My Quest to Find Myself Again {Update 1}

I’m about a month into my journey of finding myself again. Last month I told you about my training sessions I was beginning at the Hospital for Special Surgery’s Core Performance System.

I’ve met with the nutrtionist who put me on a calorie filled diet that will help me maintain my milk supply but still help me lose weight steadily. I knew I didn’t want to lose a lot of weight from taking food out of my diet because I don’t want to mess with my milk supply, especially now that Avery is having trouble gaining weight. But I do want to lose weight. I need to lose weight to feel better about myself and feel more comfortable with my body.

Eating healthy is all a mental thing for me. My guilty pleasure is late night sweet snack sessions while I’m working late. I don’t think I’m really hungry, but get bored and find food to occupy myself while I write. I’m a sucker for a bowl of ice cream.

Jason, the nutrtionist, gave me healthy options for those late night binges. After changing my mindset (and realizing I’m not really that hungry) I tend to choose Greek yogurt (or another healthy alternative) for my sweet snack rather than a big bowl of ice cream. I am also making more conscious decisions when cooking or ordering food. I have recently fallen in love with a good chopped salad with grilled chicken and a lot of vegetables. It keeps me full for the entire afternoon and is very nutritious.

I’ve also tried to ramp up my workout routine. Working full time from home hardly gives me any time to go to the gym during the week unless its in the evening. Unfortunately due to MacKay’s work schedule, evening workouts are few and far between. MacKay and I bring the family to the gym every Saturday and it’s turned into a fun family activity that we all enjoy. The girls love staying in the kids room to play while MacKay and I get in great workouts. It’s a great start to our weekend.

I’ve also been meeting with Jamie, my personal trainer and Core Performance Trainer, once a week. After a thorough consultation with Jamie, he created a workout routine that helps with some of my weak points on my body, one of which is my stomach. What used to be my best feature on my body is now a pile of mush. Pregnancy takes a toll on your stomach and two pregnancies can really throw it for a loop.

I have diastasis recti which is when your abdominal muscles separate. This usually occurs during pregnancy and will sometimes stay that way after pregnancy. Because of this Jamie has me focusing a lot of my workout on getting my abs back. He doesn’t recommend doing crunches because it will actually make the diastisis worse, so he has me doing planks to help strengthen my ab muscles.

I’m also doing a lot of high intensity interval training. I’m not a huge fan of cardio but its got to be done. We do an intense four minute session of 20 second intervals. Twenty seconds going as fast as I can on an airdyne (which is like an exercise bike,) and 20 seconds of rest with light pedaling. It’s brutal and I hate doing it, but feel so much better when I do. It also helps burn calories even after you are finished with those grueling 4 minutes.

We also work on my legs and arms with various kinds of squats and rows. I love the personal attention because when it gets tough and I feel like I don’t have anymore in me, he’s right there to push me to do more.

A lot of this process has allowed me to change my mentality about the way that I live my life. I don’t want this to be a diet that will soon lead me to gaining everything back after one pitfall, but more of a lifestyle change. In just one month, I feel so much better about myself and the way that I look. I didn’t want to focus too much on the numbers, but more of the way that I felt when I looked at myself in the mirror.

Last week I met with Jason for my follow-up to do some measurements and see just how much I’ve lost in the past month. I was very pleased with the results. After just one month of changing my eating habits and working out 1-2 times a week I have lost 3 pounds, 1 1/2 inches in my waist and 1/2 inch in my hips. I was very pleased with my results and so was Jason. The work that I am doing now to lose the weight is very minimal. One to two times a week in the gym isn’t much and I realize that. I am hoping that once Avery gets a little bit older and my schedule clears a bit, I can devote more time in the gym. But for right now, this is what I can do and I am happy with the results that it has gotten me.

I make sure to take advantage of all of that time I am in the gym and really make it worth it. Jamie has done a fantastic job at making my hour with him as productive as possible. He’s even given me a routine to do when I am at the gym by myself so that I can make the most of my time there.

Just to show you how much 1 1/2 inches looks after a month I am going to do something that I never thought I would do. I’m going to show you the before and after of my bare post-baby belly. I took photos so that I could see for myself just what a difference working out and eating healthy can do for my body. I was amazed at what I saw when I compared the two.

Before (November 2012):

After (December 2012):

Side by Side Comparison:

Seeing these two photos side-by-side, I was ecstatic. I think I probably texted them to every single person in my family. It’s amazing what seeing the difference can do for your self esteem. I am so thankful for Jason, Jamie, and the entire team at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Their dedication into helping me find myself again is worth more than they will ever know!

{Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. The Hospital for Special Surgery is providing me with complimentary Core Performance System trial. All thoughts and opinions are my own.}