Friday, August 24, 2012

42 Days to Fit

It is almost 7 weeks since Reed was born and Brandy is starting a challenge over on The Marathon Mom and I am trying to join in. I did the fitness test and the first circuit today. Sadly, my heart rate was up just from the fitness test. I nearly cried during the core strength part of the test and the workout. Let's just say that there is A LOT of room for improvement!!!


Before 42 Days to Fit

What I ate: 
  • granola w/almond milk, rip's big bowl, muffins or pancakes, eggs
  • small snack and some sort of chocolate
  • peanut butter and jelly or honey for lunch with fruit 
  • a couple of pieces of chocolate or a small handful of m&ms
  • meat and some sort of veggies but a lot more carbs
  • chocolate
How I exercised:
  • carrying baby and toddler around
  • going up and down the stairs in our house doing chores
  • chores
  • minimal walking since Reed was born
  • basic household movement (cooking, cleaning, caring for children)
How I felt:
  • sad 
  • shaky from major blood sugar drops
  • I'd rather just sit
  • weak abs
  • out of breath easily
  • low energy towards the end of the day
  • floppy, not in control of my muscles
How I looked:
  • poor posture from poor muscle tone in back and stomach
  • big hips, legs, and tummy
  • flabby
What I weighed:
  • 15 to 20 pounds over my ideal weight
How I measured:
  • shockingly
  • waist and thighs were a big wake-up call
  • most of my shirts are more snug than I am comfortable with
  • can only wear a couple of pairs of maternity shorts and my "big girl" pants fit in the morning and are terribly uncomfortable by the afternoon

How do I know I will succeed?

To be honest, I don't. I am tired of looking this way and wishing I were strong again. It is time to work on making my body strong for the tasks at hand.

The Bottom Line

My boys need me to be strong and energized to keep up with them. My little lady needs an example of a woman who fears the Lord that she will want to be like. My husband works hard to look good for me and I want to look good for him!

You can join in too! So far I have not had chocolate since Sunday night. This is the longest stretch ever!! I have gone back and forth over doing the workouts now or waiting until nursing is a bit more established. The truth is, if I don't start now, I may never start. So, now is the perfect time. I did the fitness test and week 1 workout today. I plan to do the week 1 workout again on Sunday and go for a good walk, possibly a jog, this afternoon. I did go for a good walk one other day this week. I have never been more out of shape than now, and I am concerned about how long it could take me to be strong again. Do my muscles remember what it is like to be strong or is it just an image in my brain? We will see!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there, Robin! Looks like you're off to a great start on your 42 Days to Fit! It's great that you're focusing on more on measurements than weight--I think people forget that you can be skinnyfat, which isn't much better than regular fat. :P

I'm a little concerned that you say this is the longest you've been without chocolate! That's not even a week. One of the most common barriers to permanent weight loss is not dealing with the mental part of living a healthier lifestyle--that is, not resolving bad habits like stress/emotional eating, eating out of boredom, etc. Take a look at this video: http://bit.ly/NLjYqT In it, the human needs that drive us to these bad behaviors are discussed and what we can do to fix the.

Best of luck, and here's hoping your muscle memory of real strength returns. :)

Emily said...

Hey Robin! This is EXCITING! Don't let how long it takes get in the way..it took me 4 months to lose 13 pounds. First, it's harder when you don't have a ton of weight to lose, and second - at least for me - I was not super willing to compromise on what I ate. I get grumpy if I can't have some McDonald's fries every now and then and I didn't want to feel deprived because then I get all resentful and give up! I stuck to strictly writing my food down using My Fitness Pal (dot com) and I started going to the gym 6 days a week. I worked everything else around gym time and made it a priority. 3 hours per week of cardio and 3 hours of strength training. I've never loved working out but I found some things I enjoyed and found that I never loathed going to the gym. I put my work out clothes on every morning with the intention of going. No excuses! Funny thing happened, the pounds and inches fell off and I was even more motivated! I naturally got away from eating terribly - I think it was a combination of knowing how hard/long I had to work to burn off those two oreos or that cheeseburger along with my tastes for those things just changing. I'm sure the increase in water consumption helped too...I bought myself a pretty green (my fav color) water bottle and make myself chug 2 per day (64 oz). All this to tell you what ended up working for me was taking the pressure off myself. I was more like, these are the things I'm going to do to be healthier and stronger and then the results came! Good luck to you...make it FUN! :)

Leslie said...

I'm going to check out her program. I've gotten quite lazy in my fitness since the summer heat came. :) And about the chocolate... I firmly believe that a couple squares of dark chocolate (real quality dark chocolate!!) is not detrimental to physical fitness & is actually good for us! (both as a pick me up & as a mental health benefit)