I wrote this post a while ago, but it got lost in cyber space for a while (I know it was awhile because I wrote it about a week and a half or so after Stacey had her accident [that link isn't working, but Stacey and her bike had a run-in with a car just over a month ago. Stacey is fine. Her bike, not so much]...it's up now with all its typos [typos have been fixed]. UGH! I hate it when that happens. Typos, mostly my own, drive me nuts!
First of all, in case you were wondering, Stacey came over for a visit last night and for someone who had such a scary accident, she’s doing really well!
Anyway, we were chatting about all kinds of things including getting fit and staying fit and I got to thinking about getting fit again after you have a baby. For me it was totally different than at other times in my life…for a whole bunch of reasons.
Often when we decide to improve our fitness level, we do it to accomplish some kind of a goal – to lose x number of pounds, to complete a race or hike or if you’re totally nuts, an Ironman, to fit into that cute dress hanging in your closet before your high school reunion/best friend’s wedding/Christmas dinner or whatever.
So, when the time came to think about getting my body fit again after my daughter, it wasn’t an easy decision with an easy goal. Yes, I wanted to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothing (although, honestly, I wanted to fit into my pre-tumble-down-the-stairs-and-break-my-back clothing) so I had a goal. I had a c-section so I was limited at first and even nine months later, I experienced some problems with the incision area while exercising.
When you’ve just had a baby your body is OUT OF WHACK. Totally. Your hormones are doing crazy things. Parts of your body thinks you’ve gone back to your teenaged years, parts of your body prematurely think you’re 85, and parts of your body, well, they’re just confused and don’t know what is happening.
Oh, and you’re probably exhausted. Tending to a little baby is a lot of work and little sleep, even if you’re diligent about the napping.
So things happen. You set goals. You say things like, when I get the okay from the doctor or when I stop breast feeding or when the baby is x number of months old, I will do this to attain my goal.
You probably eat fairly well. Maybe even better than usual because maybe you’re breastfeeding and you’re being very careful about what you put into your body so that your baby gets good stuff. Maybe you’re not eating as well as you know you should because you’ve heard that breast feeding makes the pounds come off or you’re not breast feeding and that’s the easiest thing to do when you’re sleep deprived.
Maybe all these things, just not at once.
And maybe you’re like me. Maybe NOTHING HAPPENS. Maybe you push 30lbs of baby and stroller around your neighbourhood for at least an hour a day and you eat lots of veggies and fish and fruit and drink lots of water and you lose nothing. And then maybe you push that same baby and stroller and eat chocolates and sweet, tasty, not very nutritional things that visitors bring. Maybe you gain a little bit. Maybe you lose a little bit. Or maybe, like me, you still lose NOTHING.
Maybe you want to lose weight but you haven’t yet because your hormones won’t let you, because you are still in recovery mode and your body isn’t ready, you have baby blues or you’re suffering from PPD, or you’re just not ready.
That’s all okay. Really.
Maybe you start to worry about what your mom, your husband, the doctor, the other moms in the baby group, people on the street or your neighbours think. The first three might be interested because they’re supporting you, the fourth one is a good group to complain to and celebrate little successes with (they’re in the same boat after all) and the other two…they probably don’t care.
And then you realize that RIGHT NOW your biggest job is being a mom. And if you can get fit at the same time, that’s great. And if not, because you’re not ready, you don’t have time, you’re too tired or whatever, well, the time will come when you’re ready.
And you know what happened (to me at least) – my body let me know when it was time and it started asking for exercise and my pants started sagging because they were too big.
Now I have to do the hard work, but it sure is a lot easier to do when your body is on board!
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