The Long Hiatus

I don't normally drink two cups of coffee in the mornings because I like a little coffee with my cream and sugar, but today is different. Today, I begin blogging again. Some of you may have realized I haven't updated in...well...about nine months or so. Basically, it's really hard to get your body back while growing a baby. Seriously. You aren't going to slim down or lose weight and frankly I didn't have the energy most of the time to even walk around the block much less try to go to the gym. Besides, the days were shorter with daylight savings time, one of my projects at work was in full swing, and in case you forgot, I have a 2 1/2 year old running around destroying my house on a daily basis. I also grow big babies. That means almost ten pounders and nearly two feet long when they are born. That also means I show earlier than many pregnant women and I gain around 30-35 pounds. To sum that up, I am short of breath sooner, I have more weight to move around and I tire more easily. It all sounds like excuses until you experience it yourself. Trust me! But all that aside, I've been itching to get active again. I'm almost two weeks postpartum but I've been missing the gym for well over a month now. I'm just waiting for the doctor to ok me working out again. I've also missed eating healthy. I know. I know. I should have been doing that all along but if you've never been pregnant then you don't really understand how much you crave all the bad food that tastes so good. (Chips and salsa anyone? Sugar? ...Curse you sugar!) I still have to be extremely careful with what I eat since I am breastfeeding. (Yey for burning an additional 500 calories a day just by feeding my kid!) I don't want to restrict calories since I need those to maintain my milk supply and I don't want to get too crazy with high protein since a balanced diet is best to maintain the fatty quality my milk needs in order to properly nourish baby 2.1. However, there are small steps I have made to ensure I'm eating better than I was. For example, greek yogurt with granola and a piece of fruit for breakfast (usually a banana). Lunch is typically extremely quick these days since Baby Man's feeding schedule is roughly 1 1/2 hour cycles. So, I've been eating a lot of sandwiches and leftovers lately. I always eat 100% whole wheat bread and add minimally processed fresh sliced deli meat and then a non processed cheese along with some berries and sometimes some carrots for crunch. I won't lie, I love BBQ or sour cream and onion chips ON my sandwich so that's usually what I do. Dinner consists of whatever is quick and easy but with as few processed foods as we can manage. Speaking of dinner, we have been doing so well with not eating out. Even before the new baby arrived. Mostly because I really got the itch to start cooking again when we went on vacation. I can thank our friend's for that. We saved a ton of money by eating two meals at the house the week we were out of town and I learned a few tricks for cooking different foods. Learning how to mix it up really helps with keeping meals from getting stagnant and that's something I struggle with. Now, I'm about to be transparent. If you've read my bio you know my body snapped back effortlessly after baby number uno. Silly me expected a repeat performance but there are some slight flaws with that mentality. 1) I'm older. Skin just isn't as elastic three years later. 2) We are talking about baby number two. And baby number two that was just as big weight wise as his big brother. I'm eight pounds up from my pre-pregnancy weight. I don't think I look that heavy to everyone else but let me be honest, I've got a little belly pooch that frankly, may never go away. It might. It might not. I may never look like I did prior to my second baby but I'm mostly ok with that. Notice, I didn't say perfectly. Because really, who is? We are our own worst critic. All I can promise to do it live a healthy life and be a good example for my family. Feed them and myself right and be active. If I have the "dreaded" pooch for the rest of my life then so be it. I have two beautiful boys that make it 100% worth it. I may never be able to wear the cute clothes I bought and wore a short time before finding out I was pregnant again. So be it. Maybe someone will benefit from some name brand, slightly used clothing at a cheap price (or free). I don't have body image issues and developing them now is the worst thing I could do to myself, my family and my friends. Learning to love my body that I've been blessed with is a much better model then constantly cursing it. My goal is to be a great example. Eat right. Exercise. Be an encourager and a listener when needed. Walk the walk and talk the talk. That's what the people in my life need to see and hear. So, here's to a new journey and a new chapter!