Back at work -10 weeks postpartum

 I went back to work last week and I'm still adjusting to my work schedule. In my last post I discussed that I was still in the honeymoon stage with my running. Some of that warm fuzzy feeling has worn off but, overall things are going well. I did my first long run last Friday afternoon. It was 6 miles and it was really hard. It wasn't so bad while I was running but the next day my legs were dead. I'm carrying extra baby weight, so hauling around an extra 25lbs isn't easy.

Speaking of weight... When I gave birth to my son two years ago I assumed that because I was breastfeeding  that the pregnancy weight would fall right off. I made plenty of excuses for eating poorly. When my son turned a year old we threw a birthday party to celebrate. When I saw the pictures from the party I was horrified by how I looked.  It motivated me to join Weight Watchers. I lost most but, not all of the baby weight. Then I became pregnant with my next child. I didn't gain as much pregnancy weight this time around but, I still gained about 35lbs.

36 weeks pregnant

Last weekend with the kids

 I'm done having children and I really want my old runner body back.

I didn't want to wait until my daughter turned a year old before I did something about it. However, I did decide to hold off on dieting until I was at least 8 weeks postpartum to make sure my milk supply was well established. I couldn't afford to join Weight Watchers this time around but, I found an app on my tablet that tracks food points. I also have a friend at work that will weigh me in once a week to keep me accountable. My starting weight was 150lbs!! (That's a lot when you are only 5 feet even). The first week I think I was a little too extreme with my calorie cutting. I lost three pounds right away. It felt great to lose that much, but my milk supply decreased. I've had to add in  some extra carbohydrates to keep up my milk supply. I also have to be happy with only losing a pound or two a week. At first I was embarrassed to admit how much I weigh on this blog. But, I want to be held accountable and seeing it written makes it real.

My running has been a great outlet for me,  even though it's harder than it used to be  I really look forward to the physical and emotional release that it gives me. I'm only able to run about 4 times a week.  I have a pretty rigid schedule between dropping my kids off at daycare, work, visiting my daughter on my lunch break, work, commute home, eat dinner, family time, sleep, rinse and repeat.  About twice a week I get both kids in the car 30 minutes early so I can get a quick run in before work. It's not ideal but, it's better than nothing. On Friday afternoons I get off of work early so I plan on making that a long run day. Sunday will be my other long run day.

Last but, not least I finally bought myself a Garmin!! I got the basic Forerunner 10 model. It doesn't have too many bells and whistles. It just keeps track of your distance and time. I like the fact that it is pretty easy to use.