I Hate Exercise

So I'm now on day 15 of the 30 day shred... 31 days in. Yeah.

Excuses - In-laws were in town...I needed to do the final pack up of my classroom (basically my home for the last 6 years)...I have a 2 month old...I hate exercise.

Maybe I should clarify the whole "I hate exercise" deal. I guess I can say that I REALLY dislike WORKOUTS. I actually really enjoy running, hiking, biking, swimming, playing sports, etc. I'd rather be active than to have to sweat to death 25+ minutes a day and then ache the rest of the day. Right now, I'm doing this because I'm determined to get back my pre-pregnancy body... Well close anyways, I don't think it's possible to go ALL the way back. :-) I figure I can go back to normal living after I have achieved that.

Doug and I aren't super healthy eaters, but we are good at portion control and we only eat out maybe once a month. I cook dinner every night and we use the leftovers for lunch the next day. We never have junk food or really any type of convenience food in the house (mostly because we're too cheap to buy it). My goals right now with food are variety and vegetables. I prepare about 10-12 different meals and rotate through them, so I'm looking for new things. I also only prepare a vegetable with dinner like 1% of the time. So yeah, I definitely need to work on that!

I've been thinking a lot about exercise and healthy living and how I want to raise Leah to view these things. I don't want her to be worrying about going on a diet or exercising until she really is an adult. I see a lot of YOUNG girls that really obsess over body image and I think it's an awful way to live! I just want to encourage Leah to have a healthy lifestyle. I want her to be healthy and confident. I'd like her to be involved in some type of active sport (dance, soccer, karate, swim lessons, ...whatever she enjoys). I have some time to work on my meal preparation, so hopefully I'll have vegetables down. :-)

There's a family (mom, dad, 3 year old, and 5 year old) in my neighborhood that goes on bike rides together just about every evening. I really like that! It's healthy AND good family time. Doug and I have started to go on walks with Leah most evenings, so I guess that's a start. 

Oh and I WILL finish this 30 day shred... It just might be in 60 days.

And I end here with some recent pictures for those of you not on Facebook!

First 10 Days of 30 Day Shred

My inlaws are in DC on this HOT day and I am home with Leah. I decided to get my exercise in, but Leah woke up the second I was in my work out clothes and pushed play. I decided I would just preview the second 10 day portion of the 30 Day Shred while I bounced Leah and walked around the first floor. Leah fell asleep about 5 minutes in and now I'm sitting on the couch eating a cookie while I preview and blog. I'm in trouble!

Up until this point, I had been doing great! By Day 5 or 6, I had started feeling like I was actually doing the exercises right. I was doing the more "advanced" version of all the exercises except the push ups... I can only do the modified version.

On Sunday (Day 5), I was getting out of the car and my left knee felt kind of out of place and hurt and I had to have Doug carry Leah into the house. I had already done my work out earlier that morning, so I didn't miss a day. By Day 8, my left knee started bothering me during the exercises so I just made sure not to push it too hard.

On Day 9, my grandma arrived in town and the first thing she said when she saw me was about how quickly I had lost the baby weight. (I'm still about 3 pounds above pre-pregnancy weight and none of my pants fit me, but it was a nice compliment.)

I finished Day 10 yesterday and I felt strong and optimistic. I felt like I could have done the whole work out again back-to-back.

Back to my current reality... My knee is hurting even watching this! A lot of the exercises are pretty high impact. I'm going to do it because I don't give up, but I will probably only be able to do the modified versions.

Tomorrow is Leah's baby blessing and I have a lot of family in town so exercise (besides the mile plus that I walk each night with Leah) will have to wait until my house is empty again.

On a more positive note, I ordered two maxi dresses online from Target and they are supposed to arrive today!  They should both work well long term with breastfeeding.  I'm hoping one of them fits, so I can have something that isn't skin tight to wear to Leah's blessing.

Update: Leah was napping a little longer than usual, so I went ahead and did level 2. The good news is that I didn't die and my knees are still intact. (I even did 1 "advanced" move!) I'm feeling good. I think I can do this!

30 Day Shred

So I was on babycenter (at around 3 in the morning) reading different posts from women in my birth club (moms of April 2013 babies) and several women in the group were talking about doing the "30 Day Shred." I googled it and saw lots of before and after shots. I read both the positive and negative reviews on Amazon and decided to go for it. I'm not necessarily doing this for weight loss, but for inches off.  My body has changed the way it distributes weight and I'm having difficulty fitting back into my pre-pregnancy clothes comfortably. I hate tight clothes! Leah is 6 weeks old and I've had doctor clearance to start working out (again?). I'm ready!

Why am I choosing this over the gazillion other exercise routines? Well, it's supposed to get you quick results and it only lasts 30 days. I like that it has an exact beginning and end dates and that the whole routine only takes 30 minutes. I can do it during Leah's morning nap and it gives me a little routine to my day. It's something that I can realistically stick to.

I decided to take some before shots and boy did they mess with my self esteem! My belly and butt are NOT looking good. I felt embarrassed when I looked back at the picture. I guess I had been feeling "thin" since I didn't have a huge pregnant belly anymore, but the pictures (especially the side view) were sobering. I'm not sharing the pictures on my blog unless I have some pretty awesome after results, but I guess I'll share my measurements.

Arms - 11 in

Waist - 33 in

Belly - 38 in

Butt - 43 in

Thighs - 24 in

Right now, I'm within 5 pounds of pre-baby and 15 pounds of where I guess I'd ideally like to be. I've never really been stuck on getting into a size 2 or anything. I'm very happy with my regular size 8-10 body. Also, I've never really been one for dieting. I like to eat and I'd rather work it off than starve myself or eat... healthy... ugh.  Maybe I will just need to change that and develop a taste for foods rather than Ramen and grilled cheese sandwiches... But I'm not giving that up just yet!

I started the workout yesterday and it was killer! I wanted to give up like 5 minutes in. I stuck it out and I did the second day today. I've realized that I could/should NEVER do any exercise in public or around people. My form is horrid and I am completely uncoordinated.  I'm trying hard to do the exercises exactly the way she is showing them. I don't want to get injured and have to quit before the end.

So, here goes nothing! I probably won't be done in exactly 30 days because my in-laws will be staying with us for around a week for Leah's blessing. I will have company in the house that I will NOT want to see me looking ridiculous while I exercise.