First, I have to admit...I am so disappointed in myself. Prior to pregnancy, I lost 30 pounds, and it felt great! I started working out at the end of the June 2023 because I went to my annual doctor's appointment and my glucose was too high (in the prediabetes stage). My doctor stated I had six months to change things or she was recommending medication. I wasn't trying to get on any other medication because I already have high blood pressure and take enough to manage it.
So, I started working out at least an hour and half to two hours six days a week. Once I got into the groove of things, it became so easy for me to just do it and not feel as though it was a drained or a must do activity. It literally became a part of my lifestyle. I would get up in the morning, get a couple of bottles of water and head to our make shift in house gym with my Amazon Music.
I did a mixture of exercises to work out my entire body. I also had a trainer previously and some of the things we did stuck with me. But one workout I enjoyed was Body Pump. Usually, I would go to a gym that hosts it, but once I found out that you can find some of their exercise routines online, I figured what reason did I have to go to the gym? I purchased the equipment needed from Amazon and did the routines at home. It was perfect. Body Pump helped me years ago when I was in grad school back in 2012. I shaved off several pounds going to the workout classes. I'm 10+ years older, so my body isn't the same, but the exercises still helped.
Now in addition to the working out, my eating habits also changed. I cut out unnecessary sugars (candy, ice cream, cookies, cake, even bread honestly, juice, and anything else that wasn't good for me). I did continue to eat certain starches to have a decent glucose. I also did not eat after 8 pm or before 11 am/12 pm (I normally finished my workout in the morning within that time). I increased my water intake and made sure I went to bed at a decent time.
Once, I found out I was pregnant, I stopped all exercising immediately, but continued to stick with my eating habits (but that changed at least by Thanksgiving which was two months after finding out about the pregnancy). I know I shouldn't have stopped working out (especially since I was at least a month pregnant while working out and didn't know it), but I was very afraid because I was already up in age and with high blood pressure. Clearly, I was just not informed that it was okay for me to continue with what I was doing since my body was already conditioned and familiar with the exercises.
But throughout the pregnancy, I continued with walking and gained a decent amount of weight and still looked small (thankfully). After I had my baby, my weight dropped back down to 151 pounds which was far off from where I began before the pregnancy. I felt good. I felt great and did my best to not to get carried away with my eating habits.
Well, unfortunately here I am nine months later and have gained at least 10 pounds. I'm back to walking at least 30 minutes a day, but I want to gradually get back to my pre-pregnancy work out routine. It's just difficult to do so when you lack sleep and your child's sleeping habits during the day are unpredictable (some times she have cat naps and others she will sleep for a good two hours). And during those times, I just want to sit or sleep because as a new mom I also feel like I'm an entertainer (lol).
I think once I can truly set a good routine for my little one and I, I will be able to get back to working out more consistently.