Tag: post-partum

‘Chic and Fit 2014 – Day 4’ and ‘Girls on the Run’

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Just checkin’ in to see how all my peeps are doing?!  As you might recall, earlier this week, I proposed to engage in 30 minutes of physical activity a day.  I actually didn’t think much of it, until I got some feedback from people.  It made me think, “Hmm, am I REALLY going to be able to put in 30 minutes of physical activity a day?!!”

Well, so far so good!!  Here’s a recap:

Day 1:  Jog on Treadmill, 35:14 min:sec, 2.271 miles.

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Day 2: Elliptical Workout, Level 5, 30:53 min:sec.  I BARELY got through these 30 minutes!! I forgot my socks and headphone at home, so I worked out in silence and sockless!!

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Day 3: Another jog on the treadmill, while watching the last two episodes of Scandal.  Note to self, watching Scandal while running can be hazardous to your health.  I nearly went tachycardic!!  Shonda Rimes…please include a disclosure stating that content from your show, combined with physical activity, may cause one’s heart to react abnormally!! 😛  Treadmill workout, 45:41 min:sec (some jogging, some walking), 2.989 miles.

0508142203 So, not too bad so far!!  I have a run planned for tonight, so that will get day 4 in the books for me!  How are y’all doing with your workouts??!  Remember, you can follow along on Instagram or Twitter, as well as on Facebook here on the blog!

If you are in the Birmingham, AL, area, tomorrow, May 11th, Black Girls Run, Birmingham (the group that helped me get my running groove back after the birth of my first son) will be supporting little-er Girls on the Run tomorrow morning!  Feel free to go out, join them,  and show your support!! Or, if you have daughters, nieces, little girl friends, etc., encourage them to participate in Girls on the Run!  Getting healthy and fit should be a community-wide effort, so let’s do our part and support each other and help others get involved!!

Stay chic and fit, friends!!

A ‘Chic and Fit 2014’

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I had a relatively stressful day today.  All self-imposed, so no one to blame but me. 🙂  That said, I turned to a couple of things today that usually help me ‘de-stress’, so to speak.  Among those things, chats with friends!!  Many thanks to my amazing friends (you know who you are) who listened to me vent. 😀  The other thing I tried was…a run.  Yup, a good ‘ol run on the treadmill.

I haven’t worked out regularly in a while, mostly because I was breastfeeding my son for the past 10 months (have you ever tried running with breasts full of milk?!  PAINFUL.  Or at least it was for me!!).  But also because I didn’t HAVE to!  He’s turning 11 months this week and this past month, I’ve watched the scale climb faster that I ever knew it could!  I knew I was burning lots of calories while breastfeeding, but didn’t realize how many until I stopped (though we do have frozen stock to get us through the year, fortunately!)!

Anyhow, I forgot how good it feels to get some physical activity in my day.  The stress is not completely gone, but the endorphins appear to help me manage the stress better, I think (this, by the way is not a scientific opinion, haha!  Just my opinion. 😉 ).  So, I thought, why not engage my friends and see if we can all get a little healthier and de-stress together?!

So, I am starting ‘Chic and Fit 2014’!  The goal here is not to:

  • Get skinny
  • Try new diets
  • Workout like crazy

The goal is simply to incorporate at least 30 minutes of physical activity into my day.  If by chance I happen to lose some weight along the way, become less stressed, eat healthier, or decide that I love working out (this has never happened before, so I doubt it will happen now, but I’ll never say never, haha!), then so be it!

Want to join me?!  I will post updates here on my blog, also on Instagram, and on Twitter using hashtag #chicandfit2014.  You can post as well and use the hashtag, so we can all keep up with each other.  Sure, we may be halfway through 2014, but the year is not over yet!  So, follow along as I incorporate fitness into my attempt to stay ‘Chic in Academia’.  No gimmicks, nothing difficult, just me, a workout, and social media. 🙂

Stay Chic!

Workout Treadmill Day 1 edited

Me, my treadmill, and my phone (camera) 😉

Workout Day 1

Day 1 – A slow jog on the treadmill.

Me, who?

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Once upon a time, I would make plans for the weekend.  Outings on Friday nights, sleep in Saturday morning (until noon sometimes!!), perhaps a second outing Saturday night, and a day of doing absolutely nothing on Sunday.  I would return to school/work re-energized and ready to tackle the week ahead of me.

Cut to, now.  My weekends consist of catching up on laundry, cleaning, kid birthday parties, sports practices and games, grocery shopping, catching up on leftover work from the week…the list is endless.  A postpartum woman also often takes on an additional load of responsibilities.  Nursing day and night, pumping at work, bottles to wash, hormones running amok, hairloss (yes, that’s right, hairloss!!), a body that stubbornly refuses to return to normal, and an endless sense of guilt and imperfection.  Am I feeding the right foods?  Am I raising my kid(s) properly?  Am I doing what’s best for my kid(s)??  Am I a good mom??

Amidst the chaos that is motherhood, very rarely does a mother stop to wonder, what about me?  But when she does – at least when I did – be prepared to open the flood gates; the overwhelming emotion that comes with reminiscing about times now past, years now lost, and a youth and beauty now aged, is reason enough for even the sanest of women to lose it a little.

Today, I wondered, what about me?  My body is slowly becoming increasingly foreign.  Pregnancy and birth change a woman’s body in ways she never imagined.  The time to workout is becoming less and less, so one’s body becomes more and more…soft??  Sigh.  I look at pictures now and wonder, will it ever be the same again?  Um, with surgery maybe??  Sigh, again.

My husband says, ‘you need to make time for yourself’.  Are we – mothers – then too giving of ourselves and time?  Do we, mothers, consciously make ourselves out to be the victims?  Who knows.  As far as I can tell, the to-do list in my life is endless.  But my husband is right (wait, did I just say that??).  Perhaps there are things that can go by the wayside sometimes, right?  My kid(s) can go a night without a bath.  The dishes can be left overnight without washing.  Pick the toys up off the floor and makes the beds?  What?  Why?  The toys will be played with again tomorrow, and the bed slept in again the next night, right?

Worry not, this is by no means a pity-party post.  More so, it is a reminder that although life has changed, and time is less abundant, that sometimes…you just need to stop.  Take the time to rediscover the new you and make amends with this version of yourself.  Embrace this new phase of life and make the time to take care of, well, you.

So, I herein declare this day the start of the me-time phase of my life.  To help me become a better mother, a better wife, and a better version of me.  Anyone want to join me?  Me-time can get a little lonely; I’ll need some girlfriends to join me during my me-time from time to time.

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