As mentioned in my last post, I wanted to get into more detail about how I’ve gotten back into shape after baby #2. Clara is 9 months now, and thankfully I was able to start working out 4 weeks post-baby due to an uncomplicated birth, and quicker recovery. Don’t get me wrong, my workouts weren’t the most consistent at first due to lack of sleep. I’ve always found I can’t function too well on less than 6 hours of sleep, so once she starting waking less in the night, I had the energy to be more consistent. This time around, that was when she was around 3 months old.

I really wish I took more pictures post-baby, but I wasn’t too keen on squeezing into one of my old bikini’s 😉 But this is the last photo I took while preggo…I gave birth the next day.

I tend to not gain much weight in my upper body. Most of it goes to my hips, butt and thighs.

Here’s the most recent picture I have, taken a couple of weeks ago on vacation…

Here is one of just my abs from about a month ago. Thought I should show this area as that’s what stretches the most!

To get to this point, I first wanted to explain my philosophy on the whole concept of “dieting”.

Me? I don’t even use the word “diet”, so I don’t consider myself on a diet. As soon as I lost that word in my vocabulary, getting fit was was easier and less complicated. In my opinion, restriction, and using the word “diet” causes cravings. Unnecessary cravings that wouldn’t even exist if you weren’t on a “diet”.

I don’t count calories either. For me, it leads to an unnecessary obsession and makes food a lot less enjoyable. Could I get a bit better results if I counted every calorie? Probably. But I’m more concerned about being comfortable in my skin and feeling confident in a bikini. I no longer compete, so I’m not following a specific diet plan.

Years ago, my old mentality for getting in shape was, “Eat less and do more cardio”. I’ve definitely flipped that, now that I’m more educated on nutrition and exercise. I now follow the method of, “Eat more, do less cardio”. Not saying I don’t do cardio, because I do. But I focus more on weight training, and do interval cardio that gets my heart rate high (heart rate of 175+) and for no longer than 25 minutes per session.

My formula is simple. Get to the gym 5 days a week (sometimes 4), and bust my ass. I’m never at the gym longer than 1 hr 15 minutes.

An example week might look like this:

Monday – Legs (no additional cardio)

Wednesday – Shoulders & Abs (25 min interval cardio after)

Friday – Back & Abs (25 min interval cardio after)

Saturday – Legs Part 2

Sunday – Biceps/Triceps & Abs (25 min interval cardio after)

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I find the leg workouts the longest, and usually my legs are toast, so I don’t do additional cardio after. I do my own routines that I create myself, but more recently, I’ve been following workouts on http://www.joeydfitness.com/ through his basic membership. Challenging, but great! If you’re looking for something free, LiveFit Trainer on Bodybuilding.com is awesome.

As for my eating, this is what a typical day looks like:

Breakfast – 6 egg whites with kale & 1 turkey sausage, 2 slices gluten free toast (lately, Silver Hills GF Omega Flax) OR 1 whole egg, 4-5 whites with 2 slices toast or oatmeal. OR Sometimes it will be a protein pancake.

Snack – Homemade protein bar, or if I’m in a pinch, store-bought. Quest bars are great, and I also get these from Costco sometimes even though they aren’t the healthiest.

Lunch – Different everyday. Usually a salad with chicken, or some yam, chicken & veggies, or leftovers from dinner the night before.

Snack – Whey protein shake with a bit of frozen strawberry or other fruit thrown in.

Dinner – Protein and veggies. Usually some sort of dinner recipe. I usually don’t have extra starchy carbs here. But I do sometimes. I love pizza, but usually I have it on a tortilla.

After-Dinner Snack – Non-fat greek yogurt, stevia drops added, with a spoonful of granola on top. Or protein pudding (1 scoop protein mixed with a bit of unsweet almond milk, and a tsp of peanut butter). Sometimes,  I like to have popcorn. Air popped with a bit of organic butter on top.

My Other Tendencies:

– I don’t have cheat days. I don’t believe in them.  If I want something, I just have it. I don’t eat an entire chocolate bar, but I’ll have 3-5 squares. I definitely choose healthier foods over fat laden, rich meals, and creamy sauces, but I’ve always been that way.

– I take in more protein now than I used to. I make sure I have protein with every meal/snack. *FYI, I consider beans a carb, not a protein. From most women I’ve worked with, most are seriously lacking protein. You don’t need a bunch of starchy carbs like bread/pasta all the time. I also get adequate healthy fats. Low -fat everything will just leave you hungry.

– When I’m hungry, I eat something! I don’t starve myself at all. I may even eat more in a day than listed above, it just depends on how my hunger is. If I need an extra snack, I may just have an apple cut up and dip it in a bit of peanut butter.

– Eating at a restaurant, I typically choose seafood, chicken, a salad, but I never choose pasta. Pasta totally bloats me, so I never eat regular pasta. If I do, its brown rice pasta.

– Eat until you’re satisfied, not full. If you feel like you could go for a walk immediately after eating, you’re good. If you feel like you want to just hit the couch, you’ve probably eaten too much.

– We eat red meat once a week (organic ground beef or organic steak), pork rarely (it bothers my stomach)

– We eat fish 1-2 times a week, the rest of the time its chicken and ground turkey, and we go meatless 1x per week (usually tofu).

Well I guess those are my secrets….if you can call them that. I just call it eating, working hard and not over-analyzing!

No magic formula, so don’t bother wasting your time and money on diets that don’t work, or ones you can’t stick to!  

It really bothers me when I see new moms getting taken advantage of, and promised incredible results. You really have to make sure you will put the time in for yourself, and stop making excuses. You will always be tired and short on time. Find a gym with childcare and use it, or ask for help with babysitting if you have family nearby. Go to the gym when your partner is home, and go every weekend. Heck, my husband travels a lot with work, so much of the time I’m a solo-Mom, but I still manage to get in workouts 4 times a week when he’s gone. I take both girls to the gym daycare 3x a week, or workout in the evening when my husband is home. If you’re a full time working mommy, you can still do it…you just have to plan it out.

Hope this inspires some of you to keep at it, or to help get ya going!

As always, leave a comment with any questions 😉