, so I try to get to the gym 3 times a week at lunchtime. But as you have no gym in your town perhaps you could take your trainers to work and go for a walk at lunch time? There are also alot of exercises you could do outside - find yourself a staircase and run up and down it a couple of times, use a park bench for squats etc.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree on the food diary - it really helps with keep yourself accountable.
But don't be too hard on yourself, your little one gives you plenty of exercise!