Hi everyone! I’m back from my little break after giving birth to baby Jack back in November! Jack is 9 weeks old today, and I was cleared to workout 3 weeks ago. I ended up having to have a C-section so I still can’t do ab exercises, but I’m back to running and light weights again! If you read my workout posts that I published while pregnant you’ll remember that I ran until I was 35 weeks and then walked almost daily until giving birth. Despite staying active all 40 weeks I still ended up gaining 40 pounds (I had an 8 pound 14 ounce baby though, so I don’t feel too bad about gaining more than the recommended 25-35 pounds). I walked almost daily after having Jack, so by the time I got to run again it wasn’t too excruciatingly painful to start up again. I took it as slowly as I needed to, and was able to work up to a 6 mile run within a week. I’m still much slower han I was before I got pregnant and my body can tell it hasn’t moved quickly in quite a while, but I can feel myself getting stronger and fitter each time I run. My goal is to run a marathon (my 5th) before the end of this year, so hopefully this body of mine cooperates! I’m still 8 pounds away from my pre-baby weight, but my belly is a totally different consistency than it used to be so it’s going to require a lot of work. Hopefully with consistent workouts, healthy eating and exclusive breastfeeding the weight will come off when it’s ready to. I’m not going to rush it though because I don’t want to affect my milk supply.
All that being said, here are some photos of me while 39 weeks pregnant, 3 days postpartum and 7 weeks postpartum, as well as my workouts this past week!
39 weeks pregnant and 5 days before giving birth.
3 days postpartum, although I still look 30 weeks pregnant!
7 weeks postpartum after a 6 mile run.
Tuesday, 12/29/15. Drove from Georgia to Maryland. No time to run!
Wednesday, 12/30/15. 4 mile treadmill run in 36 minutes. Fastest postpartum run yet! Jack sat in his stroller and watched my feet then fell asleep. So glad he likes the gym! Followed up with a 30 minute Nike Training Club “Flex Machine” workout. Felt good to do strength training again! Used 5 pound dumbbells and an 8 pound medicine ball. Modified the ab workouts because of my healing C-section incision.
Thursday, 12/31/15. 4.45 mile walk in 1 hour and 26 minutes while wearing Jack in the Ergo carrier. He weighs about 13 pounds now so it’s a great workout!
Friday, 1/1/16. 5.06 mile run in 51 minutes. First hilly run since having Jack and the hills were a smoker! It was windy and chilly but it felt really good to push myself again.
Saturday, 1/2/16. 3.33 mile treadmill run in 30 minutes. Tom ran on the treadmill next to me and Jack sat in the stroller and fell asleep again. Tom and I both had a hard time getting motivated to exercise but I’m glad we sucked it up and did it. 15 minute Nike Training Club “Gym Sculpt” workout after the run with Tom. Used 5 pound dumbbells and a 6 pound medicine ball. Lots of squats…I can tell I’m going to be sore tomorrow!
Sunday, 1/3/16. 3.4 mile walk in a little over an hour while wearing Jack in the Ergo carrier.
Katie, you are amazing! You grew a beautiful baby boy. You look fantastic in all three of those pics. I'm impressed at how well you've done getting back into shape in such a short period of time along with all the challenges of being a new mom. You are a shining example.
Katie, you are amazing! You grew a beautiful baby boy. You look fantastic in all three of those pics. I'm impressed at how well you've done getting back into shape in such a short period of time along with all the challenges of being a new mom. You are a shining example.
You look glowing and strong!! And Jack is such a cutie!!
YGG!!!