It’s been six months since Maia was born – time to check in with my post partum fitness journey! When I started this blog and called it “Fit City Mum” I worried I was jinxing it. I wasn’t even pregnant and had no idea if I would be and whether my aspirations to stay fit and healthy during and after my pregnancy would even happen. Whether I’d even become a mum. In my worse case scenario we wouldn’t be able to conceive, our relationship would fall apart and I would get depressed (and fat). Sounds stupid, I know, but the human mind works in mysterious ways…
In my best case scenario I would get pregnant, I would have a healthy pregnancy and baby, I would recover well from my pregnancy and labour continuing on my fitness journey, and we would get married. I cannot believe it but I’ve been living my best case scenario!! 🙏
I am so proud of myself, and not ashamed to admit it, for sticking to my plan and staying active during and after pregnancy. Especially working out during my pregnancy required a change of attitude to exercise for my (and the baby’s) health rather than for a certain physique or weight because obviously no matter what I did I got bigger every week hah! Now I feel healthy and happy, fitter and stronger every week! I was prepared to have a different body after having a baby and in some ways I suppose it is, but I love it just as it is!
I have of course always put my baby first, but I’ve tried to put my own wellbeing second making sure that when I have the energy and the opportunity I will take the time to do a quick workout at home or go for a walk with Maia.
Doing something physical is so important not only for my physical wellbeing but also mental. Doing what I’ve always loved doing has also helped me to cope with the huge life changing events I’ve gone through in the past year (a career oriented “City Girl” turned into a mum on maternity leave). Exercising makes me feel like myself even when everything else is changing. I like to be in control but although my pregnancy was planned it was still sort of happening to me and I wasn’t in control at all nor driving the process. I found exercising during pregnancy empowering. I wasn’t a “victim of pregnancy” but I was still physically strong and capable. My feelings about postnatal exercise have been similar.
My 1-6 months post partum training in summary:
- 1-2 months post partum: daily walks pushing the pram, pelvic floor exercises, some home yoga and stretching
- 2-4 months post partum: 1-3 weekly Mum & Baby yoga and fitness classes, daily pram/sling walks with ankle weights, occasional gym workouts
- 5-6 months post partum: Kayla Itsines BBG programme at home including three 28-minute resistance circuits per week, daily pram/sling walks. (Click here to read more.) Recently I added to my routine 15-minute HIIT blasts with a skipping rope a few times a week. I’m now on my week 12/12 of the BBG 1 programme and a dedicated post on the results is coming!
Sometimes I get comments from other mums about how lucky I am to have a flat tummy after a baby and how they’ve struggled with the baby weight… I try to be very careful with what I say in these situation because 1. It’s a very sensitive topic to most women 2. Every body is different. Depending on the situation I may not say this aloud but it’s not luck. It’s consistency and dedication to healthy and active lifestyle. I know it sounds boring and an exciting new quick fix would be more interesting, but there simply isn’t one…
Regardless of how our bodies look like, before or after pregnancy, we should love them as they are at any given moment. When I look at my pictures I don’t think “ewww I was so big” or “my post baby belly was so soft and squishy” although yes I was big and yes I had a squishy belly after Maia was born. I look at my pictures and see the happy smile in each photo: The excited mum-to-be stroking her belly, the new mum squeezing her little bundle of joy and the more experienced mum with her 1/2 year old baby. Maybe I would have smiled even more had I known that I will reach my goal of getting back in shape and feeling and looking like “my old self” again. But would we ever work so hard to reach our goals if we knew in advance we’d reach them?!
Possibly for the first time in my life my happiness has not depended at all on the number on the scales. In the past 12 months my body has been so many different shapes and sizes I have had to learn to embrace it. It’s been an important lesson to learn!
Exercising because you hate your body and want to change it isn’t the best mindset. It’s a pretty toxic one actually. Turning it around to “taking care of yourself because you deserve it” is so much better! And you can be happy throughout the process rather than have your happiness become conditional of your dress size. This attitude has helped me to enjoy my post partum journey!
I haven’t gone crazy with exercising but instead I do what I enjoy on the terms of my baby and her needs. I also haven’t dieted nor counted macros or calories, I simply use common sense and try to eat healthy 80% of the time. Breastfeeding uses up a lot of energy which needs to be replaced and so I do make an effort to get some good nutrients in.
Am I happy in my body now? Yes I am, but I was also happy six months ago! Do I set myself goals and do I feel I can “improve”? Yes of course! I mentioned I try to eat well but based on the changes my body has gone through I could do better. When I got back to more intense training two months ago (the BBG programme) my aim was to increase my fitness level and strengthen and tone my post partum body. I lost muscle and strength during pregnancy and the first months after the baby was born (which is normal) and I wanted to slowly get stronger again. While my fitness level and strength has definitely improved and I have lost some body fat, I haven’t built any muscle. This has resulted in my weight dropping quite low. While I gained 10kg during my pregnancy, I’ve now lost 17kg which has not been intentional.
I’m not surprised though because the training programme I do at home is not designed to build muscle (light resistance, high intensity). Also I am very active with Maia and still breastfeeding and it’s been quite a challenge to eat enough to replace all the used up energy. However, I feel good and that’s the main thing! I don’t feel low on energy, I enjoy playing with Maia and I love my workouts!
Both fat shaming and skinny shaming is wrong! Healthy and fit looks different to different people, I wish people would understand (and accept) that. Our bodies are the result of our genetic make up and lifestyle. My current mum body is a result of my current mum lifestyle (in addition to genetics). And I love it.
xoxoxo,
Sini