Re-Entry To Exercise

OK, here's the situation...I absolutely love being pregnant. (Well, with the exception of being pregnant during the summer months.) I love to eat, therefore, pregnancy suits me well. With Kaytin, I was sick sick sick for the first four months of pregnancy, so I had to find things that I could eat and not throw up. I was still teaching at KHS back then and one thing I could eat was school lunch. Oh, and I did more than just eat school lunch, I MOPPED it.

Everyday I'd head on in to the cafeteria and inhale whatever was being served that day. And our cafeteria manager would always leave special little treats out for the teachers...leftovers from breakfast, cinnamon rolls, cornbread, etc...which I would pile high on my plate, as well. Another thing I could keep down was McDonald's cheeseburger happy meals. On my way home from school, I'd go through the drive thru at least twice a week to enjoy a happy meal. (I'm convinced that this is why Kaytin is now a cheeseburger fan) So even though I threw up my dinner on a nightly basis, I still managed to gain close to 50 lbs. during my pregnancy. I was HUGE when I gave birth. It took me a good two years to get back down to a weight that I was satisfied with and wouldn't you know it...as soon as I started fitting in clothes that I actually liked, I found out I was pregnant with Caleb.

I thought I was smart and would try to be better about my weight gain with my second pregnancy. I craved different things, healthy things like fruits and salads and such. Of course, I'd occasionally indulge in ice cream and cookies, but nowhere near as much as with Kaytin. Gain the weight slowly, I told myself, gain "good" weight. And I did! I had a very steady weight gain with Caleb. Nothing out of the ordinary until the last 8 weeks. I have no idea what the heck happened. As soon as I started in on my every two week appointments, I continued to gain as if I was weighing in once a month! What was happening?! I freaked out a bit and tried to eat even better to no avail. I was weighed on the day I gave birth and the grand total was 40 lbs. Ugh.

Now let me explain...I was quite active while pregnant with both of my children. With Kaytin I walked almost everyday until my shoes no longer fit due to the lovely swelling I endured. With Caleb I didn't walk as much, but had an active 3 year old to keep up with. Still, my body apparently loves to be pregnant and gain gain gain!

Breastfeeding is quite the workout in itself and did you know that you burn like 500 calories just making milk? Awesome. Apparently those 500 calories are not enough to make a 31 year old woman lose all of her pregnancy weight. Darn. So here I am, 10 weeks later, recovered enough to start being active again, trying to lose those last 15 lbs. I have figured out that the weight no longer just "drops off" (is it something about turing 30?) and I actually have to work at losing it. So today I went to my first exercise class post baby. Oh. My. Goodness. I thought I was going to pass out. It was a fun class...kickboxing/cardio/weights...and free! Halfway through the class I thought to myself, I hope Wes can call in sick tomorrow because I don't know if I'll be able to lift Caleb! hahaha!! I'm typing this now since I probably won't be able to lift my arms enough to reach the keyboard in the next couple of days. :)

But all in all, I felt great after that workout. It felt nice to actually be out and active again. It must be that adrenaline high or something. ;) Wes keeps trying to get me to try out this P90X workout, as well. He's got the DVD's or something. We'll see. Let me recover first. Really, though, wish me luck in trying to get this extra weight off by Christmas!