Now that I'm not pregnant anymore, my next goal is to lose the weight that I gained whilst pregnant. I gained about 45 pounds with the twins, which is not at all bad for twins, and is actually 5 pounds less than I gained with T. (When I was pregnant with him, I decided I would eat what I want and not worry about it. Boy, did I pay for that later.) I've lost about 32 of it so far, which leaves me with another 13 that I'd like to lose. I know I shouldn't be so impatient because "they" say that since it takes 9 months to put it on, it will take 9 months to take it off. Blah, blah, blah. I think part of the reason I'm impatient is that before I got pregnant, I actually felt pretty good about where I was, body-wise (minus the stretch marks, of course). I was skinnier than I'd been in a long, long time, but more than that, I was more toned. I had finally found an exercise regimen that was working pretty well and I felt good about my body. With all of the changes that pregnancy/nursing had wreaked on my body, I hadn't been able to say that since before I got pregnant the very first time.
When I was pregnant with the twins, I resolved that I would return to the gym well before the six-week postpartum mark. Then I had the twins and didn't really properly wake up for about a month. Now I'm not quite so bleary-eyed (although getting about the same amount of sleep, so really I've just gotten used to being exhausted) so I decided it was time to return to the gym. But when to go? I used to go early in the morning, around 6:30 or so. Since I'm barely functioning at 8 am these days, early-morning exercise won't be an option for a while yet. I'm not going to take the twins to the gym daycare, so during the day is out as well (plus, I start working again in two weeks, so I'll be busy during the day anyhow). That leaves the evenings. I concluded that the only possibly feasible time would be from between 9-11 pm. Not exactly ideal for getting the maximum benefit from exercising, but oh well.
The first time went fairly well exercise-wise (although I didn't stretch when I got home and paid for it the next day). The babies were pretty well-behaved and dozed most of the time. The second time was tonight. I got the older kids in bed and headed out, telling my husband I would be home before the babies needed to eat again. Little A was asleep and my husband was bouncing little N in the hopes that she'd fall asleep as well. They were both pretty tired, so I thought it would be no problem. An hour later, I come home to find out they'd both been awake and crying the whole time. He hadn't fed them yet because I had told him they wouldn't need to eat until I got home, but he had actually just come upstairs to make bottles because both babies had clearly lost hope. Oops.
Apparently, there's clearly no good time right now to go to the gym. I have one or two exercise DVDs here, but I know from experience that if I don't get out of the house, I'm not going to get off my butt and do anything. It's just my personality, I guess. So, I'll continue to play around with different times of the day and see what works best, hoping the babies don't terrorize my husband while I'm gone. And on the days when a gym trip is completely out of the question, maybe I'll just sit on my exercise ball while I bounce babies and work on toning my core. :)
Monday, September 8, 2008
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6 comments:
I still struggle with when to squeeze in a workout. I'm much more awake in the evening so I've been walking at 9pm if you want to head out :) You look AMAZING!!
Not that you want to go on my advice, but this comes from my sister who looks great. Get a double stroller and walk! Walk the kids to school, and press on. The babies will probably love it. Not a long term solution with winter coming, but you could also get a membership to the rec and take the kiddos walking there, and T can walk with you or ride a bike or does he do Preschool? You look better than I ever have and I don't have the twins excuse!
Okay ...yea I think I should not like you because you are already within 13 pounds of your goal weight and you just had twins...hmmm..maybe I should make them close your gym! hee hee.
A may not like this but this is what I'm thinking. He is the dad. He can feed them the bottles. It's okay for them to cry the whole time you are gone. Not ideal...but he is the dad and not a babysitter. If you getting out to exercise makes you the mom you need to be for the rest of the time then he can hold them for the hour you are are gone. You need the time away. Just say that you might be sent to a mental institution if you don't go for that hour so isn't an hour better then gone for good? hee hee.
Not being a mother, I'm not sure if I'm qualified to comment. But I second Monica's comment. A can handle the babies for an hour so you can get to the gym and feel normal again. I have faith in both of you!
I third my sisters' comments but can add that I have often felt guilty leaving the house in the morning as I'm hearing someone begin to cry, but I chant yo myself the same thing Ca and Tiff have told you: this is the one hour that will make all the other hours he is not home survivable. Besides which, the more frequently A is on regular twin duty, the more confident he will become in discerning when they have lost hope (instead of waiting for you to get home and decree it) and when it's just something that needs to be ridden out.
And as for post baby weights, I too was my best weight/ size after #3, but I have been battling to get back there ever since. Hopefully you have better luck (you have the better skinny genes of the family anyway) than I have, but cut yourself slack too, you no longer have the time and energy of a mom of 3 because you are a mom of 5 and you have to allow yourself the time to figure out how to be the mom of 5 you need and want to be. Constant battle--you've seen my blog and heard my battles. You're doing great!
You have great sisters and friends with great advice. I too love how I feel after a run or other workout...and can't rely on using the DVDs at home - too many other distractions - or little kids wanting to either do it with me or want to stop me - either way Iend up stepping on or kicking said child. oops.
So I try and do what I can when I can. And when a week or two go by and I haven't gotten to go out, my philosophy is this: Times and Seasons. There are times and seasons in life and right now, while I'd love to go regularly, it just simply can't always happen - husband's work and calling (bishopric) often conflict with leaving in the evening....or I'm too tired to wake up in the morning or need to clean the house when the chillins are in bed:)
So I sneak in a run/jog when I can and when I can't I don't beat myself up over the excess pounds I have from kids - there will be a time not too far away when I can make it a bigger priority:)
The only other ideas I have is trading with friends or hiring a sitter during the day once a week for a sure fire time.
Happy exercising when you can!
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