Breastfeeding and Exercise

So here will be MY experience.  I’m not a doctor, a lactation consultant, or any other medical professional.  I’m just a regular woman with a baby and boobs (pardon me).

Everyone asks about losing weight, breastfeeding and exercise.  No one really wants to know if it can be done.  The true question is “will it hurt my supply”, and the answer is maybe.  This “everyone” doesn’t include those who lose tons of weight by breastfeeding (many do) but the others who can not shed weight until after they wean.

You need extra calories to breastfeed so you shouldn’t diet to lose weight.  It’s good for you and your baby to eat good food and not be starving.  I count calories, but give myself 500 extra a day to accommodate breastfeeding, and don’t really worry if I go over.  I also eat any calories burned from exercise.  And that’s what this post is about.

At this point, I am doing Insanity.  I have also done TurboFire and LesMills Pump, along with some running and yoga.  These can be intense, and I started slowly and built up to the Insanity program.  I don’t think I could have handled that first for many reasons.  I find that I’m okay as long as I drink water and eat extra.  And by water, I mean a LOT of water.  I have dips in supply, but nothing that would be noticeable if I wasn’t working and pumping.  My baby always gets enough!  I’m losing weight slowly but surely.  Baby is gaining weight.  Everybody wins!

So, what exercise did you do before pregnancy (or during!)?  You can probably do it now, starting slowly and working your way up.  The important things for me have been to listen to my body, drink a lot of water, eat when hungry, and eat healthy foods.  If you feel it is too much or that your supply is taking a hit, adjust.  I’m serious on the water!  Cookies help too!

What has your experience been?  I’d love to hear your stories!

Les Mills Pump results

I posted my review of Les Mills Pump here but see the results for yourself!

I lost over 7lbs and almost 15 inches! Plus I really see the difference in the side view. I also fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans and can now fit in my belt…on the third hole! I feel stronger and more like myself.

I still have about 15lbs to my pre pregnancy weight, but I’m getting there! I have said it before, but food is still my biggest obstacle. I’m so hungry between exercise and breastfeeding and have little time to cook. I made eggs the other day and was hugely proud of myself. I would love to see my results with a better diet but am proud of my progress anyway.

Pump Review

Okay, this might be less in depth than I planned but I want to get it down. I’m loving Les Mills Pump. I’m almost finished with the calendar (though I messed up in the first month and somehow skipped a week). I get a really good workout and I have added a little more weight to my bar since starting…I’m getting to a point of experimenting with more on some tracks. It really has been perfect for me…when I feel like I’m spent, it’s just about time to switch tracks (and body parts). They use the music really well…I notice it most on the clean and presses and biceps. And I love how the workouts are a few different lengths. I am currently trying to do the program as written, but as I move on from that schedule and start working it in with other things, I think that will be helpful. I can choose how long I can do on a day.

I also love that you can do your own cardio. I like the flexibility that it gives. I started with mostly running and TurboFire/TurboKick, but it has been walking instead of running now with my leg bothering me. When I do other programs, I have a tough time because there are other workouts I enjoy so much. This lets me do it all!

The workouts use high repetitions and lighter weights for what they call “The Rep Effect”. Basically, you are doing 70-100 reps per body part. I definitely feel it! I’m sore the day after most workouts, even though I used to lift heavy at the gym. It is different…light weight/high reps vs heavy weight/low reps. I think they are both good for you and can give results. But with the light weight, you still need to challenge yourself! I decided early on to buy extra weights than what comes in the box. The weights it came with (10 and 5 lb plates) were perfect to start, but I didn’t want to not up my weights just because I didn’t have the extra plates. So I purchased an extra set of 5s and a set of 2.5s.

Pump uses body part tracks…squats, chest, legs/back, biceps, triceps, lunges, shoulders, abs. Some of the shorter workouts do not contain all tracks, but I still think they are great workouts. Just like if you had to do a short workout, you’d hit the big muscles with some moves that also engage smaller ones. The two long workouts (Pump Revolution and Pump Extreme, both almost an hour) include them all. There are also 20, 30 and 45 minute weight workouts. In the pack as well is Hardcore Abs, which lives up to its name! Also is Flow, a stretching workout that is about 20 minutes. If you order from a coach (like me!) you also get Les Mills Core, another ab workout.

Now, one of my favorite things…the instructors! I love the accents and their interactions are amusing. They are very personable and motivating. I definitely recommend the program to anyone looking for a weight workout to do at home.

60 Day results

I can not believe I haven’t shared these yet! You saw the before pictures but they are also here with the afters.  The pants are the same but in a smaller size.

I see some decent results and also had bunches of fun working out. I did mostly TurboFire by the schedule, adding some Turbo Kick round practice and walks and then couch to 5K in the last week or so. Plus Shakeology, which I completely think gave me the energy to workout and be a new mom, along with being a healthy meal replacement. I feel so much more physically like myself, even if I’m still above my pre-pregnancy weight. Exercise makes me happy!

So now I am doing Les Mills Pump, which has mostly Pump workouts but also has walking on the schedule. So I have been walking, running and Turbo Kicking. I can’t wait to see my next round of results. I love the Pump workouts I have done so far and working out with a barbell at home is giving me a great workout without needing to go to the gym. Excellent stuff.

I am going to stop listing my workouts here. I started it for my accountability when I was struggling, and I have been able to be fairly consistent lately. If you miss it, speak up!

Sleeeep

Blah blah blah…new moms don’t have time to sleep. You’ve heard it, maybe lived it, so I don’t need to talk about that. What I didn’t expect was how the quality of my actual sleep times would change. Luckily for the better!

I have not been a good sleeper since I was about 7, though I hear that I slept most of the time until then. I’m a light sleeper, waking up easily, but not falling asleep very quickly. I need a lot of wind down time. The time it takes me to fall asleep now hasn’t been consistently better, but I am sleeping more soundly. We used to joke that my husband would never be awoken by the baby crying, only by me waking him. But some nights he hears her first. And where I would normally wake up at any time of the night with little problem, some of these middle of the night wake ups have me scrambling for what’s going on for a bit.

I’m not complaining. I usually have the baby monitor next to my head so even if my husband is waking first, I wouldn’t be long after. It is nice to be waking only because of the baby – not 50 other times for no good reason like I used to (even before pregnancy).

Next week, I start setting the alarm again. I go back to work on Friday and Zoe is starting day care on Monday so that I’m less worried come Friday. I know day care is a good thing for her. She’ll socialize, pick up some germs and get ready for school later on. But not being with her all the time after 4 months together is going to be so odd. She is getting better at the gym child care center though I still try to not take the full two hours she is usually scheduled. But that is a little while with me in the same building! My husband will be doing the dropping off and picking up most days so I’m hoping to be able to workout once they go and not need to do it so late.

Other things going on…I made chocolate chia pudding last night. It was good, but I may tweak it a little. I used dark cocoa powder and stevia in the raw, so I’ll need to find a good ratio. I’m also thinking it would be good to put some protein powder in. I’ll play and share what I did.

Another great picture!

Also, I’m really enjoying Les Mills Pump so far! This week is a bit of a learning week, with Pump Challenge – a short workout that mostly prepares you for future workouts. I like that it has a choose your own cardio component because I also want to run and do Turbo workouts. It gives me the freedom to do those without feeling that I’m taking away from the program as written.

It’s snowing here so we’ll see what happens with today’s planned run. I will not be running outside, that’s for sure. Have a great Friday!

Workout Wednesday – Pump Challenge, Couch to 5K, plank
Workout Thursday – Pump Flow, TurboKick practice and plank

 

Missing Me

Sorry I have been missing. I’m here, but we did lose a great dog this weekend. We had to put down our boxer, who was almost 14 years old and had spinal arthritis. She lost the ability to control her back legs last year and had been deteriorating. It was rough to admit it to ourselves that it was time. She will be missed.

I’m not going to go back through and detail my workouts, but I’ll start fresh with yesterday’s. Now that I’ve put this out there, I’m over the hump of not knowing what to say to return! I started Les Mills Pump yesterday, so get ready to hear all about that. I also started a plank challenge group for March. April will be for the legs, so let me know if you would like in for next month!

You can also now like my new Facebook page!

Workout Monday – Couch to 5K Week3 Day1, Plank, Pump Challenge
Workout today – Rest day! Just Plank

Pump it up!

Look what came in the mail the other day!

I am seriously excited to try Les Mills Pump. It is the home workout version of Body Pump which I have been wanting to do for a long time. I’m also looking forward to having a barbell at home. It comes with the workouts…how cool is that? I still want to finish up two more weeks of TurboFire and will use it during Pump as well.

Workout Friday – TurboFire Fire45 and Stretch10
Workout yesterday – TurboFire Fire55EZ

Happy Baby Workout

I tried the Happy Baby workout yesterday.  I expected it to be a easy sail along workout but it was tough!  We got through the first 18 minutes before Zoe got cranky, but I watched most of it.  I definitely felt my muscles working!  Zoe liked a lot of it, especially when I held her for knee raises, bumping her with my knee.  We will do it again and when we can do the full workout, I will write a full review.

One thing I like about the yoga workout I have over this workout is that it is broken up into 20 minute pieces that you can do separately or together.  It is hard to entertain Zoe with one task for very long and it seems 18-20 minutes is when she is done.  I know that this span will get longer as she gets older.

In other workout news, I decided to do Les Mills Pump next instead of ChaLEAN Extreme.  The only reason is that I haven’t done Pump before and I am so excited to check it out!  I will let you know what I think.  I bought it now and I think I’ll start in March.

I did some sewing today, but I’m not quite ready to share.  I need another trip to the store and a little more time to myself.  Stay tuned!

Workout Saturday – TurboFire Fire45 and Stretch 10
Workout Sunday – TurboFire Core20 and Stretch40
Workout today – TurboFire Fire55EZ