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Dreams + Coffee

North Carolina Healthy Living + Style Blogger

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

April 13, 2015 Comments : 6

I completely expected my body to change drastically when I was pregnant, so I was pleasantly surprised when I barely gained 22 pounds throughout my pregnancy and lost the weight within 2-3 weeks postpartum. I’m pretty sure that’s because Blair was on the large side for a newborn at 8 pounds, 13 ounces – plus all of the extra weight that comes along with growing a baby (more fluid, etc.) – so when I had her, most of the weight disappeared.

 

Last picture of the belly before I had Blair!
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!
The BOB is a lifesaver for being able to run with a baby! Not at two weeks old (like the above picture), obviously. 😉
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! 😉

 

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About Me

Hi y'all! I'm Brittany, a wife, mama to three little ladies and the creator behind Dreams + Coffee, a North Carolina lifestyle blog. Grab a cup of coffee and catch up on my latest family, food, health and lifestyle posts.

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Wife | Girl mama | Pure Barre & Peloton obsessed | Dairy + gluten free | Freelance writer | Owner @somethingbleuclt | CLT | Order GS Cookies ⬇️

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When your cat loves @cleanjuice as much as you do When your cat loves @cleanjuice as much as you do 😘🤪
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Last week to this week ➡️ We’re SO grateful Last week to this week ➡️ We’re SO grateful for a quick recovery from pneumonia — having a sick child is scary enough, but to top it off with no space in our local hospitals’ PICU and being flown to Asheville, you can imagine we were beyond stressed last week 😩 So so grateful she’s back to normal and on International Women’s Day, it felt like a good time to celebrate Brynn 🥰 Thank you to all of our friends & family who reached out, lent a helping hand and kept us in your thoughts & prayers ❤️ 
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We still have Girl Scout cookies 🥳 *Online ship We still have Girl Scout cookies 🥳 *Online ship-to-home orders* begin Monday, 2/27! If you’re not local to CLT and would like to place an order with shipping, I’d be happy to share the link - my girls would love your support 🥰Also, the newest cookie, Raspberry Rally, will be available in limited quantities online — I plan to place a bulk order and can deliver boxes locally in CLT if you’d like to try them 😘
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45 degrees and snow tubing yesterday…75 degrees 45 degrees and snow tubing yesterday…75 degrees and windows open today ❄️🤷🏼‍♀️☀️
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These beauties went camping at the @schielemuseum These beauties went camping at the @schielemuseum with Troop 2997 last night ⛺️ Proud of them for being brave because when I was their age, you couldn’t catch me sleeping away from home…ever 🤣
Finally took the girls back to our favorite place Finally took the girls back to our favorite place in Virginia — @colonialwmsburg ❤️ We loved it so much, we even took our engagement photos here back in 2011 😉
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Prolon Day 3 | The day started off really good — Prolon Day 3 | The day started off really good — I felt very clear-minded and awake this AM 🥳 Truly, I was nervous because today was a very low-cal day and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel 😅 I did grab a plain iced espresso because my energy was depleting super quickly and that def helped 👌🏼 After lunch, though, I started to hate depriving myself of real food and disliked that I couldn’t push myself in my workouts like I usually do 😒 After dealing with three kids who clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed 😆, slicing my hand open with a knife and being cranky and irritable because I’ve been hangry for 3 days, I caved. And sorry, not sorry ✌🏼 I just wanted a dang salad and some protein so I can lift heavy things 💪🏼 Moral of the story, listen to your body and what it needs. And maybe try a 1-2 day cleanse/fast because that’s about all mine could handle 🤪
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@prolonfmd Day Two | Overall an easier day than ye @prolonfmd Day Two | Overall an easier day than yesterday 👌🏼 Time went by faster and I didn’t have any nausea from being hungry…I looked forward to and savored all of today’s meals — the black bean soup for dinner was actually really good (esp with a little cumin + paprika!) 🙌🏼 I did @pure_barre this AM and then a @onepeloton walk this afternoon…keeping it light because of how little I’m consuming this week 😅 Not gonna lie, nervous for day 3 because it’s the lightest day of food and I’m already pretty hangry in general 🤣 Interestingly, I’ve felt pretty amazing today other than just craving a real meal 👌🏼 Btw, was so hungry for dinner that I forgot to share it in the reel 🤦🏼‍♀️
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