Morning, friends!! Have you entered my giveaway yet? If you missed it, check it out!

For today’s posts, I planned a little Q + A on how I am handling my “Body After Baby” progress. You all shared so many great questions! So, I will post the first round of questions now and a second one early this evening to help you digest all my ramblings. 😉 Please remember that I am sharing from my own personal experience! Also, if working towards your own fitness/body goals, never lose sight of honoring your body and the fact you are wonderfully made!

Q: Do you count calories? If so, how many do you try to eat?
I do loosely track calories. I don’t weigh, measure, and track everything I eat by any means, but I do have a ballpark idea of how many to eat while losing weight. I try to keep each meal around 500 calories with some 200-300 calorie snacks thrown in. I counted calories for so many years, that I can usually pretty easily figure out my totals without tracking religiously. I think this works as a healthy balance to eat appropriate portions for my goals, without feeling overwhelmed or restricted.

As for how many I eat – on average 2300-2500 per day (usually around 2000-2200 on weekdays with closer to 3000 on weekends). This allows me to lose on average one pound or so per week. This is of course a completely personal number and not completely accurate as I don’t track things meticulously. I hesitated to share this number, but decided to because I want to show that you can (and should!) eat and can still manage weight loss. I may be nursing, but even accounting for that, I would still be consuming 1800-2000 comparatively. You do not have to severely restrict. Eat healthy, nutritious foods consistently. It works.

How many times do you aim to workout in a week?
I workout 6 days per week right now. I always make certain to get at least one full rest day each week and will also always add in extra rest as my body needs (like this week with my sore back). I do three days of running, two spin classes, and a few weight workouts each week. You can see updates of my workouts on my Fitness page too!

What do you do to flatten your tummy?
Planks!!! I love planks and believe they provide the best abs workout out there. I don’t do abs workouts regularly because so many other moves (running, lifting weights, kickboxing, etc) naturally work the core. I do add in planks when I can though and I believe they help me a lot.

What are some big nutritional do’s and dont’s while nursing?
My doctors advised me that I can eat normally, but to pay attention to how it affects my child as some foods (beans, chocolate, cruciferous veggies) cause discomfort to the baby. Luckily, baby B seems to have a stomach of steel now and I can eat whatever. I do focus on eating ENOUGH though. I know from experience that you have to eat and stay hydrated to produce milk. Also, certain things help production like wheat germ, flaxseeds, oats, plenty of fat, etc. My Tropical Flax bars are a good fit!

I notice when women leave the hospital, they still look pregnant. How long does it take for that pregnant ‘bump’ to deflate?
It varies, but the pregnant pooch certainly lasts at least 6 weeks as the uterus has not returned to normal size until then. And that area of the body stretched and went through a lot during pregnancy, so it may not ever return to fully flat. But that is 100% okay because you did one of the most amazing things out there!

• I did not get the chance to read a single blog yesterday…so, tell me something going on with you. 🙂
• Let me know if you have any additional questions!

I did something exciting yesterday…

I’m now officially registered for my first race! My first 5K in just 5 short weeks from tomorrow. FIVE! That will be here in the blink of an eye. It’s already been six weeks on the Couch to 5K program after all.

Over the last 6 weeks I have really grown to love running again. Yes, again. Back in high school I loved to run. I wanted to join the cross country team, but couldn’t because of cheerleading. I would even go on some training runs with friends on the team. Then, I fell off the exercise bandwagon in college and never went back to running when I finally embraced working out again. I never felt like I did it well enough.

Now, I recognize how its all about the personal challenge. I love having that sense of accomplishment with each run because each run brings a new challenge. That’s why I knew I had to get out and try something different for yesterday’s run. So, I donned my 4all by jofit jacket to brace the chill and took my run to the great outdoors!

I had very low expectations for this workout. After all, running outdoors has a lot more going on than on a treadmill. In an attempt to keep it as simple as possible, I first headed to a local greenway trail for a flat, out and back, no thinking required run. Umm, it was closed. I headed to the gym and almost just went in for the treadmill, but had anticipated running outdoors all day. So, I went for it.

Once I got going I felt so good. I actually scrapped the Couch to 5K workout plan because I didn’t want the walking break. I just wanted to run. So you can imagine my surprise when, without even trying, I ended up with 3.2 miles in 29:35!!!

Oh, ^ that ^. Someone in our house *cough cough – Peter* can’t pass up a deal on techy equipment when he finds one. So, I am the proud owner of one of these bad boys despite my original intent to wait for one. I’m not complaining. I think its going to be a very useful tool for me. Plus, its fun to see things like this:

• Mile 1 = 9:10
• Mile 2 = 9:30
• Mile 3 = 9:05
• Mile 3 – 3.2 = 1:50
• Average Pace = 9:15/mile <—I think that comes from a combo of wanting out of the chilly air and having to pee! It’s the only rational thing!

I honestly felt amazing the entire time. I think I had a cheesy smile plastered to my face because it just felt so good. I can’t wait to run outdoors again! 

Although it did make me quite hungry. I cam home and immediately devoured two of the following:

Black beans, corn, cheese, salsa, lettuce, and a bit of our cow-share beef on whole wheat tortillas. Super simple and delicious. I love taco night!

One last thing. I created an account on Daily Mile for workout inspiration and tracking of my workouts.

Click to add me as a friend! I would love to share the motivation. 🙂

And yes, I know I have clearly fallen hard for running. Don’t judge!

Question of the Day – Have you ever quickly fallen in love? How did it turn out? I think I have a good gut knowing whether or not I’ll love something for the long haul. It’s always worked for me – my marriage, deciding to have kids, passion for weight training, blogging, and hopefully now running.