Am I where I was before baby? In some ways yes, in other ways not at all.

If you read my previous post on my post baby weight loss journey, you know I had lost 30 pounds out of the 43 pounds I gained within the first 3 months. To continue with my progress I had set 2 goals for the next 6 months.

1) To get rid of those 13 pounds 2) To gain my fitness and endurance levels back. I believe that 9 months is a fair enough time frame to work on my postpartum body and fitness and that is exactly the time I wanted to bounce back in shape.

To accomplish these 2 goals I started with running because not only was it a great way to get out of home daily and get some fresh air but also because I had set myself up for a CHALLENGE.

The challenge was to participate in a 10k run, 4 months after my delivery! I wasn’t sure if I could complete it, but I was definitely preparing myself to do my best. On 16th Sept 2016, 4 month post my pregnancy, I ran and finished my first 10k race in 1 hour and 19 minutes. Completing this challenge I set for myself gave me a lot of confidence and appreciation towards my body.

Post race, I figured out I was ready to take my endurance levels up a notch. So I started doing more strength training routines for some muscle definition and toning. Daily cardio sessions felt great but when it came to strength training at the gym, I wasn’t feeling so good or enjoying it. After a month I stepped back and returned back to jogging.

I started to fit in my regular jeans after 6 months post partum. I was so glad to ditch those maternity jeans! Although, I still have a few inches to loose on my thighs. Losing weight on the lower half of my body has been a constant struggle since I was a teenager and it continues to this day. (I often blame it on my genes J )

My stomach was smushy after giving birth and still is. I have ways to go to get my lower stomach back in shape, and that’s OK. Despite using stretch oils and cream rigorously I still have stretch marks.  They have faded but will probably be there, and I am proud to have them as I was blessed to carry and deliver a healthy baby.

So far I have lost a total of 39 pounds in 9 months. Still 4 pounds shy from my pre pregnancy weight. Honestly, I have stopped looking at the scale now. I am trying to maintain my weight while exercising and enjoying my treats on regular basis. I can’t diet and restrict myself of certain food groups as I don’t want to live like that. I like food (and chocolate) too much.

As far as my boobs are concerned, they are not normal yet. They are neither perky nor saggy, just somewhere in between. I am still breast feeding in morning and nights so I think I will have to wait out on this.

Once Vir turned 6 months, maintaining a workout schedule has become a struggle. Between caring for Vir, work demands, home chores, and all the rest there is precious little time life for me to sweat and so workouts are the first to be scratched off the To Do list. Honestly few months back I was struggling to even keep up to my 4 days of staying active. It is hard now to find dedicated alone time as a parent, and I have learned it isn’t always possible to find some.

Yet in January I enrolled myself in Kayla Fitness. The SWEAT app has short 28 minutes of Resistance sets that I do from home as per my convenience. I plan to stick with my 2017 goals of staying active daily and not losing steam. If I don’t find the time or energy to workout, I make sure to walk my dog “Rio” an extra mile.  You can catch me on Instagram with my daily updates.

At the end I just want to say we are all aware that our life will never be the same once we have a baby, yet we expect our bodies to be. I could have never imagined that our bodies can do amazing things like – never failing to wake up for the fourth time in the night to feed a hungry baby or to hold an 18 pound baby for a ridiculously long periods of time or to even function the entire day with just an hour of sleep. There are truths of post baby body that I am trying to accept and realistically I still struggle over accepting the body I am in. But I won’t waste my time feeling bad about it. I plan to work towards what I can accomplish with it while not giving up on chocolate!

Watching Vir grow up and experiencing Motherhood is the most beautiful part of my life now. My smushy stomach and stretch marks are just reminders of what I endured for my son to be here.