Monday, June 27, 2011

Body after baby

Move that body: 45-minute treadmill workout and 15-minute upper body set

On the one day I felt good last week, I headed to the library to pick up a couple books I had seen mentioned on the blogosphere - “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite” and “Body For Life.”

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I was interested in “The End of Overeating” because you don’t manage to become 245 pounds by eating fruits and nuts in tiny portions. Overeating is always something I’m going to have to battle and be mindful of, I think, and a little insight might help. As for BFL? I’m on the search for a program to follow post-baby to keep me motivated and get me into shape.

On my way back to the stacks, I took a moment to peruse the library’s picks and new releases. One of which just happened to be “How to Exercise When You’re Expecting: For the 9 months of Pregnancy and the 5 Months It Takes to Get Your Best Body Back.”

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Yeah, I found it a little late.

I haven’t really read it read it as I’m already 9 months pregnant but I have paged through to see what I should be doing now and what I should be doing in a few short weeks.

Now? At 38 weeks, I should be doing 20 minutes of light cardio a day with no intervals. Bah! This morning’s workout involved a 3-2-1 interval (3 minutes easy, 2 minutes moderate, 1 minute hard). The “3” was walking, no incline; “2” walking with incline; "1” fast walking with incline. Just call me a rule breaker.

Later? The plan has you working your core, following a “Postnatal Boot Camp” DVD and focusing on strength – 3 days versus the 1-2 for cardio. Everything seems pretty, well, easy and a lot less strenuous than I would anticipate – and less than I’ve been doing now. Well, except for the whole core thing (there are modified exercises to do earlier in pregnancy detailed in the book).

I will say that the book does have some interesting workouts to do with the stroller if you take the baby for a walk in the park and feel like making an ass out of yourself working hard. Surprise, surprise, though – I think I’d just rather run with the stroller in the park.

I’m pretty sure the book is going back to the library very shortly but I’m excited to page through BFL as I’ve read about other bloggers’ experiences. I probably won’t follow the eating plan as I have already scoped out WW meetings but the exercise part should be interesting.

Have you tried BFL? Do you like following a program or prefer doing it on your own?

6 comments:

  1. When I lived in VA (and they occur in other parts of the country) there was a mommy's stroller aerobics and toning class on the beach. I'm not sure if you google it you can find anything, but there are thousands of interesting fitness moves they did with the stroller. I know you are soooo looking forward to returning to running - I'm looking forward to following that return!!! I know you're going to rock the whole "come back" since you've been so dedicated during the pregnacny!

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  2. What I like about the BFL is they give you an easy schedule to follow and it encourages you to do strength training. I used to try to pile on my arms workout after running, and found myself exhausted.

    This plan evens it all out. Building muscles helps burn the calories and tone you up.

    I am reading Dara Torres autobiography and I quote... "My stomach was flat" after giving birth. May her experience inspire you!

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  3. When I first lost a significant amount of weight 11 years ago I did body for life diet for about a month, but not the workout portion, which I heard works really well. It worked really well, but you really have to find different ways to work the food or else you get bored. I think the food would actually go along with the new weight watchers plus point program pretty well. I don't know how the diet would go if you were planning on breast feeding though. I know when I was nursing my body was really finicky about the kind of calories I was eating.
    It's great that you are coming up with a plan before you have the baby, that will make it so much easier!

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  4. I think we must be sharing a brain in these last few weeks. I've been thinking about my post-baby routine. I haven't tried BFL but I've heard good things about it. I really want to get the Insanity workout DVDs.

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  5. I haven't tried BFL, I just kind of did my own thing.

    Just try to be patient - some of the weight comes off right away, but some of those pounds are stubborn!

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  6. I pretty much do my own thing. I stayed pretty active during pregnancy like you and had no problem after having the baby. I doubt you will either. I think it helps to like running so much ;)

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