motivation monday? fitness goals...

Let's talk about this baby weight. Not Cora's, but mine. ;) I am currently 7 weeks postpartum and ready to start thinking about bidding this extra 20lbs farewell. FOREVER. I guess you could say I've taken the first step by cleaning up my diet and going for walks around the neighborhood. But so far, the weight really isn't budging. That's fine, as I am only 7 weeks post beautiful, perfect baby and my body is still adjusting to not growing a human. Truly so amazing. 9 months on, 9 months off is what they say, right? Even though I am exclusively breastfeeding, the weight does not just melt off for me. As a matter of fact, I tend to hold on to a few extra pounds while breastfeeding, or at least that's my experience with Christian. All good if that's what my body needs to nourish Cora.

However I am using this Monday to set some small fitness goals since I have gotten the all clear to exercise again. I plan to start slowly, like detailed below and then my long term goal is to rejoin Kaia for their Winter BRIK session at the end of this year/start of next year.

Small fitness goal #1 - Hit 10,000 steps everyday using my trusty fitbit to track. 
(Not really) Funny story. I stopped wearing my fitbit when I learned I needed a cerclage when I was about 16 weeks pregnant. It got packed away in the move, and when I finally found it a few weeks ago, it didn't work. I couldn't get it to stay turned on despite charging it. I emailed fitbit and they made sure to point out that it had been inactive for the past 8 months or so. Yeah, thanks. Anyway, they sent me a brand new one so I am back in business!

Small fitness goal #2 - Work on closing my diastasis recti AKA ab separation.
Many women may not know this, or maybe you do, but when you're pregnant your abdominal wall separates as that beautiful baby grows. It's a huge contributing factor to what causes that "mom pooch." If it doesn't heal, it is impossible to get rid of despite how many sit-ups and planks you do because sit-ups and planks actually only make it worse. Sad, but true. I'm going to use the Tupler Technique to work on healing it before I even attempt abdominal work. You can easily measure your gap.

Small fitness goal #3 - Join Stroller Strides.
Today was supposed to be my first day back. Well, "back" to a new location since I've moved across island. But it didn't happen today simply because I'M TIRED. I didn't feel the need to push myself and rush out of the house this morning.

Small fitness goal #4 - Attempt one 30-45 minute walk around the neighborhood (with stroller) a day. 
I say attempt because sometimes it gets cut a little short depending on one certain baby's mood. But let's talk about the Double BOB. That stroller is a beast, and it is by far my favorite baby purchase (along with my Solly Baby Wrap). I know people balk at the price, but it was no question the ONE item I had to have, and is worth every single last penny. In my general attempt to be thrifty, I actually got a great deal on a brand new one on Amazon using my baby registry completely discount of 15% + a BOB promotion of $50 off. AND THEY SHIPPED IT TO HAWAII. #amazing #unicorns. The stroller by itself weighs 35lbs. Load it up with a 40lbs of Christian, 10lbs Cora, and Cora's carseat, my walk around the neighborhood just got kicked up a notch. Especially on the hills.

Small fitness goal #5 - Embrace the journey.
Remind myself to love my body and give thanks for the miracle it just performed.

Exactly one year ago...

Because Kaia. 

I hope to be back at that level again one day. Mostly because of how it made me feel. I felt strong, I had tons of energy, and it gave me confidence that I never had before. 

Here's to embracing the journey back to health and fitness! Cheers! *raises bottle of kombucha* 

kaia: week 5 + detox week + blue tree juice cleanse

Plus plus plus plus.

I really just want to touch on this coming week in case you're (probably not) interested. Today was the beginning of week 5 (of 6 sniff sniff) of this BRIK at Kaia. And also our last detox week and also "hell week." I have mentioned before that detox week just means removing processed food, sugar, alcohol, dairy, probably some other stuff, which is how I've been eating 99% of the time since late April. I had a glass of wine on our anniversary and licked cake frosting off my finger some other time last month.

"Hell week" means exactly what it's called. We worked our booties off today and then had homework. Tonight's homework was 100 pushups. Currently at 90! Woot! Also, my quads were burning today. BURNING.

So let's talk about this juice cleanse. Not so bad really. I haven't really been hungry today. I have most definitely wanted to eat and chew food, and I think I confused that with hunger at first. It helped that it was a busy day. I zoomed home from Kaia to shower up and get Christian from mimi and papa's to be in Kailua by 8:15am for vacation bible school, which I'm helping out with this week. I was there until about 12:30 and was able to drink one juice and one smoothie. The smoothie was the Almond Dream (cherries, almond milk, almond butter, maca, cinnamon) and dream it was. I licked the last bits right on out of the jar. More please more!

Today's juices and smoothies in no particular order.

I've also had a decent amount of energy today. After we got home from VBS and Christian went down for a nap, I also took a power nap. We then headed back out to run a few errands and then to the park where Christian insists I chase him. And chase him. And chase him some more. 

One thing that I love about this cleanse, and that makes it my favorite thus far (talk to me on day 3), is the kind people at Blue True included a sheet that tells me exactly when and what to drink at what time. I like mindless things. The two smoothies were by far my favorite. But we rounded out the night with some fermented feet juice. Oh, I mean fermented tea with chia seeds. The first few sips were terrible, honestly made me shudder (I am not a huge kombucha fan... I know, I know... it's an acquired taste) but the rest was... manageable. 

Tomorrow will probably be an exact repeat of today, and since 4am comes early... goodnight! 

resolutions

I've never been one to make new year's resolutions. It's not that I don't have goals, because I do, I just feel like I'm setting myself up for failure if I make them "for new years." But this year, I do have a few things I'd like to get back to since most of 2011 was spent pregnant.

1. Lose the baby weight! I gained way more than the "recommended" amount of weight while I was pregnant. My official excuse is: before pregnancy, I was so cautious about what I ate, counting calories and working out regularly, and I basically felt like pregnancy gave me a free pass to eat what I wanted. Because I can't deprive the child, right?! And deprived he was not because I topped off at 48lbs gained the day I gave birth. I lost about twenty-five of that the first week after having Christian and have held onto the last fifteen with no promise of it budging. People said, "oooooh since you're breastfeeding the pounds will just melt off." LIARS! But my sister-in-law is a smart woman! She's the one that told me that my body might hold onto pounds while I'm breastfeeding. Ding ding ding! Granted, I'm not really exercising nor am I counting calories like I was AND my eating habits are less than stellar, but feeding my child is the most important thing in the world. My desire to be back in my pre-preggo clothes isn't so great that I'm willing to chance my milk supply. But I'm pretty sure I could be eating healthier... and this leads me to goal number dos.

2. Count my Weight Watchers points! Ok, I know what I just said above. Right now I'm doing Weight Watchers for nursing mothers. My daily allowance of points is WAY higher than your average person doing Weight Watchers, and when I'm actually counting those points, I make sure I'm eating my allowance. Over the holidays I really slacked - I'm sorry, but I cannot be in Virginia and eat at Cracker Barrel guilt-free while tallying up how much a biscuit is going to cost me. (Five points). I've lost almost 10lbs on Weight Watchers. Kellymom.com says I can lose up to 1.5lbs per week without affecting my supply.

3. Run a half-marathon. My favorite race distance! 13.1 miles. Takes training and lots of motivation, but doing the distance doesn't kill you. I ran a marathon once, and I'm glad I did, but never again. I trained for six months to run it and then didn't run for six months after. My friend Jayme and I signed up to run a half together. I am so stoked! My official training plan starts next week. Hold me.

4. Get Christian's first stamp on his passport before he's a year old. CHECK! Had no idea it would happen this soon, but I'm very excited it did. Of course, blog post about our trip to Japan later. But I have a feeling we'll be traveling at least once more internationally before he reaches the ripe ol' age of one. I really would like to go back to Japan in the Spring to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. If you can't tell, or didn't know, I LOVE Japan. LOVE. New Zealand has also been on our radar.

 

5. The Total Money Makeover! Rob and I decided we really needed to rework our budget. Errr, what budget? Exactly. We'd heard a lot of good things about Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover so we thought it was our best bet to helping us get organized with growing our savings, putting away money for Christian (and future children) for college, having cash to put down on a house...or even paying CASH for the house - you read that right. It can be done. (I'm not saying THAT is our goal, just that it can be done). This involves making sacrifices, but it also means not living paycheck to paycheck, and THAT I'm excited about. Every cent of our income is accounted for and we'll know exactly where our money is going. Rob spent a lot of time working this all out and going over it with me and I'm very optimistic. We've already put it into action. Luckily we're ahead of the game and starting out debt free - no student loans, no car payments, no credit card debt. Dave Ramsey says, "Live like no one else, so that later, you can live like no one else." This is our future, after all.

6. Break some of Christian's "bad" sleep habits. I nurse him to sleep. For his naps, for bedtime. It's just so easy for me to do it and get him to sleep. He doesn't need to be nursed to sleep because Mimi and Nanny get him to take naps just fine, but I know it's less than ideal. It doesn't really bother me to do it, so I'm not really that motivated, but it's what "all the books say." Also, he's in the habit of waking up screaming after being put down for bedtime. He'll stay asleep for about 45 minutes and then he's up crying out. I usually run right in there, pop him on the boob, and back to sleep he goes. If we're lucky, this only happens once. Rob desperately wants him to break this habit, but that would most likely involve letting him cry it out. And yes yes, I know. He's training us, but I still feel like he's too young to let him just lay in there and cry (even though I know he's fed, dry, etc) and it breaks my heart. So there might have to be a compromise. But I do wish he could self-soothe somewhat. Oh, and taking naps in his bassinet, not the swing.

I really don't think these goals are unrealistic. It'll take time, motivation, patience, and most importantly, not giving up, but everything is completely attainable. Of course I have other goals and things I would like to do, like become more involved in our church, maybe even be a part of a women's ministry, or a mom's ministry. Make sure the people I love know I love them, always. Organize the hoards of baby clothes we have. Read more (thanks to my Kindle, I already am!). Get a tan. Surf more. Ah, the list goes on. Regardless, I am so excited about what 2012 has to bring! I already feel so blessed that I can't imagine it getting any better than it is now. Aloha and Happy New Year to you and yours!