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| 5 months PP. Yep. I braved wearing a bikini. |
During my pregnancy, I gained 35 pounds. Some of that was baby, some was fluid, some was the placenta and some was just, well, extra weight. I’ll be honest. After I delivered my daughter, I didn’t step on a scale. During those first 6 weeks postpartem, I really didn’t want to burden myself with weight loss. After 40 weeks of pregnancy, labor and delivery, my body needed some time to recover. I focused on my new little bundle of joy, eating healthy, getting rest, recovering and getting into some kind of flexible routine.
For me, being holed up in the hospital for 3 days without any fresh air drove me crazy. So the day I was released, I set out to take a nice, SLOW walk. Yes, it was slightly painful but I was surprised at how fast my body was healing. The fresh air and sunlight was food for my soul. I made sure that I got outside to take a walk everyday. My daughter was born in May so the weather was beautiful. I continued to do walks of about 1-2 miles everyday and at about 2 weeks postpartem I started strapping my daughter in the Baby Bjorne and toting her along with me. I love those memories of us going for early morning walks in the park. She would usually fall asleep in the baby carrier and it was heaven to have her so close to me. Plus, I got to show her off!
At 4 weeks postpartem I continues to do my daily walks, but then stepped it up a bit. I had a DVD of a light cardio/strength workout so I began to do that twice a week. In the beginning, I skipped any exercise that I felt was too strenuous or too uncomfortable. For example, I usually skipped any section that had a bouncy exercise like jumping jacks. You just have to feel it out for yourself and see what you are comfortable with.
I chose to breastfeed and, for me, the weight just melted off. As it turns out, this milk making business is a huge calorie burner. Nursing burns about 500-700 calories per day. Plus, when you breastfeed, your body releases a hormone that helps your uterus contract back to it’s normal size. Although there were many other reasons I chose to nurse, both of these facts were great selling points for me.
By the time I was 6 weeks postpartem, I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight, but my muscle tone was lousy. I had my 6-week postpartem check-up and my doctor gave me the all clear to exercise to my heart’s content. I did try to run a bit and, clearly by the way I felt, that wasn’t going to happen for a while. To say the least, running did not feel good at all. I decided to embark in the P90X 13-week training program. I was still nursing and I wanted to do an exercise program where a) I could do from home, and b) I didn’t want to be anywhere at a specific time. It was just so much easier to work out from home and pick the time I wanted to exercise rather than be at a class at a certain place and time. As far as my diet was concerned, I just made sure that I ate healthy and ate whenever I was hungry. I was nursing AND doing P90X so I was burning a lot of calories. Counting calories was not something I needed to do. I also drank A LOT of water.
At 19 weeks postpartem, I finished the 13-week P90X program. My body was toned, sculpted and I maintained my pre-pregnancy weight. I also continued to nurse throughout the entire program. There are myths out there that say you shouldn’t exercise while you are nursing because it may reduce milk productivity. I didn’t find this to be true. If you eat nutritious meals, drink a lot of water and maintain a relaxed attitude, your milk supply will not decrease.
Enjoy your workouts, ladies. And most of all, enjoy your beautiful babies!!!
xx-
K
