 | About 9 months ago, I promised you updates on life with 2 littles, including what the new "balance" looked like. Then life got in the way. While we still have plenty to face with E's eating challenges and my postpartum struggles, some sense of "normalcy" has started to emerge. |
Due to my continued rigorous pumping schedule, postpartum challenges, and general fatigue (sheer exhaustion) of two littles, near daily HIIT workouts just stopped feeling good. I always advocate for finding a way to make nutrition and exercise an enjoyable and sustainable part of your life. If you can do this diet for 30 days, but after that you know you'll quit, that's not a good approach to nutrition. If you can do the workout program for 2 weeks and then you know you'll have to quit, that's not the way to proceed. So, for me, I knew I wanted to keep working out regularly, as it brings me a sense of calm and normalcy, but I didn't want to add to my fatigue or start the day feeling completely depleted from workouts. At first, that meant only working out hard 3 days a week, with yoga another 2 days, and then a day or 2 of rest, as well. Then, I felt more energized as I began to recover a bit. So I started increasing my "work" days again, but incorporating more strength, less Hiit. Now, I do 2-3 days of 30 minutes of HIIT, 2-3 days of strength training/lifting, a soccer game a week, 1 rest day, and typically one day of yoga/gentle movement. It's working well, overall. Although I find it more challenging to come up with good strength/lifting workouts. And, through it all, I continue to do breathing and core rehabilitation work. Recovering from 2 c-sections, one pregnancy with diastasis recti, and poor core form for years takes regular, consistent effort, something I'm eager to continue.
As for the nutrition side of things, I am, and always have been, an emotional eater. Sometimes, food's power to soothe the soul is what you need. Sometimes, it's a crutch. Some days for me now it's the former, some the latter. But, I'm reaching a point where the comfort I derive from the junk food indulgences is diminished, and my guilt/frustration at eating what I know isn't nourishing my body or helping it recover and be strong is drastically increasing. With that in mind, I'm trying to give some real attention and energy to my diet. This doesn't mean I'm not going to indulge (moderation is key and food should feed the body and the soul), but it does mean that I'm ready to come out of this "hibernation" and start refueling, recovering, and rebuilding. I'll talk more about the details of my weekly/daily eats in my next post. :)
As for the nutrition side of things, I am, and always have been, an emotional eater. Sometimes, food's power to soothe the soul is what you need. Sometimes, it's a crutch. Some days for me now it's the former, some the latter. But, I'm reaching a point where the comfort I derive from the junk food indulgences is diminished, and my guilt/frustration at eating what I know isn't nourishing my body or helping it recover and be strong is drastically increasing. With that in mind, I'm trying to give some real attention and energy to my diet. This doesn't mean I'm not going to indulge (moderation is key and food should feed the body and the soul), but it does mean that I'm ready to come out of this "hibernation" and start refueling, recovering, and rebuilding. I'll talk more about the details of my weekly/daily eats in my next post. :)