Postpartum pep talk!

[tchersue]

LOL -- I'm writing to get moral support... and hopefully some of you will relate to where I am right now, too! Sometimes I'm better at giving advice than taking my own!

Robby is 3 mos. now and sooo much fun... smiling, cooing and squealing... and he's even cute when he does that thing where they are nursing and looking around the room at the same time (streeeeeetch -- yowch!) or he'll stop nursing and flash me the cutest smiles (thus sending milk squirting across the room... gross but funny LOL).

Anyway, aside from my love affair with Robby, I'm at a point where I'm ready to get seriously serious with my body... I've had no trouble getting off the 38 pregnancy pounds (I owe that to working out religiously throughout the pregnancy)... but I'd put on a bunch of weight the winter before I got pregnant, and I'm totally impatient with that right now.

I'm 5'10" and have at least a size (20 lbs.) to lose. If I could, I'd rather it be 30 lbs... but I'd rather be fit and at a weight I can "hold" than be super skinny.

This week I sat out Monday due to a sinus infection, taught a stroller exercise class on Tuesday, swam for 35 minutes on Wednesday, did 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer & weights on Thursday, and did an hour 15 minute class of step aerobics and stability ball exercises today... but I'm at a total plateau for now.

The angel on my right shoulder says that I should be at a plateau because I've lost a ton of weight in a short time (and with little effort... and honestly, I'm eating a ton right now with nursing and working out, too). The devil on my left is doing the usual negative self-talk telling me that I'm eating too much and that I could be upping my intensity. Since I'm in a room full of women who like to workout, I assume that most of you go through this same thing!!

Okay... so give me a pep talk!!! I need one badly!
Susan

 

[Sheila]

Susan,

Since I can't be there in person this time, I guess I will have to give this peptalk from cyberspace. I totally agree with that "angel on your shoulder." Look at the amount of exercise that you did this week. Do your realize that most women out there (of course none on this forum!) with a three month old and another toddler running around do not even think about exercise at this point, or maybe not even at all for that matter? Fortunately, you and the other women on this forum. are "an exception to the rule." I think you should be patting yourself on the back for what you did accomplish this week. You and I both know that our experiences with postpartum women have shown us that sometimes they reach a plateau with their weight loss. I know this will pass for you. I have seen you "melt away" with my own eyes after Aaron was born. You will do it again! I remember feeling the same way that you do now after I delivered Austin. Here I was teaching 5 classes a week plus working out on my own and I hit a dreaded plateau. I stayed there almost 3 weeks before the weight started coming off again. I kicked myself all over the place those 3 weeks. I too thought that I was eating too much, but when I tried to cut down on the food and up my exercise I had no energy to run after my 27 month old daughter, nurse Austin and teach. After I took a hard look at myself I realized that I was definitely not "practicing what I had been preaching" so vehemently for so long. We women are so much harder on ourselves than we should be. Talk to yourself as you would one of your moms.

I'm pulling for you girl. I miss you terribly! Wish I could be there so we could team teach that stroller class like the old days! Here's a big hug for you and those adorable boys.

Love, Sheila

aka Sheila Watkins, MLSci.
Founder and National PRogram Director
Healthy Moms(R) Fitness

 

[tchersue]

I can always count on you

See guys... this is why Sheila is such an incredible prenatal/postpartum instructor (and you should know that she was there to give me this peptalk after Aaron, too... LOL).

You are right (of course... you always are)... but I want to melt away NOW! LOL... isn't that just bratty and awful?? Honestly, it was so much fun exercising with you back in Carolina... I really miss the camaraderie of the other Healthy Moms participants and instructors... and the stroller crew. This is why I so much wanted to get this type of program going here... it was so uplifting... and it definitely showed me how important exercising for health (mental and physical) is for pregnancy and motherhood.

My classes are much smaller here in small-town Maine. My OB told me that she's found it hard to convince most of her pregnant patients that they should exercise. We have loooong winters. I'm sure that is part of the reason that Maine boasts the highest per-capita of obese women in the nation... well, that and the clam chowda'! You either embrace the winter weather and get out in it, or you sit at home, bake a lot, and eat comfort food in front of the fire. (Hey Cathe... this sounds like an excellent market for fitness videos!! :0) )

I think I've just had a bad week... we had a couple of 88-90 degrees days where no one showed to two of my classes (everyone said it was just too hot). Here in Maine anything over 85 feels like it's broiling... but I can't help but remember some of the days when there was a nice big group of women in NC exercising in 90+ degree weather. We slathered SPF 15 or sunblock on ourselves and the babies, drank oodles of Gatorade (Sheila required it), stripped the babies down to diapers and put them on white towels or cloth diapers, wore hats, and spritzed ourselves with water from a spray bottle, and took it down half a notch... it always felt like a team effort and the whole thing was so supportive.

Also, I think it's irritating me that, in spite of feeling really strong these days, the step class I took the other day pretty much kicked my butt. I hadn't done any step since I was 6 mos. pregnant, but I (wrongly) assumed that it'd be no big deal since I'd exercised through my pregnancy and I've been "back on the wagon" with other forms of exercise... I did the whole class -- even the power moves, but I felt HEAVY the whole time, like I could barely get myself up and over that stupid step... and then today my calves are sore, and that makes me feel like I'm just out of shape! Although, I have to say that I'm a teeny bit proud of myself for not being more sore from the squats ~~ the instructor had us doing squats off of the step in quarter turns... 4 sets of 8 on each side (64 squats),then 4 sets of 4 in each direction (32 squats), and then 4 sets of 2 in each direction (16 squats)... yowza... isn't that 112 squats?

Ah well... you are so right, Sheila... and maybe I should look at it this way... I'm probably building more muscle with these workouts right now because of those 20 lbs. (new meaning to "weight plate" LOL), so I'll be so darned strong and sexy when I get them off that I won't be able to stand myself. (LOL... please know that I'm cracking myself up while I'm typing this!)

Thanks all of you for listening... sometimes you've just got to vent, huh? And I promise to spend time writing when I'm having better days, too... and thank you, Sheila, for telling me the things I SHOULD be telling myself!

Susan

 

[DebbieH]

RE: I can always count on you

Wow, how fun those classes sound Sheila and Sue! There was no such thing back 24 & 29 years ago when I gave birth. We've come a looong way, BABY!!! (Pun intended!)

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH http://www.plaudersmilies.de/wavey.gif If You Get The Choice To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!!

 

[Tammyspq]

You Rock!

Susan, keep on keepin' on! Sounds like you are just what the doctor ordered for small town Maine. Don't let'em drag you down! You just rock! I can't believe all you do but once those other mommies see how much better off you are physically, they're gonna what "in" on the secret.

You have inspired me to keep to my plans for getting certified by Sheila and getting the Healthy Moms fitness started in two of the clubs I teach at. Gonna talk with people this week!

Remember to give yourself a break when you need it (I say that as much for you as for myself as I sense we are kindred spirits - I still had a little holiday weight on myself when I got preggers

Keep us posted as to your progress and that of those around you!

jeni

 

[tchersue]

It's a great program...

... and Sheila does give good pointers on marketing, too... that's the one thing about teaching a pregnant crowd... for some reason they all seem to keep having their babies and eventually they want to move on to a regular class again! LOL
Susan

 

[mogambo]

RE: It's a great program...

I'm no expert, but it seems like all you do is cardio. Maybe if you did some nice heavy weight work it would not only shake up your body, but add muscle and raise your metabolic rate like we're always told to do. Why not lose a couple of cardio workouts and do MIS or PS for 6-8 weeks?

 

[Cathe Friedrich]

Hi Susan! Haven't been on in a few days and missed your post. I hope you are feeling better today. I too have not lost all of my baby weight. I have been on a plateu for 6 weeks but just yesterday I noticed I finally lost two pounds. I started doing an interval class once a week in place of a traditional cardio workout and introduced heavier weights back into my program. Had to shock the old system into a new routine!

Give it some time. When I nursed I kept the extra needed cushion of weight on too. I don't know how long you intend to nurse but at least you know that the pounds are there for a reason and not because you can't get them off. Give the boys a kiss from me and cyber hugs to you! Take Care! Oh and your little nursing stories I could so relate too (streeeeetch, too cute!)

 

[tchersue]

I could probably do more...

I do a lot of resistance work in my stroller classes and even with my prenatal moms, but I probably could stand to do more with heavier weights!

Good suggestion!
Susan

 

[tchersue]

Thanks, Cathe...

... I actually am feeling a little better... I think I just needed to vent! It helps a lot to be working with other moms and hear their frustrations and successes.

You really do good things with your forums... very positive, and, it's actually inspirational to hear that even you have to work at it... because it means that it CAN be done! You'll be tickled to hear that one of my instructor friends was just commenting that she loved your videos (and, in fact, uses them to jump start her own weight loss when she needs it from time to time!) ... and then she said, "Gosh, Cathe always looks so incredible!"

How're your babies doing?

Susan