Momli's post-pregnancy journey - fall challenge 2009
Hi there!
I'm new to JP as a member, a long time lurker though. I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in June and have ever since been postponing the start of my "get in shape after pregnancy" project. Registering here at JP and this challenge coming up almost right away seems like the perfect opportunity for me to get started.
Stats
Age: 30
Height: 160 cm (yup, I'm one of those who prefer kg/cm over feet/lbs. Hope that's okay)
Weight: 58.2 kg
Waist (above bellybutton): 78 cm
Tummy (widest): 85 cm
Butt: 94 cm
Left thigh (10 cm from the groin): 51 cm
Right thigh: 51.5 cm
Left calf: 34 cm
Right calf: 34.5 cm
Left biceps: 27 cm
Right biceps: 27.5 cm
Chest (below boobs): 78.5 cm
Goals
Short term: lose fat (at least 5 kg weight), get back to eating healthy, strengthen back and abs to avoid injuries when lifting and carrying my baby
Long term: get back to the same body comp (around 17-18% bf) I had in summer 2007 (I'll post some pics of this as motivation when I write a post from our other computer where we keep our photos)
Diet
As I'm breastfeeding my daughter, I can't maintain a too large deficit. Therefore, I'll focus on eating healthy, lots of veggies and protein, good carbs and healthy fats in moderation. I'll log my intake during the first week of the challenge (starting tomorrow) to see what baseline I'm on right now (calories/macronutrients) and then decide on a suitable diet plan. I'm guessing I'll need at least 1700-1800 calories in order not to suppress lactation. If weight loss stalls at some point, I'll start carb cycling, which I know my body responds very well to (at least it has in the past).
Workout plan
I'll do NROL workouts 3 times/week (break-in, Fat Loss I, II and III). When I'm through them, I'll hopefully still have time to start either Afterburn II or one of the TT programs. I don't have a gym membership yet - we have a home gym with an elliptical, a TRX, dumbells and a barbell, so I can do quite a lot at home. Nevertheless, I'm planning on joining my old gym at the end of the month.
I love intervals, and will do 20 minutes 2-3 times/week on the elliptical.
I take fast walks with the stroller for at least 40 minutes every day.
I also like running, and do that every now and then.
Potential challenges
12 week baby at home --> good planning needed
I tend to not follow through if I'm not accountable --> JP training log
Evie: I know I could be much worse off, but I'm still far away from my "old me"
Bluefever: Great to hear that there are others in the same situation here as well. I think a challenge is just the thing I needed to get my ass off the couch... not that it has spent much time on it lately, but you know what I mean
Had a look among the challenge threads and spotted your logs there as well. I'll be following your progress
Okay, so I promised to post a couple of pics of where I was in summer 2007, when I took part in a 12-week challenge. Different poses, I know... There's a 5 kg difference between the pics, most of which was fat.
Was pretty happy about my body comp back then, and this is more or less what my long term goal looks like now. Cause it'll take longer than 12 weeks this time.
Two slices of oatbread with omega-3 margarine, low fat (5%) cheese, ham and cucumber
Medium sized apple
Meal 2:
Oatmeal (oats, flax seed) with low fat cottage cheese
Medium sized carrot
Snack: (went to see my cousin and here baby and had a cup of coffee)
Tiny oatcookie (25 calories)
Meal 3:
Apple with low fat cheese
Meal 4:
Chicken salad with low fat feta cheese, avocado and olive oil
Meal 5:
Apple with low fat cheese
Meal 6:
Cottage cheese with something... haven't decided what yet
Activities
NROL, break-in, B. Since I still workout at home, I had to do some substitutions. I did single leg deadlifts instead of regular ones, Bulgarian split squats instead of step-ups and inverted rows instead of the pulldowns.
40 min walk with the stroller
Comments
Haven't done the math on the food yet, but I've weighed everything so I'll post calories and macronutrients later.
I'm soooore! Did the first break-in workout on Monday and since I haven't felt any DOMS for a long time (a year ago maybe) I kind of love the feeling
So, I put yesterday's food into my almighty excel sheet The result?
1750 calories
33% carbs
35% protein
32% fat
Not too bad, I guess. Today's food has been more or less the same as yesterday (except for the cookie ), so I guess today's been a good day as well.
I'll continue tracking for a couple of days, but I think 1700-1800 calories will be a good place to start. I won't be too strict about the calories though. I know I feel extra hungry from breastfeeding now and then, and on such days I'll naturally eat more.
I won't have any refeed days, but instead enjoy small treats once or twice a week. I know that works better for me - when I did do refeed days they usually just turned into an excuse to have a lot of junk for an entire day. And that didn't make my tummy happy.
It actually feels kind of exciting to see how my body responds to the workouts and the "diet" in this new situation.
Was gonna do intervals today, but decided to take a long walk (75 min) with the stroller instead as the weather was absolutely fabuolous. We don't get to enjoy such a sunny and warm day in September here in Finland too often, so I figured I'd better enjoy it when I can.
Tomorrow my daughter and I will go to a "rhythm and music" class for babies. Really looking forward to it!
Was gonna do intervals today, but decided to take a long walk (75 min) with the stroller instead as the weather was absolutely fabuolous. We don't get to enjoy such a sunny and warm day in September here in Finland too often, so I figured I'd better enjoy it when I can.
Tomorrow my daughter and I will go to a "rhythm and music" class for babies. Really looking forward to it!
I too opt for the stroller and a walk. It is still a decent workout. I have a 20lbs stroller, 30lbs daughter and 15lbs baby so I am really pushing alot of weight when I find some inclines.
Great photos from prepregnancy. Its hard for me to look at my before "before" pics, and see how far I have to go.
I too opt for the stroller and a walk. It is still a decent workout. I have a 20lbs stroller, 30lbs daughter and 15lbs baby so I am really pushing alot of weight when I find some inclines.
I hear you on that one. We've got quite a few hills where we live... you can really feel the inclines in your butt and hamstrings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluefever
Great photos from prepregnancy. Its hard for me to look at my before "before" pics, and see how far I have to go.
Thanks. Yeah, I wouldn't mind being in that shape again. But for some reason it isn't hard for me to look at the pre pics. After all, I got something absolutely wonderful instead But the pics are great as butt kickers - they really do show in black and white how much work needs to be done.
Quick update, my hubby and I are going to watch a movie, and we'd better get started soon unless I want to fall asleep half way through it. That has become something of a norm these days
Sunny weather again, so I decided to walk to the "baby music and rhythm" class. All in all, I was pushing the stroller for 2 hours. My daughter decided to eat three times last night, so I've been kind of tired all day. I guess she's in a growth period or something, cause she's only been waking up once to eat earlier... And that was so luxurious, I got to sleep 'til 5am without interruptions, and then we'd go back to bed for at least 3.5 hours more. I hope she'll get back to that routine again soon.
Diet's been good today, loads of veggies and good fats (salmon and nuts). I also had some dark chocolate (81%) with coffee today and boy did it taste good. Mmmmm.
If it's sunny tomorrow morning I'll go for a run. Otherwise, I'll do some intervals on the elliptical.
Just when you think they are in a routine, they switch it up on ya! It's hard to find the energy to exercise when you don't get a full nights sleep. Those days I live on coffee. I have found too that an extra vitamin B complex really helps in the energy department.
Hi all! Thought I already dropped out, huh? No chance! I've just been really busy, and haven't had time to do anything personal online. I guess I forgot to mention in the presentation that I'm finishing my PhD now as well... The final version of the thesis is due on September 29, so I'm really having my hands full at the moment.
Needless to say, it's a bit challenging with a little one...
I've been following my workout plan with many long walks, 1-2 interval sessions and 3 NROL workouts a week. Diet's been quite good, but I have to confess that it could have been better. I should be planning my eating a bit more, but right now that would make me feel absolutely overwhelmed. I've decided to do my best for now, and put in a new gear as soon as I've handed in the thesis.
All the best to all of you fellow challengers out there!
We all get periods of time when we just don't get online much. Glad to hear things are going well though. Thesis first, rest of your life later. Oh, if you want to share - what are you finishing your PhD in?
Momli's post-pregnancy journey - fall challenge 2009
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