6 weeks postpartum, keeping it real.

Here I am 6 weeks postpartum and I want to give y'all an update!! Not only so you have an idea of my progress but what women face after children. 

I've seen a lot of comments in regards to progress pictures of pregnant women and their transformations. Comments suggesting it doesn't count or wasn't hard. Let me tell you (and show you) it counts!! Any woman who has reclaimed her figure and fitness level after children worked hard for it!! Pound for pound like any other person. Some women gain weight and change during pregnancy differently than others of course so I will refer to my pregnancy. 

My first two pregnancies I gained 55 pounds. I didn't have a Facebook page then or really many pictures to show you because I didn't want to see it. I lost the weight and eventually took on Figure competitions. If you see my profile picture that was taken when my youngest was 3, it was hard work but I made a transformation. Now with my third pregnancy I let go of a hard earned figure knowing how my body responds to pregnancy. I stayed committed to training and tried not to use the pregnancy as an excuse to over eat. 35 pounds gained this time around and I want to share and show the change a woman's body goes through even after a fit pregnancy. 

Here is a reminder of where I started, this was July (2012), off season in this picture and just enjoying that summer. The bottom right was 36 weeks pregnant this June (2013). 

And now......please don't judge, the pictures are to measure progress only hence my lack or care for appearance. 

The first was the last week of pregnancy, then 1, 3 and 5 weeks postpartum. And my boobs are always huge during pregnancy and the nursing keeps them that way, ugh. 

Being pregnant is beautiful even when you don't feel so. After pregnancy you have your newest blessing and a journey ahead and a decision to make. I'm ready to feel great in clothes again, feel strong again, and maybe eventually step on stage again (bigger and better this time too). When I look in the mirror or try on clothes the thoughts of the long road ahead can become heavy. Stepping into the gym as a beginner again takes a slam at my confidence. And with pounds to lose comes calories to restrict, just like any other person trying to lose weight. It's a journey, a transformation, and a commitment that isn't EASY, for anyone to include a woman who just had a baby. 

So how's it going? 

I can see the changes weekly for the most part. The scale isn't moving quickly but it's progressively going down. I only weigh once a week and focus more on my clothes and training progress. 

I started training consistently about three weeks ago and already I am running faster (pushing the baby of course) and feeling stronger, but the workouts are much harder than they were a year ago. I'm still training at home or the park until baby boy is 8 weeks and able to go into gym childcare. My workouts are 40-50 minutes of weights and total body workouts. I keep my heart rate up with kettle-bell swings, walking lunges, hill sprints or like today the dreaded burpee. Once I'm able to get into the gym I will switch to body part splits with 20 minutes or so of cardio. I wanted to mention with my first two children I mostly ran to burn calories and loose weight, even if it was muscle. This time I want to loose fat but maintain muscle, it may take longer or the scale may not move quickly but I want the body I had not the skinny fat version. 

I started my food diary again last week and that always helps. I'm not stressing about macros just making sure I get enough protein, eat enough calories and don't over eat. I am nursing so I'm not looking to restrict much. I don't want to change EVERYTHING all at once. When my body hits a plateau or gives me a reason I will continue to reassess my nutrition. 

And did I mention? 

I have a new baby!! I'm tired!! So far I get about 6 hours of sleep but only 3 hours at a time, and I know it isn't enough. I'm trying to be patient with my progress, take naps with baby when I can, and be a good mom to my girls and wife to my husband. Cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, meal prepping, training, soccer practice, etc. etc. etc. it's a lot. Finding balance and routine are essential but all of these are my reasons not excuses to be the strong fit mom I know I can be. 

So 6 weeks down and I hope to have more progress to show after the next 6 weeks!! 

Sharing this isn't easy for me but it's the real deal!  I dread taking these pictures but I know it's instrumental to measuring progress and being honest. I will try to do better and be more consistent with the pose of the picture or maybe more to help show progress. 

As always, Love, Sweat, Grit!

Christie FitNix