Getting Fit Post-Baby {Hint…it’s not impossible!}

Now, just because I lost all of the weight so quickly doesn’t mean that I was in shape! I definitely lost a lot of muscle tone. I ran throughout pregnancy, but I stopped lifting weights and doing toning exercises about halfway through. We pretty much just stopped going to the gym, and ran at home most nights, so I just stopped cross-training altogether. I tried Tracy Anderson’s pregnancy workouts, but just didn’t stick with it. I would definitely recommend sticking with those toning exercises throughout pregnancy, if you can – but ultimately, I’m just happy I was able to run up until my due date!

After having Blair, I was beyond ready to start running again. I started walking the day after we got home from the hospital, and made a point to take a stroller walk every day. At about 4 weeks postpartum, I felt the urge to try to run, so I did briefly and realized it felt pretty good – with the exception of being really slow! I am a terrible patient and I never listen to doctors (true story), so without consulting my doctor, I started running slowly a few days a week. Luckily I didn’t have any issues – and at my 6-week postpartum doctor appointment, I was cleared to exercise again. I didn’t tell her I’d already been working out…oops. Definitely consult your doctor before starting to work out again…don’t do what I did 😉

Around December, I decided I should sign up for a half-marathon in order to have a fitness goal and to get back in running shape. So, I recruited my husband to join me (pretty sure he still regrets saying yes) and we started training for a half marathon that takes place on April 19th. As in, next weekend – yikes(!). While I haven’t trained as hard as I did for past races, we did make sure to get in our long run every weekend – despite a few walking breaks here and there 😉 Overall, I feel confident in my ability to make it through the race, but I zero PR goals. Okay, that’s not true. I always have a goal, but I always keep it a secret, too. :)I feel like even the minimum amount of training we did, plus a few other workouts thrown in there (I tried Insanity and P90X for the first time – and loved them!) have really helped me get back in decent shape. I’m looking forward to running the race next weekend, though, so that I can cut back on running and add in more variety in terms of workouts. I subscribed to Beachbody on Demand and have plans to try out more of those workouts, and I really want to get back to hot vinyasa class more regularly! Also, I’m still wanting to try Pure Barre…and then there’s Tone It Up workouts. There’s just so. many. options!

I will say that for the most part, I have the drive and desire to workout like I used to (7 days a week, sometimes more than once a day…a little on the extreme end, no?) but I just feel guilty taking away time I spend with Blair. I really need this time, though – I feel like a new person when I finish a workout! My goal is to get better about taking a little time for myself each day, even if that means balancing a short, 30-minute workout one day with a 90-minute yoga session another day.

Ultimately, getting fit post-baby is NOT as bad as people said it would be. My biggest issue was losing a lot of muscle tone, but that’s my fault for only focusing on cardio for most of my pregnancy! I was pretty slow when I first started running again, but I felt like I picked up a decent pace pretty quickly. If you’re expecting or just had a little one, don’t fret! You’ll hear over and over that your body ‘will never be the same’ – but that’s absolutely not true. If you’re willing to put in the work, and take that much-needed time for yourself, you can easily get your pre-baby body back. Oh yeah – and your arms will become toned just by carrying your baby(ies) around…especially the heavier they get! 😉