This Fitness Friday is a guest post from a lovely mama who inspires me (Jenn) with her motivation to be healthy. She was awesome enough to write a guest post this wee
Hi PenPal Productions Readers! My name is
Yelena (pronounced Ye-lay-na) and I blog (rather infrequently) at onehealthyapple.blogspot.com. I’m honored to post on this cute corner of
the Interwebz and share a bit about how my family keeps up a healthy routine
with a very active toddler and a busy schedule, without losing our minds
(completely) or ourselves, as many parents do, after welcoming their bundle of
joy.
I’m a self-proclaimed health junkie- mostly out
of necessity, as I grew up as an overweight kid and teenager. I also saw how
unhealthy my grandparents became in their old age and I knew I had to do
something (or a lot of things) differently. Luckily, I also married a bona fide
health freak and together we ate healthy foods, hiked, worked out, and enjoyed
our separate health interests (me: yoga, hubby: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu).
I worked out through my whole 41+ week
pregnancy with my little boy and felt great. I was smug and could not figure
out how people didn’t make time for health and fitness with kids and ‘those
people’ were lazy. And then the shit hit the fan. I had a sweet little boy who
never slept, didn’t take a bottle if I was anywhere in smelling distance, and I
was tired. So very tired. Now that I’m barely out of the baby stage, I wanted
to share some of the things that helped me get back on track right after baby, and
what we do now to maintain our health:
Right After Baby:
- Give yourself some grace. Yes, I had gained 35 pounds, but I also
just gave birth. Once I forgave myself and let go of this guilt, I felt much
better.
- Start small. Nope, I couldn’t take a whole 75-minute vinyasa flow
class, but I could wear the baby and go for walks, so I walked a lot. When that
got better, I did quick YouTube workouts, jogged (slowly), or went to the gym
for a half hour at a time.
- Make healthy options available. I couldn’t cook all the time, but I
could buy Greek yogurt, fruit, grains, and lean protein. When I was famished
from feeding the baby all the time, I at least had some smart choices.
- Communicate. I had to tell my husband that I didn’t feel like
myself without exercise. He helped encourage me and took the baby out for a
walk if I was doing a home workout or going for a quick jog.
- Ask for help. Ask a friend, ask a parent, get a cleaning Groupon. Mental health is as important as physical health.
Life With a Baby/Toddler:
- Give yourself another break. Kidlets go through various stages and
phases. Sometimes they sleep, sometimes they don’t. Nobody likes a cranky
parent, so don’t forget to take care of yourself through those sleepless nights
and days. Working out can wait. Your body needs sleep to repair itself, so
that’s basically a workout there.
- Make some goals. I made a goal to go to the gym 3 times per week
once my son was about 6 months old. It was simple and anything on top of that
was gravy. Make sure to reevaluate as you get stronger and as your family
reaches a new normal. You can surprise yourself as you knock your old goals out
of the park.
- Reward yourself. It’s hard work! When you reach a milestone
(weight, distance, even consecutive hours of sleep), do something nice for
yourself. I am more motivated when I have something nice to wear, so a new
sports bra or yoga pants keep me going.
- Communicate. Now that our schedule is more or less set, my hubby
and I sit down each week (it literally takes two minutes) and discuss which
days we have work meetings, any other commitments, and preferred workout days. My
husband trains 3ish times a week for 3ish hours including his commute, while I
typically wake up at 5:50 each morning to get my exercise in. But sometimes I
go at night, and it’s nice to plan the week knowing where our obstacles are.
- Involve your little ones in fitness. My son loves to ‘do yoga’ with
me, we go on family hikes, and we have continued our walks together with the
dog. Sometimes he still makes me carry him, and that’s a hell of a workout with
a 30+ pound flailing weight.
- Ask for help. Make your partner a shopping list, cook dinner together, ask a grandparent to babysit, or get another cleaning Groupon. You can’t do it all and asking for help is not a sign of weakness.
I have to add a disclaimer that I’m not a
health professional and none of this is easy. I have lost all of the baby weight
and have been maintaining it for about a year now, but sometimes I’m still
completely unmotivated and I still eat too much chocolate. I’m only human. Each
family works differently, but this is what has worked for us.
Thanks again to Jenn for the opportunity to
post!
XOXO,
Yelena
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