Guest Blog: staying fit with a baby

Today I have a guest post up over at "The Juici Life" blog.  Jessi is a really funny, quirky (in a good way) blogger who writes about trying to live life to the fullest.  I'm really excited that I was able to do this post for her.  Check it out at The Juici Life.  I also copied and pasted it below:

Hey everyone! My name is Kerry and I’m a 27 year old mom to a little handful named Niall. Just kidding, he’s a really good boy-- but he really keeps me busy.


Niall will be exactly a year and a half old this weekend, and I’ve been thinking about how that whole time being pregnant and those first months post labor feel like ages ago. It’s all kind of a blur- especially the part about how I managed to stay fit during and after my pregnancy.

So I forced myself to reflect…

I got lucky with a very smooth and healthy pregnancy, aside from a solid 2 and a half months of being on the verge of throwing up, but never actually doing it. As much as I hate the old gag reflex, I almost wished that it would come so I could just get rid of that nauseous feeling.

Once I got through the “morning” (all-day) sickness, I realized that I had to be careful. Several months of not eating much of anything and then going on an “eating for 2” rampage could have been disastrous.

I knew that when I finally had my appetite back, it would be really important to fill my body with the boring stuff: fruits, veggies and whole grains (boo)-- not milkshakes and supersize combo meals (yum!), as much as it would have been nice to ignore my conscience.

I walked a half hour every morning and 15 minutes every evening until it got too cold outside. Then, when the winter came, I would do a prenatal yoga DVD and dance in my family room. Yes,I would blast oldies and have a solo dance session that, if the neighbors had seen, they probably would not associate with me ever again.

So then came the labor. I worked really hard for months, preparing for a completely natural birth-- and ended up with an unexpected c-section that had me on the mend for almost 2 months. I had to pack a bag at the beginning of each day to bring downstairs with me, so that I wouldn’t be going up and down too much. Any plans or attempts at getting back in shape were pretty much thrown out the window.

Despite some serious challenges, I was miraculously back to my pre-baby weight by month 4 post birth. And do you know what I credit? My mother in law signed me up for a baby & me yoga class. I thought it would be cute for Niall, but I didn’t think that I would really get anything out of it. I was so wrong; it changed everything.

As a previously athletic and very active person, I was devastated to find that I couldn’t even do a simple groin stretch 6 weeks after his birth. It was BAD. I had to do the “modified” version of everything, which absolutely killed me. I wanted to give everyone a disclaimer that I wasn’t normally like this, but I decided to just put a cork in it and, slowly but surely, make something happen.

By the end of that 10 week class, I was completely back to normal and able to go running, walking, dancing, you name it. And I actually weighed less than I did before my pregnancy by 6 months later.

I think it’s just a matter of getting past that initial lack of motivation. Now, I look forward to my morning exercise routine every day. So whether it’s joining a gym, asking a friend to run with you, or buying cute work out clothes that make you want to look good, just find a reason to get back out there and you’ll be back to your old self eventually ☺


Niall loves your votes!