At the beginning of April I shared my fitness goals for the month (you can read that post here), so today I wanted to share a recap with you!
My goal was to run 20 miles a week and do the Glow Body PT 21 day 8-minute workout challenge. I also wanted to eat a little bit healthier and control my sweet tooth a bit more. No real weight loss goal, I just wanted to get through my fitness plateau and feel better, leaner and stronger.
I was already in pretty good shape going into the month of April but I wasn’t feeling as good as I knew I could/should feel. I also wanted to tone everything up and try to shed a little fat.
Here are my side-by-side before and after photos:
The “before” photos were taken on April 2nd at 7 months postpartum and the “after” photos were taken on May 1st at 8 months postpartum. I can tell that there is a little bit of a physical change which is nice, but more importantly I feel really strong and healthy.
Here is a recap of how each week went:
Week One.
Week one was really rough because our whole house got taken down by a stomach bug. I managed to run 15 miles (a 5 miler and a 10 miler) and did 3 days of the Glow Body PT workouts before I got sick. I also swam a mile one day while I was at the gym (I try to swim freestyle the entire time with minimal stopping). After that week from hell I decided that it’s completely unfair for moms to get sick. I’m pretty sure Jack watched TV all day when I was sick and Tom was at work. I couldn’t manage anything else! The first photo below was taken after I tripped over train tracks and fell in the middle of our 10 mile run, the second photo was taken while Jack was sick and he wanted to be worn (such a shocker!), and the 3rd photo is of poor sick Caroline (she vomited for 6 days straight and it was horrible for all of us).
Week Two.
Caroline was still vomiting most of this week and I had to take her into the doctor because she got dehydrated and her top eyelid started sagging. They prescribed Zofran which really helped make her stop vomiting, and I gave her some Pedialyte (with a syringe since she won’t take a bottle) because nursing alone was not doing the trick. Needless to say my regular gym workouts didn’t happen because I was taking care of Caroline, but I managed to run 4 times and got my 20 miles in. I did miss 2 days of Glow Body PT workouts though. The first photo below is of Caroline with her sagging eyelid (she projectile vomited in the car shortly after I took this photo), the second photo was after doing a Glow Body PT workout at home, and the third photo was when I took Jack on a froyo date. It was our first time going somewhere alone since Caroline was born and we definitely need to do it more often. He had so much fun and was well behaved and was excited to have some one on one time. (So was I!) I also learned that we both love sprinkles and cookie dough š
Week Three.
I didn’t think it would happen because I got off to a bad start, but I ran 20 miles again this week! I feel like I’m really getting back into my groove with running which makes me so happy. I also did all of my Glow Body PT workouts and I am obsessed the plan. My favorite workouts are the muffin top, sculpted legs and the full body HIIT. The photos below were taken after a run with the kids, on a date night with Tom at Mina’s Fish House, and after a Glow Body PT workout at home.
Week Four.
I finished the Glow Body PT plan at the end of week 3 but this week I went back and did some of the days I missed while we were sick. I plan on either restarting the full 21 day plan in May or just incorporating the videos into my regular workouts because they are so good. I also took an Army PT test because the Army makes you take one once you’re past 6 months postpartum. I didn’t max pushups or sit-ups (although I was close!) but I did max the 2-mile run with a time of 15:14. It’s good to have this out of the way and hopefully I’ll get back to maxing the test next time I take it in 6-12 months. I only ran 7 miles this week (5 on the treadmill and 2 for my PT test), but I was really busy with some Army Reserve events and unfortunately I didn’t make running a priority like I should have. I did swim over a mile in the ocean though! This was my first open-water swim since we moved to Hawaii and it is SO different from pool swimming. I want to get into triathlons though so I need to swim in the ocean more often. Even though it was a little disorienting and difficult to swim in a straight line I actually really enjoyed! We also went on a hike, as I talked about on this blog post last week. The photos below are from our hike, from when I was working a college fair at the Hawaii Convention Center, and from a West Point dinner I went to at Hickam Air Force Base.
Overall I feel really great after this past month! I think I lost about 2 pounds, although weight loss wasn’t the ultimate goal. In addition to the exercise I mentioned above we also go on walks a lot since it’s always so nice here in Hawaii. We typically walk 2 to 4 miles 5 times a week and it’s great because Jack ends up running a lot of that and then he sleeps really well. I’ve also received a few questions about what I eat and I’ll try to work on a blog post about that. Long story short, I don’t cut anything out at all and prefer to try to eat everything in moderation. I don’t do well when I cut things out because it used to lead to binge eating back when I struggled with disordered eating in high school and college. Now that I have a healthy relationship with food and my body I try to eat lots of veggies and make healthy choices most of the time, but I also don’t hesitate to have a sweet treat most days and still go for a burger or something like that if I want to.
Did any of you do the Glow Body PT workout challenge last month? If so, I’d love to hear what you thought about it!
Oh and here are some of the items (or similar, current season items) shown in the photos above in case you’re interested:
(This post was not sponsored, by the way, I’m just super excited about finding a quick and effective plan that I love!)
Girl, you look incredible! Iām so inspired to try some of your workouts after I have my second baby. After I had my first, I lost a lot of weight from nursing but this time around I want to get toned. You are such an inspiration, thanks for posting your journey!
Hi Kelsey, thank you so much for saying that and for following along! I'm with ya, I got a bit gaunt after having Jack because I was nursing and running so much and not really doing strength training. This time around I'm trying to do more strength training so that I'm more toned and not just thin. I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting back at it after you have your baby. These glow body PT workouts really are great!
Iād kill for your before photo!āŗļøYouāre looking great, strong mama!
I'm so glad you had a good month!!! š It's nice when you feel good like that.
Thanks Jen! Yep, nothing better than feeling good!
You're very kind to say that, Leslie. Thank you!
Absolutely amazing! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Beth, thanks for taking the time to read!
Girl, you look incredible! Iām so inspired to try some of your workouts after I have my second baby. After I had my first, I lost a lot of weight from nursing but this time around I want to get toned. You are such an inspiration, thanks for posting your journey!
Hi Kelsey, thank you so much for saying that and for following along! I'm with ya, I got a bit gaunt after having Jack because I was nursing and running so much and not really doing strength training. This time around I'm trying to do more strength training so that I'm more toned and not just thin. I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting back at it after you have your baby. These glow body PT workouts really are great!