Getting Fit While Breastfeeding: It's Been Awhile

So I thought I would update everyone on my progress! I'm still doing Zumba once a week but soon I will be going twice a week! Ben's new class schedule for May is Monday's and Wednesday's so I'll be able to go every Tuesday and Thursday while Ben stays home with the kids! I'm really looking forward to that!

I thought I would go ahead and take some progress pictures tonight! I'm kind of excited with what I see. I was really down on myself last week because I gained some weight... but I think I found the culprit. Good ole Aunt Flo... After 17 glorious months without a visit from this Red Headed Bitch, she decided to visit me today. So my weight gain last week could have been from that. 

What I have to remember is I'm not doing to this to lose weight, I'm doing this to feel good about myself, to feel good as a wife and to feel good as a mother. This, along with my Greens, is helping me with energy levels, my motivation levels and with my positive and happy mood! So I need to keep that in mind when I weigh myself each week and don't see the scale continuing to go down.

So here's some pictures! 

The "before" pictures on the left were taken March 20, 2014
The "after" pictures on the right were taken last night, April 17, 2014

I'm sorry they're blurry, but they serve the point...

I've really noticed a difference in my posture! It's finally getting better and my core is feeling stronger. Everything is toning up nicely and I'm feeling great! Changes are slow, but with only doing Zumba once a week, that's expected. Especially with my fluctuation in weight over the last two weeks. Last week I was up 4 pounds... Couldn't for the life of me figure out why. But with the arrival of AF after 17 months, it made sense. Everything made sense. The increased appetite, the moodiness, the face breakouts (which weren't terrible thanks to my skin care line from It Works!), my jeans being tight despite losing 11 inches from my belly area in the last week... Everything made sense yesterday.

Last night was another Zumba night and it kicked my ass. Not really sure why... I did weigh myself before class and was 188.8! That was a huge relief since last week I was up to 193.6. So I lost almost 5 pounds in a week! Probably due to water retention since AF was impending last week.

So anyways, I just wasn't feeling it last night. My ankle is giving me really bad fits, so I'm feeling like that contributed more than anything. I need to get an Ace bandage for it because it is just not conducive to me doing well with any fitness routine. Shit, it isn't conducive to my everyday life.

So it was a struggle with most all the maneuvers last night but I powered through. Thankfully Ben gave me a nice ankle massage in-between his cat naps last night! Love that man!

But! I'm feeling good and that's why I started Zumba. To get back into shape so everyday things like riding my horses, slinging hay bales, lifting bags of feed, chasing after my children and all the other things we do, aren't so much of a burden on me. I want to be around for my children for many, many years to come and I can only do that if I'm healthy. 

Zumba & Before's
First 5K
Moving Forward
Zumba Night

Until next time, friends