It has been 2 months and I am slowly accomplishing my goals. Finding the time to squeeze in my workouts has been the hardest obstacle for me but I DO find it. Remember, I have triplets that just turned 3 months old. I have to wash and prepare 21 bottles a day, do about a load of laundry a day and still manage to keep the house clean. It IS possible to stay in shape and recovery from pregnancy. If I can do it after 2.5 months of bedrest, 70+ pounds, and 3 newborn babies anyone can! Here is my progress report from the past few months.Walking/Jogging - I get in about 3-4 runs every week. The babies eat at 10:00 AM. By 10:30 I pack them in the strollers and we are off. There is a ~4 mile running trail around my house. We started by jogging 1 min, walking 2 min, and I gradually increased my jogging time and decreased my walking time until I could jog the entire 4 miles. I have just enough time to shower before the babies next feeding at 1 PM. The first few times I went from walking to jogging, was no fun. My ankles hurt, my knees felt weak and I had severe back pain the next morning. After 2 months, the pain has drastically improved.
Cycling - I try to get in 1-2 cycle workouts/week. I usually squeeze these in when the babies nap in the afternoon. At first I could only accomplish 20 min. of light spinning before gasping for breath. I couldn't believe I use to teach hour long spin classes. However, I know the body adjusts to the demands you place on it so I've stuck with it. I have gradually worked up to 40-45 min. of intense spinning and 15 min. into my workout, I LOVE IT!
Weight training - I try to do a few resistance exercises 1-2x/week. This usually consists of using my babies as weights (see above). As they grow, I am getting stronger and they continue to overload my muscles. I usually do lunges, squats, chest press and shoulder presses.
Sit-ups - I have severe muscle separation due to my belly's gigantic size during my pregnancy. I may require surgery down the road to fix this problem. Therefore, I am limited to what I am able to do with my core, i.e. crunches are off limits. This poses a problem because a weak core leads to back problems, which I struggle with daily. I can do stationary strengthening exercises like planks and pilates. I try to do a little something for my core and lower back every night. My abdominal healing and strengthening will be a long process although my back does feel better each week.
I still have about 7 pounds to lose. I lost the first 15 rather quickly once I started working out and following a strict eating plan. The last few weeks things have slowed down despite my diet and intense workouts. I have only lost about 1 pound every few weeks. This is to be expected as my body and metabolism adjust. Despite the standstill on the scale, my clothes are beginning to fit better. I can now wear most of my pre-pregnancy pants, my arms are much more defined and my belly is SLOWLY shrinking. Since I was enormous the last few weeks of my pregnancy, my abdominal skin may never bounce back. Therefore, as my tummy shrinks, I have a lot of lose skin. My abs are basically non-existant so I am having to adjust to looking at a bowl of jelly in the mirror rather than a defined 6-pack. This is all part of the process.
I will continue to update as I strive to reach my goals. I still have some weight to lose and by in a few months, I want to run that 5 K! I sit here typing this as I bounce a baby. It is almost feeding time and I have a workout to get to. More updates to come...
