How I'm doing eight months out

Amelia is almost eight months old, which means I am eight months postpartum. It's about time I do a little update on myself.

In July, I started my membership at the Family Wellness Center. The main reason I went there is because they have childcare available almost all of the time. I pay a hefty amount for it, but it's so very valuable. Three to four times a week, I bring all three girls there and then work out for up to an hour and a half. I cannot tell you how amazing this has been for me both mentally and physically. I also go most weekends if we are in town, but they often stay home with hubby if it's possible.

Why a gym membership, and an expensive one to boot? We have chosen to keep the girls home instead of sending them to preschool (another post for another time) so I spend a lot of time with them. Like, basically, all of the time.  Mostly that's fabulous since I choose to do that and I really can't or shouldn't be complaining about it. There's just a need at times for some seperation. I also have a need to just be healthy for myself and for them.

I tried. I tried really hard to work out at home. One of the rooms in our basement is set up like a mini gym and everything. The problem wasn't the equipment, though, it was the time. With Amelia sleeping irregularly since forever, I couldn't count on doing it at naptime. Every single time I tried, she woke up and needed me. Then, the big girls stopped napping in the afternoon. That left either mornings before they got up or evenings after they went to bed. (I tried to work out with them awake and that was laughable at best and insanely frustrating at worst. Just no.)

I was committed to the morning workout idea because I just love the idea of it, but Amelia was nowhere near the point of being predictable. If anything the only predictable thing was that she would wake up when I had planned on getting up and heading downstairs. So that just didn't work. Plus, she was waking up 4-6 times a night so I really did need the sleep. That took out the late night working out too, because re: sleep needed.

So, I got the membership, and now we go either late morning or late afternoon. There has been some adjustment with meal prep and other kinds of outings, but overall it's great. The girls are thrilled to go and the steady socialization has been just what Amelia needs since she is so clingy to me almost all of the time. 

I have found that I need a super intense workout for me to feel accomplished. It clears my head and leaves me with a good tired feeling. I go from being snappy and short tempered to being calm and annoyingly happy. This is good for my time with the girls and let's face it, everyone else, too.

As for food, I was counting my macros and using myfitnesspal.com. It was going well but it's a lot of work. I lost all but about 5 lbs that way (very slowly, but I was okay with that) and then I sort of stalled. I wasn't following it closely enough for it to truly work and I knew it. I was struggling because I just wasn't hungry enough to eat as much as it said I should eat. Weird problem, right? But I decided to listen to my body for a while and just eat when I was feeling hungry. The last five lbs came right off when I did that.

Since then, I've been slipping back into old habits and eating mindlessly, so I'll probably go back to counting macros or at least staying within the calorie limit. I know my weight hasn't gone up a lot, but it's fluctuating a little higher than I want. 

As for how I look and feel, I think it's going pretty great! I'm back to my prebaby weight and size, fitting into my smallest jeans and most tops. My body shape is still different with my tummy being thicker than before, but I can tell that I'm overall tighter and more toned from lifting weights. It's kind of crazy. My weight isn't really lower, but becasue my muscles are more toned I can fit easily into  clothes that were super tight when I wore them before I was pregnant. 

Being back to this point has been rewarding enough for me to stall right now. I was just so happy to have options again and feel like I have some sort of style. Ultimately, my goal is to lose another 20 lbs and reevaluate at that point. I will continue to run, lift weights, and go to a bunch of different fitness classes since that helps me all around (mind, body, and soul) and will be working on intuitive eating with tracking mixed in to keep my head in the game.

These pictures are posted in chronological order from mid July to last weekend. It's not that noticeable, but I'm still proud of the changes I've made.

And a comparison shot or two:

July to October 2015

All of these pictures show me one thing. I need to find a decent, well lit full length mirror. :)