You know what really irks me? Headlines on magazines like US Weekly with claims like the following: “See How So and So Lost All Her Baby Weight in 10 Days!” or “Celeb X Got Her Pre-Baby Body Back in ONE Month”. You know what I’m talking about. I don’t know if these were actual headlines, but they sure do sound familiar. And okay – it’s true you can lose all the baby weight that fast. As for your body achieving the same shape? For your average Jane without the trainers and nannies, not gonna happen that quickly. It just won’t. That is why I plan to tell all (openly, honestly, and with pictures) here on FFF.

I delivered baby B one week ago. My body looks like this right now.

And it is absolutely perfect. Just how it is. It carried my child for 9.5 months. It nourishes my little man right now. It plays with my beautiful daughter. It is me. It is real. It is beautiful.

Sure, I have fitness goals I want to achieve…but that’s more about caring for myself and doing things I enjoy. I still need to love my body where it’s at in this moment. And I do.

In sharing my “body after baby” journey, I hope to show that it is possible to regain fitness and get back in shape with balance, moderation, and consistency. I want to reflect the reality that it takes time, dedication, and effort but that it can happen.

More important than anything though, I want to express the strength and beauty of our bodies. They can do miraculous things – whether carrying a child or running a mile or hugging a friend. Please love yourself today and every day. I’m beautiful! And you are too.

Question of the Day – What about your body amazes you right now? Remember – be confident!

And for those interested – I shared a link to the sneak peek of Braedon’s newborn photos on my Facebook page. 🙂

Catching up from the weekend? A few fun posts for you:

• How I Scored A Better Deal At The Gym
• My Current Favorite Workouts
• A Fun Survey I Shared
• LAST DAY TO ENTER – CSN Stores Giveaway

Fitness is my passion. Or one of them at least. I love finding new ways to challenge myself physically. It motivates me. It gives me strength. It makes me downright giddy inside. No wonder I anticipate going for such goals again.

I have already discussed the general manner with which I plan to approach fitness after giving birth. I believe shooting for a gradual increase in intensity will help me stay motivated and continue to see improvements. Now, for more specifics!

Weight Training
My heart lies with strength training. I believe it always will. I gain such a sense of accomplishment from seeing my body get stronger and stronger. Plus, there are so many fun ways to mix it up! Listed below are some steps I plan to use for getting back into weights workouts.

1. Light at-home circuit workouts 2-3 days per week.
2. Begin back at the gym with 1 or 2 full body workouts a week, focusing on using machines to reacquaint my muscles with the moves.
3. Ease back into Bodypump style classes 1x/week with the above workouts.
4. Move on to more traditional workouts 3 days per week – adding in more free weights moves. Beginning to add more intensity with things like supersets.
5. Branch out to 4 day workout rotations with a focus on free weights and compound body moves. Add in even more fun and intensity with plyometrics, drop sets, giant sets, and more. Not sure what all that means? Stay tuned and I will be happy to share as I progress to these workouts. We can do them together!

Standard Cardio
Since I love all aspects of fitness, I love cardio as well. The only requirement I have for cardio is that I have a variety. I can’t do machines every workout. Nor can I go to class after class after class and upkeep motivation. I plan to incorporate the following for cardio workouts, rotating them regularly. I have a lot of cardio options, including the running I mention later, but will make sure to not go overboard.

1. At – Home DVDs: Turbo Jam and Cathe Friedrich are my top options currently. I already own them and they never let me down. Cathe tops everything though! She has a great variety with kickboxing workouts, fun step routines, and some great high intensity boot-camp style drill workouts. I LOVE those! Maybe eventually I will get to add Insanity or Turbo Fire to my collection as well.

2. Spinning: That will be the main class I use at the gym since I can do kickbox DVDs at home. Perhaps I will fit in an occasional Zumba as well.

3. Machines: I like to use machines (especially the stepmill) on occasion. Its a fun challenge to switch things up that way and they are great for interval style workouts. Must have a magazine though!

Running
I know running is cardio, but I’ve included it separately. Why? Well, I want to give running a more solid effort. I have always shied away from running because I felt I was no good at it. Now, I realize from blogs that its a personal challenge and I expected too much from myself before. I don’t have to excel at something to feel accomplished doing it.

I want to give it a real chance. I used to love running, but lost sight of it somewhere along the way. I plan to start out with the Couch To 5K program and run my first race ever. Who knows if it will lead to more running? I also have my thoughts on possibly doing a longer distance at the end of the year, depending on how it fits into my overall fitness picture and how much I enjoy it again. That’s all I will say about that for now. Don’t want to get all you running fanatics too excited.

Yoga/Stretching

I know I need to continue focusing on flexibility. I let stretching slip way too often in my past and my body could feel it. I want to make sure I stretch fully after each and every workout. Ideally, I will also manage to fit in yoga 1x/week as well. However, with the gym’s schedule and the cost of yoga studios, that may not be feasible. I will look into options though and do what I can to focus on keeping my muscles limber. Foam rolling will certainly be involved!

So, that’s part two! I’m so ready to get started!!!!

Question of the Day – What workout have you refrained from trying or fully giving a chance because of fear/uncertainty/not feeling good enough?