Pregnancy is over and now the full reality of how out of shape I am has hit me. I understand that for the past 9 months I was making something wonderful and of course that takes a toll on your body, but I am also active duty and only have 5 more weeks before I have to squeeze myself into a flight suit. Six weeks after a normal, vaginal delivery are to be dedicated to resting and caring for yourself and your baby. However, I am not in a position where I can take that much time to rest. I am suppose to return to flying no later than the first of February. So, I must start now to loose weight. My other concern is that I must pass a physical fitness test within 6 months. In order for me to pass, I have to complete a 1.5 mile timed run in approximately 13 minutes. Complete 20+ push-ups in 1 minute, and 30+ sit-ups in one minute, plus pass the BMI and waist measurement. These are the minimums that must be completed to pass the test with a marginal grade. So, for those of you that enjoy exercise and have a program or idea that has worked for you, let me know. I will start walking today. It won't be very far since, I only delivered a week ago and I understand my body has to heal. Still, I need to utilize all the time I have. I need to loose approximately 25 pounds by the beginning of February.
Also, if any of you have any insights as to whether vigorous exercise can harm your ability to breastfeed, please let me know. I am also trying to find information (reliable) on this situation. I'll will be open and honest about my weightloss progress on here so that it will hold me accountable to following through.
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About Me
- Dana
- I'm an outside girl that loves horseback riding, hiking, camping,or anything that involves the great outdoors. I from VA though I currently live in Selfkant-Havert, Germany. I drink excessive amounts of coffee. My imagination often runs away with me usually to an awesome horse farm that is self-sustaining where I teach girls how to mesh being athletic, tough, and leadership quality without loosing that gentle and quiet spirit. According to Suellen from "Gone With the Wind," "You can always tell a lady by her hands." I believe there is some truth to that statement. A lady should be strong and capable of caring for her family, gentle enough to quiet tiny tears, ferocious enough to scare away monsters lurking on the bed, and capable of hosting the next ball. I really love having fun doing things on the adventurous side, and the more dangerous the better. I also enjoy drawing and writing some. I absolutely LOVE Traveling and am drawn magnetically to other countries and adventures!!
I just want to cry reading this.... Only because, I HATE that your job has to be one where these (too short) 6 weeks home you should only have to worry about your precious new bundle of joy...
ReplyDelete*sighs* But that's not your life right now. :(
I wish I had a suggestion, but I don't. I mean, I LOVE Jillian Michaels DVDs because they get you strong, FAST, and without needing anything more than 2 3-lb hand weights. But everyone is different. I have friends who straight-up running works for. My sister Karen loves the Slim in Six DVDs. I am still searching what really works for me.
I do know vigorous exercise did not effect my milk, how my baby nursed, etc. It is hard to find info out there that's not just like what I offered you (one woman's opinion/story). Not a lot of articles with good, solid facts. My way to always know how I was doing was watching my baby to see if she got fussier after I nursed after exercised, or pumping every few days at a regular interval after she'd eaten so I could see my supply.
I do know everything I've read says exercise AND nutrition are key to losing baby weight.
Dana,
ReplyDeleteOhhh, I feel your pain. In some ways I envy you because you HAVE to get into shape. As much as I want to, my only motivation stems from personal desire and of course wanting to be attractive for my husband and active for my kids. So I can let weeks go by with no loss and yet still feel like I'm ok.
But, you've touched on one of my absolute favorite topics. I love exercise, nutrition, and anything related to such. If I had to chose a vocation, I'd become a certified personal fitness trainer! I love it all! I could give you pages and pages of advice, but I'll try to summarize.
1. Make sure your caloric count doesn't drop too low (They don't recommend going more than 20% of what your daily caloric requirements are currently. Remember to calculate in the extra calories needed to breastfeed. I usually need about 1700, but that is lower than average for most women. So, I try not to go lower than 1300 calories a day.) The maximum deficient for women is 1200. If you go lower you actually slow your metabolism down and tell your body to hold on to all the extra fat you have because it thinks you are going into "starvation mode".
2. Your focus should mostly be on burning the fat rather than starving yourself. So, obviously, like you mentioned, exercise is the way to go. Setting realistic goals of about 1 to 2 pounds per week will help insure you don't loose more than fat (muscle, water weight, etc) and don't gain it back.
3. If you really want to get technical, do this. It takes 3500 calories to equal a pound. You need to figure out a way to cut this amount from your diet in a week (500 calories a day). Or, if you are trying to loose 2 lbs you need to cut 7000 calories out (1000 calories a day.) First, figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. Subtract 20%. Use that as your guide for caloric intake. Then, if you want to loose 2 lbs a week subtract 1000 from the amount you are cutting out in calories. If you want to loose 1 lb subtract 500. The remainder should be the amount of calories you need to burn up on a daily basis. Example: I need 1700 calories to maintain my current weight and breastfeed well. 20% of 1700 is 340. I cut 340 calories from my diet leaving me with a caloric intake of 1360 calories on a daily basis. If I subtract 1000 from the calories I am cutting out (340), I have an extra 660 calories I need to burn that day in order to make my goal of loosing 2 lbs a week. Or, I can subtract 500 from 340 and I will only need to burn 160 calories with exercise and I will lose 1 lb in a week.
4. High intensity interval training is THE way to go for a mother of three. You can burn a significant amount of calories in just 20 minutes a day, but what is even more wonderful is that you ramp up your metabolism for hours and possibly days later where you are burning a much higher rate of calories than normally.
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continuation...
ReplyDelete5. I absolutely love the Beach Body workout by Debbie Siebers called Slim in 6. The main problem is that is requires a lot of time. If you've seen my personal blog, I'm struggling with finding the time to get a workout in. In truth, most of the successful exercise programs incorporate a combination of cardio and weight training, usually performed on alternating days.
6. As far as the breastfeeding and exercising go I can only give three pointers:
a. drink a ton of water before during and after working out. Denise could give you a few pointers and she guzzles it!
b. careful of push ups and a lot of weight or stress on your arms and upper body. I tend to get a lot of breast infections because of exercising too strenuously.
c. I've noticed that my breast supply rarely suffers even when my caloric intake is very low and I'm working out rigorously. It's kind of like in pregnancy, your baby will get everything it needs as it grows and you will suffer the deficiencies if there are any. However, I know this isn't the case for everyone. Trying not to have too low of a body fat percentage will help.
7. And one more piece of advice. Know yourself. If you tend to always push yourself over the limit, try to be more in tuned to your body. For me I'm the opposite. I won't always push myself enough. So, when I exercise I know that I can push myself harder and not overdue myself, but if you're a real go getter than you'd better pay close attention to what you're body is saying.
Oh my, I could go on and on with good food choices, facts, figures, body fat percentages, etc, but I will refrain and only give your more advice if you ask for it. Probably you know most of what I've already written anyway. I'm sorry I am so "talkative". I'll stop...really....so much for a "summary"! :)
Good luck and keep us posted. Oh, also - enjoy your baby!!!!!!
Oh Karen, you are so hired. I will be honest, with as much information as I know is out there, eating right and exercising should be easy. For me, its not. I don't care for doing it. I don't go to the gym because I don't know how to use the equipment and I have a hard time knowing if I have done "Enough" to make a difference. Please, I know you are a busy woman, but feel free to into food choices, facts, figures and all the other stuff.
ReplyDeleteDenise: if you read this blog again, your sister said that you had pointers as well, please share!! This is a real concern for me.
I of course want to look good for my husband as well and right now, blah!! I don't even like changing in front of him. I want to get back to a shape that looks human..LOL
Dana,
ReplyDeleteKaren said I had pointers on guzzling water!!! I do drink about 80-100 ounces a day. I pretty much drink one 12-oz glass every other hour I'm up. With nursing, make yourself drink one when you've finished, even if you're not "thirsty". When I've struggled in the past with getting enough, I used to fill up a 1/2 gallon container in the morning with water (that used to be full of apple juice) and know that by the end of the day it should be full.
One thing is, if you feel hungry, MAKE yourself first drink a glass of water. Many people mistake thirst for hunger. And even if you are really hungry, the water helps fill your stomach up first.
I cried 10 days after Elyana when Jonathan saw my whole post-baby-body in full light. It wasn't a pretty sight. I preferred sleeping in things that covered the belly loosely because I just hated how I looked. It takes a while, as you know, for even the uterus to shrink down and the water weight to come off.
I will say, I watch videos online all the time for learning form for new exercises!
More later. I think I'll just make a blog post of what I've learned and am still learning. I'm still trying to get my stomach flat 10 months later....
Sorry for the typos, I'm tired...
ReplyDelete- I meant to say, the 1/2 gallon jug should be empty by the end of the day!
- I also meant I cried 10 days after Elyana was born!
I knew what you meant! Thanks Denise!
ReplyDelete