Weddingbee boards

I'm very active. Well, I was before pregnancy. Now, I try to be, but my workouts are not as intense or frequent as before.

I can't wait to get a good workout again without feeling out of breath or as if my heart will explode or without having to interrupt it to pee or feeling the belly is in the way!

I am already plotting my post-delivery workout plan and am very excited about it! It's not (only) about the weight loss, but really about moving  and feeling good again.

So, all the active mama bees, when were you able to workout again after giving birth? I'm planning on going gradually, but want to have an idea of how fast I can build up (not talking about the 15 minutes stroll around the block; but a real workout).

HAHAHAHAHA

Sorry.

I totally had all these plans of being active during maternity leave, and it just never happened. My body recovered enough to work out pretty quickly (I feel like my OB told me to take it easy for a couple weeks, but not 6 whole weeks), but I just never had the time or energy or babysitter to do it. Or the money to join my old gym :(

So I guess my advice is to make sure that you've got support to help you achieve your workout goals.

I did Crossfit into my second trimester, and there's a good site that talks about how to stay active through pregnancy: http://crossfitmom.com

The "post-partum" section suggests mainly just listening to your body, ramping up workouts slowly, and being particularly careful of ballistic movements because your ligaments are still a little out of whack.

@Lozza: Yeah, I know it will be super hard once the baby comes!! But I plan to do this mainly from home; time efficient workouts.. I'll be on leave for 10 months and DH will only work 4 days/week the whole time. I get really cranky and low energy when I don't move, so I'm sure I'll find a way to fit exercise in there.

But I get that reaction a lot, and I don't mind, I can laugh at myself too! :)

Every article I read talk about "feeling ready". I've just never been through this so I wonder how much time it took for other women to actually feel ready? I've always been scared of giving birth (to the point all my life I wanted to adopt until I met the right man for me and he preferred to have bio kids and I kinda wanted his kids too); so I keep imagining myself feeling awful for weeks!

Working out is really important to me, too - and probably why I've been depressed about weight gain/swelling - I get cranky when I don't work out, too.. but feeling physically unable to get around and do a light workout bums me out. 

My good friends with babies started working out/running again at 8 weeks postpartum but definitely were doing light walks, light yoga before then. I hope to do the same. DH is really supportive. He's a hockey instructor during the winter and in the gym daily. He's really supportive of making time for us each to get there at some point during the day/night. 

@mommytobee:  I'm sorry if I sounded skeptical, I was totally just laughing at myself. I had crazy unrealistic expectation for maternity leave. I was going to read some quality literature. Work out. Learn Spanish.

Does watching 4 seasons of Friday Night Lights (twice!) count?

I think it's awesome that you're already thinking about how to prioritize this, and make it work. I think getting out and having some time to focus on you, and to get moving, is great and really helpful.