Finding My Motivation Again!

So, as promised previously, here comes the ‘Mommy Fitness’ section of my blog! I have been procrastinating in getting this started because once I start blogging about it I’ll have to be accountable! That’s not a bad thing though, it should help keep me motivated and maybe I will stick to my workouts better! Because I run a day-home, I am always busy watching my kids and other people’s kids from 7 am till 7 pm sometimes! After they leave, I have to get my kids ready for bed, clean my house, (which is usually destroyed) and try to get some ME time in after that. Sometimes this seems impossible! In addition to my day-home, I’ve also been helping my hubby start a business from the ground up, which has been proving to be a lot of work. My challenge lately, is trying to make the time to work out, when I am physically and mentally exhausted! But I am going to try!

Ummm, sometimes i'm not so sure that is possible!

So, here’s my fitness story! I have always enjoyed being active, I played soccer for years as a kid and then in university I started doing gym workouts. I love to work out, eat healthy, and feel the extra energy that comes from living a physically active lifestyle. After having 2 kids, I had to really work to get back into pre-baby shape. With K-aos I gained 70lbs, as a result of eating so many double cheeseburgers from McDonalds, (extra pickles no onions) and cereal bowls full of ice cream. I hadn’t intended to gain so much weight, but by the end of my pregnancy I was gaining 10lbs a week. My family doctor kept asking, “What are you eating? You have to stop drinking so much juice!” blah blah blah! I did what many women do during their first pregnancy and ate whatever I wanted. I have always been a “skinny bitch” as my momma calls me (she is just joking around) so I wasn’t worried about it! I actually lost the 70lbs relatively quick after K-aos was born; she was after all an 8lb baby. When I was prego with Little J, I gained 55lbs. I ate a lot healthier for that pregnancy, but despite my healthier efforts I still gained a lot of weight! He was a 9.5 lb. baby. Thank goodness for C-sections! J After Little J’s birth, I struggled much more to lose the baby weight this time. I was crazy busy with my 2 kids; however, the belly bulge just above the C-section scar remained. So, it was time to do something about it! For my New Year’s resolution (2012), I resolved to get in good shape. I started off by cutting out all the junk, white bread (Only wholegrain bread), and Pepsi (this one was hard!). I also started doing Turbo Jam again. I am such an advocate for this one! Turbo jam first caught my attention on a silly infomercial, but I was sold! I did the ‘Ab Jam’ dvd everyday (it’s a 20 minute workout) and the ‘20 minute’ workout dvd. Occasionally, I did the Cardio Party dvd; however, not as often because of all the kicks involved (I have wonky knees!). I also did some weight training in our home gym, but nothing crazy. After 2 weeks, I was addicted to working out again, and at my strongest I was doing and insane amount of ab work everyday, 300 jumping jacks, 40 pushups(in a row) and a lot more bodyweight workouts (check out body rock too)!

Confession: This winter I lost it! :( I indulged in far too much delivery pizza and chicken wings. I still ate healthy for the most part, but those late night cravings for delivery won me over. I have slowly stopped doing my dvds, and have barely gone to hot yoga. So it’s time to kick it in to high gear again. I CAN DO THIS! :S

This time I have more specific goals that I want to put into place:

Let’s start with some ‘naggy tasks’, that I have been intending on doing for a long time, and just haven’t bothered doing.

Naggy task 1: Although I am pretty skinny; I like to be strong and slim. I have a hard time putting muscle on my legs because of my knees (my knees turn in). So, one of those ‘naggy tasks’ that I have been meaning to do for a long time (but I keep putting off), is to meet with an orthopedist. I am positive that with the right orthotics that I can start fixing this wonky knee issue and have more success with running and putting some meat on my legs J

Naggy task 2: I have had some stomach issues basically my whole life, IBS runs in my family, and many things can cause my stomach to ache and bloat (bell peppers, milk, onions etc.). I would really like to pinpoint what is causing all my crazy stomach bloat. I can go from having a really flat tummy one minute and then look like I am 6 months pregnant within a matter of minutes. Last year, when I was working out like crazy, I was taking Iso-Sensations natural flavored protein. I noticed that my stomach was bloating all the time. After buying several buckets of that protein, I decided to switch it up (even though the Iso-Sensations one was $30.00 cheaper). The only difference between the new protein I bought and the old one, was that it’s lacking a gluten based glutamine peptide product, which can cause celiac symptoms. The IsoFlex protein, I can use with relatively no bloat. So, I am thinking maybe I have a gluten sensitivity, which I have been worried about for a while. So, it’s time to meet with a nutritionist or a doctor to have a gluten allergy test done. I am almost 30 years old, so it’s about time that I got my digestive issues figured out!

Besides my ‘naggy tasks’ that I need to do: here are some other fitness goals and things I would like to do, that will aid me in getting into my best shape yet!

·         Do more yoga: (I love hot yoga, but I have slacked off! I find it’s great for my stress and for my flexibility, so hot yoga here I come!)

·         Bike more: I have a great bike that I haven’t used yet this spring, simply because it has 2 flats. Apparently I need a “chuck” or whatever that is. So, I am going to figure this out!

·         Buy new sneakers: I would love to have a new pair of trainers and a pair of runners, mine are in brutal shape. I guess I will wait until I see an orthopedist before I take on this one though.

·         Start a reward program for myself: For example, if I get ‘X’ number of good workouts in, maybe I will splurge and get some new workout clothes. You know it’s true what they say, if you look good and feel good about yourself when you are working out, then you tend to give better workouts. I am pretty sure Oprah said this at one point. Haha

Where I was last year this time, and where i want to be again!

Well there you have it! I’m ready to start getting into shape again, and this time I am going to tackle the challenges I was facing before. I am going to do posts about my progress and my struggles. You may find that I post things about healthy eating as well! We’ll see! I hope that I can make the time to do it.. Please feel free to leave comments on my posts and share your fitness challenges and stories as well! I am always looking for pointers so please feel free to share! If you have advice on making more time to work out, I could use that too!!!    

xo Amy