For those of you have had a baby, you know what a RELIEF it is the second they come out. It’s euphoric. Your body instantly feels better (pain in your nether region, sure, but overall your body is like THANK YOU BABYYYYY JESUS!). I’m not kidding.. next to meeting my baby, my favorite thing about pregnancy is pushing that bowling ball OUT! It seriously feels so good! Then you get home, adjust, heal, transition to this next messy and beautiful phase of life… all while wearing a 5 inch thick pad and granny panties. GLAMOROUS!
I know how important it is to give yourself time and let your body heal before jumping into any physical activity. The most I’ll ever do before my 6 week postpartum appointment is some light walking.. typically to get coffee cuz #tired. Walking (and sleeping/resting of course.. but what’s that after you have a baby?) is the best thing you can do for your body after you’ve given birth. Slowly but surely, you will come back to life and you will feel like yourself again. And when that happens for me, I’ve created 3 health goals I want to achieve as I get closer to feeling human again. After all, I have three kids, a husband, dog and myself to look after and it’s important for me to feel healthy, happy and fulfilled. Here’s what I have planned:
Revamp my vitamin game: At every doctor appointment during my pregnancy, the nurse would ask me about my current medications and vitamins and I was always like uhhhh NOPE?! Oops. Probably should get on that, especially since my hormones are a raging B-I-T-C-H. So naturally, the first person I asked to review my vitamin box was Alix. And my husband is like YESSS BUY ALL THE THINGS, PLEASEEEE! Here’s what I had under my cabinet and what I plan to rework into my daily routine:
Now, the prenatal vitamin has a lot of the B vitamins already in it so I don’t need to double down on B12 (mood and energy booster) and B6 (digestion, heart health, energy) if I continue on the Prenatals. But once I run out of Prenatal, I’ll loop B back in. Also, so important to get my C and D in (since you know, we get like 60 days of sunlight ;)) and an Omega-3 (I don’t eat a ton of fish so I take this fatty acid for heart health). Taking too much biotin can actually give you acne, or so I’ve heard, but my hair is falling out (thanks, Parker) and my nails are brittle AF so I’m playing around with it for now. If I start to look like a pizza face every week, I’ll stop the biotin. But in the meantime, I want to keep the 3 strands of hair on my head. Vitamins.. check check.
Make simple changes for a healthier lifestyle: So this one sounds generic but it’s the most important for my overall health. I just want to make simple swaps and adjustments/tweaks to my everyday routine when it comes to nutrition and fitness. I am a creature of habit.. take me out of routine and my OCD flares. But I am determined to be the healthiest version of myself for my family.
The first thing I want to try and do is start training my taste buds to crave less sugar, specifically when it comes to my Starbucks/coffee order. During my pregnancy, I was all about full fat lattes, which there is nothing wrong with but when I get a venti, that’s a lot of lactose and sugar my body is trying to break down. And while I am not going to cut dairy out of my diet entirely, I do know that it can cause acne and also some tummy issues in breastfed babies.. so I just want to take it down a notch. Ideally, I’d like to swap this out for almond milk and a dash of cinnamon in my drink. No more Splenda, Equal, etc… which I have been good about. I do still love a raw sugar in my coffee and not sure I will ever be able to give that part up but it’s the healthiest, purest form of sugar so I don’t feel bad about it ONE BIT.
Another thing I want to do is drink a liter of water every morning. I am TERRIBLE about water intake throughout the day and the thing that suffers the most from that is my skin… not cool. I want my face glowing. So, WATER. Every morning, I plan to fill my Hydroflask with ice cold water and chug. Preferably before my coffee but let’s not set unrealistic expectations shall we?!
I have some other simple changes like getting in a protein packed breakfast, upping my GG cracker game, meal planning, re-ordering my Daily Harvest smoothies, etc. but If I can make these simple swaps and changes, I’ll feel like I’m on a good path.
Run a 1/2 Marathon in September 2019: The fact that those words even came out of these fingers is enough to make my mind go BOOM. I’ve never been a runner.. I’ve always blamed these big ol boobs for preventing me from being an athlete HA! Just kidding.. pretty sure girls with double D’s can still run.. I was just making excuses. Well, NOT ANYMORE!
I watched Alix train so hard for her half marathon and when she accomplished her goal, I felt inspired to do the same. But it has always seemed way too intimating for me. I mean look at Alix.. she IS an athlete and has been her entire life. I most certainly was (and am) not – I was a cheerleader #duh – and every time I even tried to run, I maybe lasted 5 minutes before having to stop. Probably because I got off the couch one day and was like, “I’m gonna go for a run.” Pretty sure it doesn’t work like that.
So I started talking with a bunch of people who have actually trained and it doesn’t seem so intimidating anymore. My goal is to do some “couch to 5K’s” and work my way up. Luckily, I have a great coach in Alix and a few moms at school drop off who are also runners and want to start a running group.. FUNZIES can we get mimosas afterwards?!
The goal is to hit the Vancouver Half Marathon in September called SeaWheeze.. I figure 11 months postpartum gives me PLENTY of time to achieve this goal. Anything before that would be a complete failure. Who wants to come with me?!
So that’s it.. I think it all sounds achievable don’t you think?! Who else is on a health kick? This time of year, it’s so easy to fall into a rut of bad eating habits and we all say we are going to start after the New Year but I say.. let’s start NOW! I should probs be a motivational speaker. Aren’t you inspired?
Wish me luck.. xx, H
PS HOW TIRED DO I LOOK IN THIS PIC BUT I DON’T CARE I GOT THREE KIDS OUT THE DOOR ON MY OWN AND IT HAD TO BE DOCUMENTED!!!
