Body After Baby Challenge: We Made It!

Samantha at MamaNotes hosted the Body After Baby Challenge: Fit by Labor Day. Well, it's Labor Day. It's been 8 long weeks and I'm glad that I participated.

I didn't reach all my goals, but I feel a lot better about myself. My main goal was to lose about 8 pounds so that I would fit back into some of my prepregnancy clothes. I lost 7 pounds that I was able to keep off!! I'm back in my "skinny" clothes and it feels great.

I kind of fell of the wagon as far as toning up. I did try to lift weights a couple times a week, but this one was a lot harder for me to stay motivated with.

I have started to eat much healthier since the challenge began. I know that I will stick with my healthier eating habits because it sets a good example for Fiona and it makes me feel so much better. I have noticed that when I choose to eat something like fast food, now I feel really icky after eating it. I'm feeling better eating salads and healthier options. That doesn't mean I'm depriving myself by any means. I still eat whatever I want, just in much smaller portions and I just don't want the unhealthy option as often.

Go here to look at the before picture (I was too lazy to upload it again). Finally, the after picture:

This challenge has helped to me feel better about myself and develop healthier habits in my life. Thanks Samantha for hosting it!! Head over to MamaNotes to check out all the after pictures.

Body After Baby: Almost There

So I have been a total slacker on the Body After Baby Challenge the last 2 weeks. The Body After Baby Challenge is being hosted by MamaNotes. I was such a slacker last week that I didn't even blog about it. Thankfully, even though I have been a slacker I have managed to maintain my weight loss.
I have done okay with eating healthy. I haven't been horrible, but I haven't been making super healthy choices either. I think that I have managed to change a few bad habits though, as far as not reaching for junk food first and increasing the amount of water I am drinking.
Exercise has been pretty nonexistent lately. We did go to the zoo this last weekend and for a walk the weekend before, so at least there has been some moderate stuff.
Not to make excuses, because there is no excuse, but since I started babysitting I am finding it a lot more challenging to squeeze exercise in. When I just had Fi, it was easy enough to stick her in the high chair or the exersaucer and work out. It has been a little harder to find a time when 3 and now 2 babies are happy to sit by themselves while I work out. I know if we have a second child it will be the same, so I'm working on brainstorming different ways to squeeze in a workout. We did have a dance party in the living room one day last week and I worked up a sweat, but it was mainly because I was having a rough time keeping everyone happy.
Anyway, I've made up my mind that I am going to finish up the challenge on a good note. I am recommitting myself to do better on this last stretch. Go Red Team!

Body After Baby: Halfway!!

We are halfway through the Body After Baby Challenge. That is both exciting and scary.

I have done really well with eating this week. I am really pretty proud of myself. I resisted a lot of temptation, because Nathan has been eating garbage all week. He keeps doing things like buying ice cream and making cookie dough, but I have been good and haven't eaten it.

I have gotten some cardio in this week also. I am not doing very well on the weight lifting/muscle toning. I need to work much harder on that for the second half.

I am definitely seeing some changes in my body. My clothes are not fitting any more, in a good way. My transition clothes, that I bought because none of my old clothes fit, but it was too depressing to keep wearing maternity clothes, are now too big. Woo Hoo!! Plus, I am feeling a lot better. I am happier with the image in the mirror and I have more energy (even on the days where I haven't gotten much sleep at night).

The most exciting news ... I lost 3 pounds this week!! Yes, I have managed to hit pre-baby weight!! I am ecstatic. I do still have a couple more pounds I would like to lose, but I wouldn't be sad if I could just maintain this weight.

The Body After Baby Challenge has been awesome. Head on over to Mama Notes and cheer on everyone else participating. Go Red Team!

Body After Baby Week 3

I totally fell off the wagon this week. The week started badly, with eating out and leftover yumminess. Then add in a very cranky baby who slept next to nothing all week. That leaves a very tired mommy who was up way to many hours this week, which leads to her eating way more than she should and giving in to cravings for junk food.
At least by some miracle I didn't gain weight this week, but I didn't lose any either. I did get in a workout 2 days this week, not very long, but at least it was something. Two times I chose the stairs over the elevator, so I figure that is something.
I'm really hoping to get back on the wagon starting this week.
I hope the rest of the red team did better than I did. Head on over to Mama Notes and cheer on the rest of the mamas (and daddies) participating.

Body After Baby Week 2

We now have 2 weeks down in the Body After Baby Challenge, with 6 weeks to go.

I weighed myself this morning and I lost 1.5 pounds this week. Yay! I'm still right on target. Maybe by the end of summer I will be comfortable in a swimming suit again :p

I really focused on drinking more water this week. I am a little bit of a pop junky. When I was pregnant I pretty much cut out all pop, but I replaced it with juice, which isn't really much better. So I really wanted to tackle this bad habit. I really want to set a good example for Fiona and drinking all the pop and juice is not setting a great example. My goal for the week was to drink at least 3 large glasses of water a day. It took a little effort at the beginning of the week, but by the end I was grabbing a glass of water instead of a pop or a glass of juice. My new best friend is the flavored Aquafina and of course there is Crystal Light too.

I did really well with eating healthier, too. I planned a dinner for each night this week and prepped some of it last weekend, so that it was really easy to make a healthy dinner choice. I have also found that it is much easier if I don't deny myself what I want. I just eat a tiny bit of it. That way I don't screw up my whole day, but I don't feel like I'm being deprived of all the things I like.

I managed to work out at least 3 times this week (again I am including mowing the lawn, which Nathan doesn't think should count, but I am still getting results). My workouts were a little longer than last week, so I think I'm doing well on this goal also.

I am very proud of how I did this week. Bring on the next 6 weeks, I'm going to be smokin' by the end of it. Go Red Team!

Body After Baby: One Week Down

That's right one whole week of the Body After Baby Challenge is finished. It went by super fast. I am pretty happy with how I did this week.

I weighed myself this morning and I lost exactly 1 pound. Woo hoo! That is what I was working towards. I really didn't know if I had accomplished it, but was thrilled when I stepped on the scale today.

I did moderately well with eating healthier. Most days I did really well until about dinner time when I was tired and had less will power. I am going to do better about that this week. I have planned a dinner for each night this week and prepped some of it so that it will be easier to make a healthier choice each night. The weekend was really a struggle. We went bowling Friday night, to a BBQ/boating party on Saturday night, and dinner with my parents' Sunday night. There were a lot of unhealthy options going on and alcohol, which is not very low calorie. Next weekend doesn't look much better for the healthy eating because we have a BBQ/Bridal shower and something else that I can't remember right now. I am going to have to be super good during the week to make up for a little splurging on the weekend.

I managed to work out at least 3 times this week, plus I mowed the lawn, so I am going to count that as a workout as well. I am hoping to improve on that number next week. It isn't a bad start, but none of those workouts were very long and I can do better.

My tummy, legs, and arms have been sore pretty much all week from my workouts, so I am definitely counting that as a success.

So I am proud of how I did this week. Now I just have to keep up the motivation for 7 more weeks.

Diet Update

After 3 days, I am doing so-so on the Body After Baby Challenge. I am finding it really difficult to keep my motivation going at dinner time. I have done well for breakfast and lunch the last 3 days and even managed to squeeze a workout into the last 2 out of 3 days. However, dinner time is a struggle.

It is very hit and miss whether or not Nathan will be home for dinner, so I have a hard time planning ahead of time what to have. Usually by that point in the day I am getting tired anyway and would normally grab another pop with caffeine to keep me going until bedtime. I am trying really hard to resist the temptation of another pop. First, the caffeine really isn't good for me, and second, the pop definitely isn't good for me or my weight loss goals. So I'm tired, sometimes cranky, and sometimes still alone with the baby. I want something fast that doesn't take lots of prep time if Nathan isn't home to help. The answer to that is usually something that is not all that healthy.

I need some inspiration. What do you do for dinner? Anyone have any suggestions for keeping motivation going at dinner time?

Fit by Labor Day

So I blogged the other day about the Body After Baby Challenge that Samantha over at MamaNotes is hosting. Well, today is the first day. Head on over to her blog and check out everyone's "before" pictures. We are all gonna knock your socks off in 8 weeks when you see the "after" pictures. I am excited to get started.

My goals for these 8 weeks are:

1. Lose 8 pounds (about a pound a week). I am starting out at 129 pounds. Hopefully, down to 121 when we are done and back into a few of my old pants.

2. Get rid of my "mom" arms. Tone up my flabby arms.

3. Start eating healthier so that I set a better example for my daughter.

4. Feel better about myself physically and embrace the changes in my body.

My dreaded "before" pictures:

My plan is to eat healthier. We are bad at eating out too much, which is bad for our health and bad for our wallets. I am going to make an effort to be better at planning out meals for the week, so we don't get sucked into eating fast food so often. I also plan to work out at least 3x a week and get out and go on more walks.

Wish me luck! And good luck to all the other mamas out there participating too!

Body After Baby Challenge

Samantha over at MamaNotes is hosting a Body After Baby Challenge to be "Fit by Labor Day". It will last 8 weeks and start on Monday July 13th. Basically it is a way to meet other moms going through the same thing, get accountability and support, and reach your goals.

This is not normally the sort of thing that would catch my attention. However, after seeing her post on Twitter about it numerous times I began to think seriously about it. I have not been exactly pleased with the image in the mirror since Fiona made her grand entrance into the world. It has been 7 months since then and I honestly thought things would go back to "normal" afterwards, but that has not been the case. It isn't horrible and I have worked hard to lose most of the baby weight, but things aren't the same and I am fighting a losing battle to keep off the weight I have lost.

What better way to keep myself motivated about being in better shape than to blog about it. It is easy to cheat and skip a workout because I'm tired or the baby is cranky or to eat unhealthy options because I don't feel like cooking. If I blog about it than there is some accountability. Oh, and of course there is a before and after picture involved. Eeeek!!

So I am going to be brave and do it. My goals are:

-to lose about 8 lbs (that is about pound a week)

-get some definition in my arms (because I just saw a picture of me from the 4th and they are a lot flabbier than I remember them being)

-start eating healthier (I really need to work on this one because I will soon be setting an example for Fiona)

-feel better about myself physically (this is the big one, I just want to feel a little more comfortable in my skin, stretch marks and all)

Now I just have to get brave enough to take the before pictures and send them to her. You can do it too! Head on over to her blog and check it out for yourself.