Start Somewhere: Whole30 Update and Workout Love

I feel like a lot of my struggles lately (and by lately I mean my whole entire life) have centered around food. Eating too much, eating too much of one thing, allowing bad habits to take over, etc. That being said, a lot of this “Start Somewhere” series has been focused on food – what I’m eating, what I’m giving up, and so on.

 

But today I’d like to start off with talking about workouts. Because y’all? I may not be a trainer anymore, but I love a great workout and I’m super happy with what I’ve been doing lately!

 

For starters, when you’re doing postpartum work you should ALWAYS wait and get the OK from your doctor before engaging in anything strenuous or that could potentially damage your body. I feel like this is a given, but I’ve read a lot of stories of women who feel like they know their bodies best and engage in activity before the standard 6-week time. I’m certainly not saying that a doctor you see occasionally knows your body better necessarily, but in my opinion and experience it’s worth waiting anyway. Having a new baby is hard enough – the sleeplessness, the crying, the diapers, the visitors, the breastfeeding – all of it can humble a woman in a hot second. Giving yourself some grace on the workout front is OK – rest when you can, trust your body, trust your doctor.

Since this time around I had a VBAC I was incredibly careful about not starting anything strenuous too early. There are a lot of complications that can come about after a VBAC without the added stress of exercise, so taking it slow was important to me. Other than caring for my boys I really didn’t do anything for at least 3-4 weeks. When I finally started to feel a little stronger I started laying on the floor and doing pelvic floor exercise – mainly just kegels and then doing some Pilates pelvic tucks. The end.

 

After I did my 6-week postpartum visit and got the OK from my doctor I decided to start doing some Barre3 workouts. They are really great workouts that combine barre, yoga, and pilates movements, which I loved to start building up that core strength again. I did these for a month or so before I started craving something a little more cardiovascular with more weight training.

 

Before I got pregnant with I ran across some videos online by Fitness Blender, and while I enjoyed them they weren’t something I continued doing through my pregnancy. Heck, I hardly did anything besides chase my 3-year-old around! Somehow I ran across them again when I started looking for quicker and more effective workouts that I could do during naptimes, and I’m so very glad I did.

Fitness Blender is a husband and wife team who make really great workout videos, and y’all? THEY’RE TOTALLY FREE. How great is that?! They require minimal equipment and can be done almost anywhere. I’ve been doing the 8 Week Fat Loss For Busy People program and have been loving it so far. A quick disclaimer: this program costs $10, but all of the workouts are spelled out for you. You don’t have to design the plan yourself or wonder which video to do, and when I have only 30 minutes to workout every second counts. Plus you can use it over and over again, so if I want to do the program again in 3 months then I don’t have to pay for it again. SOLID.

 

I feel stronger, healthier, and have made more progress in 30 minutes a day than I ever did with killing myself for hours with other workouts. I’m not getting anything to say this, but I love when I find something great and can share it with y’all!

 

Now on to food. Man. Whole30 is going well in that Nate and I are sticking to it, but the first week has been a hard adjustment. There are so many off-limits foods, and reading those ingredients labels is KEY! Hard to do when I’m toting two kiddos through the store, but we’re doing it.

A couple things:

1. I’m thinking about adding a small bowl of oatmeal with bananas into my breakfast because I’m terrified of my milk supply dropping. This challenge has never been about losing weight, but rather about kicking a bad sugar habit. I’m not about to lose my milk over it, and want to take precautions!
2. Whole30 is E X P E N S I V E. More than anything it’s angering to see how expensive good fresh food is in comparison to the junk that we don’t need. It really shouldn’t cost twice as much to eat better, right?
3. Friday was super stressful (4-month checkup with shots = NO SLEEP) and after the boys went to sleep I had the biggest craving for something chocolate. I slathered a piece of almond flour bread with almond butter and shaved some 100% chocolate on top. NOT THE SAME as a brownie.
4. Let’s talk long-term. No, this is not a lifestyle that I foresee our family continuing for a long time. While I certainly want to limit our intake of simple carbs and added sugars, we will be eating a more Mediterranean-style diet for our long-term health.
5. I’ve never been more thankful for Pinterest. I’m so glad that Pinterest is there to save me from a hell of the same grilled chicken and salad for an entire month!
6. I’m actually enjoying coffee black! Yay 🙂 Although sometimes I’ll add some coconut milk (like in the photo above).

I don’t have a menu for this week yet, but rest assured it’ll all be Whole30 compliant!

 

SO tell me: what’s your favorite workout to do? What’s your workout jam? I’m all ears!