After struggling for months trying to lose all (and maybe a smidge more) of the weight I had gained during my two pregnancies, after changing up my exercise routine again and again, and after going back and forth between motivation and frustration, I finally found a workout that could help me reach my ultimate goal: getting back down to the weight I was before having children. Thankfully my (very skinny) sister asked me to do an over the top workout with her that she and her husband were never able to get through.  The workout was beyond insanely difficult.  We … Continue reading →

With weeks and weeks of post partum exercise in the bag, I was feeling pretty good about my progress and continued motivation to get the pregnancy weight off quickly.  I had set goal dates to be back down to my pre pregnancy weight (after my son but before my daughter) and my pre pre pregnancy weight (before both babies).  Even though I was making progress, I was losing weight and my muscles were getting toned,  my goal dates came and went without being met.  Feeling more than a little frustrated, I set new goal dates and switched up my post … Continue reading →

By week two of my exercising excursions, I was ready to try something a little more difficult but still low impact.  I started switching off every other day with a total body toning and strengthening work (because of the stomach down mat work, I was not able to do this workout after week eighteen of my pregnancy).  It was a really hard workout and I was happy to only be doing it every other day! Two weeks into my new post partum workout routine and six weeks post partum, I started feeling a little more tone in my abdominal muscles. … Continue reading →

Now that it has officially  been an entire years since my daughter’s birth, I feel that my post partum period has come to a close.  This twelve month phase of my life has been rather incredible mostly because of the precious gift of my daughter’s life and the joys (and frustrations) of being a mother, but also because I seemed to have accomplished my post partum fitness goals.  I felt that it was fitting to bring my post partum journey to a close by divulging some of my fitness triumphs and defeats. I set out determined to get back into … Continue reading →

Now that I am almost five months post partum (it is crazy how quickly time passes), I am realizing that my post partum journey is hardly over. As this stage of my life progresses and evolves, so must my post partum workout routine. It was at this point after my son’s birth that I finally picked up and stuck with a hard core exercise regiment. Gaging my progress, successful or otherwise, has been a particular challenge for me. In a lot of ways I tend to be extremely hard on myself (perhaps this is the source of my motivation). The … Continue reading →

At twelve weeks post partum I wrote about being stuck in a rut of sorts. While my muscles were getting toned and my clothes were starting to fit again, I was not losing any weight. I made some changes by watching what I was eating more closely and keeping track of my food intake with my food journal. The biggest change has been cutting back on sweets. What I discovered was that I was going way over my breastfeeding caloric needs. I was eating when I was not hungry because whatever it was that I was eating tasted good e.g. … Continue reading →

There is a lot to be said about post partum exercise. Whether the motivation is to lose pregnancy weight, get fit after baby, or to simply get back into the routine (all of these are my motivation to exercise post partum), there are a number of things that you can do to make your post partum workouts a success. First and foremost: mental preparation. You need to get it in your head that you are going to start working out as soon as you are physically able be it four weeks post partum or twelve weeks post partum. Based on … Continue reading →

I am almost in disbelief that it has already been three months since my daughter’s birth. I was thinking, hoping, and mostly dreaming (apparently) that I would be completely back to my normal non pregnant state by now, but I still have a long way to go. My perceptions and expectations are being forced into change, e.g. there is not a lot I can do to make my ribs and hips go back into their narrower place (it takes more time than I anticipated). I am caught in kind of a weird transitional place right now. Most of my clothes … Continue reading →

I have reached another one of the post partum milestones. At twelve weeks post partum I have mixed feeling about my progress in the last six weeks. While change has definitely taken place, other aspects of my post pregnancy fitness seem stuck. Compared to my first post partum experience, I am leaps and bounds ahead the second time around, but in terms of my own self imposed goals, I am way behind. I am continuing to exercise at least five times a week. If I am especially motivated, I will get in a workout or two over the weekend as … Continue reading →

I have never really gotten into cheer leading. I was never a cheerleader and I never had the desire to be one. Cheer leading was something that I rarely ever thought about. My only real experience with cheer leading was with my former high school students. In such a small private high school the cheer leading tryouts were not very competitive. Even though I supported my cheerleaders as their teacher, I did not truly understand or appreciate the value and benefit of their presence until recently. In the last eight weeks I have reentered into the world of altheticism to … Continue reading →