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Friday, September 4, 2015

Challenge Accepted



Here's an outfit I wore last Friday.  And a bunch of words not about outfits at all.

Spoiler alert:  having a baby kind of wrecks your body.  Especially if your body wasn't in the best condition before getting pregnant, like hypothetically if your immune system attacks you.  Anyway, I gained a bunch of weight in the year and a half or so before getting pregnant, because I was dealing with RA, and some of the medicine I was taking made it impossible to lost weight.  Plus, it's hard to exercise when your body hurts so bad (also, cookies made me feel better).  So fast forward to now, almost 4 months post-partum, I'm trying to figure out how to get as healthy as possible.  But like, I have this baby who needs me all the time, and my body still hurts, and I still like cookies.  

Since I'm working with a busted body and limited free time, my plan is to start small.  I hesitate to even blog about it, because I tend to be a quitter, and then it will be embarrassing, but you know, accountability and whatnot.    

In August, I started 2 of those 30-day challenges that I always see popping up on Pinterest.  Squats and planks.  I'm almost done with both of these (and doing more than 100 squats in a row is super hard!), so I'm trying to think of what to do next.  I'm might pick up this challenge on day 6, to continue working on holding planks for longer, and maybe try these variations on squats .  Or maybe try to get my arms all sculpted in time for winter when they are covered.  

I don't have a real specific goal (I mean, I'd love to lose about 50 lbs), but I'm hoping to build my core strength back up so I can start actually working out (true story: I tried doing this ab challenge and couldn't even do the first day, because I have absolutely no core at the moment. I'm hoping that we will have a couple months of cooler-but-not-freezing weather so I can go on more).  Also, my baby is heavy, and I want to get stronger so it's easier to haul him around.  Rumor has it he is going to get quite a bit bigger before he can walk everywhere himself!    

Anyway, that's my story.  Any advice on easy/fun workouts to try?  So many on pinterest are like "Beginner workout: do 10 pushups!" and I'm like "I can't even do 1 pushup, thanks!"  

*and now I need to go do 190 squats before I go to bed.  Who thought this challenge was a good idea??

Cardigan: JCF
Tee and Skirt: Gap
Shoes: Sperry

6 comments:

  1. Wow, super impressed! Especially because the extent of my workouts have been stroller rides and dance parties with the babe. I think you look great, and I'm with you...I have no core whatsoever! :S

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  2. I always quit those things after like 4 days. Mostly because I forget! But props to you for going for so long!!! Keep it up :)

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  3. I started one of the arm challenges but kept forgetting/not caring to. I started doing 25 sit ups before bed for the past week. I'm going to mix things up with your pin. Apparently increasing muscle definition is a really good way to lose weight because the muscle will burn the fat or something like that. I would imagine lifting Baby would help with the strength training!

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  4. I feel your pain - pregnancy/delivery just changes things in a body's shape, and it's annoying to not have control over that! Super impressed with you doing the squat challenge though - I just had another blog buddy post about it, and when you did at nearly the same time I felt like it maybe is time for me to finally join in (even though I know they'd be really good for me to do more of, I'm always afraid of squats because they make my legs too sore to do my usual running/biking!) If you're looking for a low-impact workout, I highly recommend looking into barre classes. Not strenuous, but they certainly do a lot for toning (good post-baby!) and lengthening (which I found good for achy bits).

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  5. Good luck! I'm impressed that you are tackling the challenges. I can do all kinds of ab workouts but I cannot do planks, so I always think that I have no core strength. And you probably don't need to work on your arms, I always think moms wind up with the best biceps from lifting babies all day!

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