BRIDGES while Spock watches. I took a break from TV to do these
Squats
Squats with baby. Wear baby and do a little picking up around the house, so you can't bend over, you have to squat.
Reduce the size of meals
While breastfeeding (especially 2!) and exercising it's important to eat good food, and it's got to have staying power. Salads alone won't do it, and will get your body into starvation mode where it holds onto every calorie it can, plus you'll just be hungry all the time which makes it hard to eat good fuel food. So just start by eating good stuff. Eat that prime rib! Just don't gorge on it. It's great if you can afford to eat nice and slow, but that's not necessarily easy or possible with two little kids, so just start with smaller amounts on your plate. Especially if you know that you generally get to finish the toddler's plate. I just start with only filling up about half the plate. Then I make a point to make sure I've finished Legan's stuff and waiting 20 minutes before getting more. At that point, I try to just eat any sweets or dessert that I want at that point. Again though, just pick a nice reasonable size portion. A row of chocolate from the candy bar. Or a small piece of cake/pie/etc. Or, get more potatoes or steak instead of dessert. That's ok too. And if still hungry 10-15 after that, I'll do an apple with some almonds. The carbs plus protein is very effective.
Snacking
In between meals if I'm hungry I try 2-3 almonds plus some good fruit/veggies. Or peanut butter instead of the almonds, or what have you. Even a small portion of yogurt for protein. And if I know that I've really had enough serious food for the day, snack on some cucumber or apples or carrots. Hooray for Aldi making our produce a bit more affordable.
Look how awesome I am, I left some Ritz in the package during my snack
Stairs
Even if I'm not leaving home, I can do stairs. I just don't make a point to move stuff in large loads when I'm going up or down. There's always something that needs to go up or down, so I only take a small handful at a time.
Liquid calories
I need caffeine lately. But, not empty calories, so I have to balance it. 1 soda per day. If I need more caffeine, then I can have coffee with a tiny tiny splash of creamer. Or I can skip the soda and start with coffee, so later I have extra liquid calories to play with in the form of juice or alcohol. Not that I advocate a ton of drinking, but sometimes you need wine. So I try to do wine on days I don't have soda. OR....I try to charge myself with step counts. 10,000 steps on my FitBit per day as my normal goal, but if I get an extra 5000 steps then I can afford more silly calories, like those in wine or whiskey or sugary Mike's Hard Lemonade. One day per week I don't worry about drinks and steps. Because too many eating rules all the time makes like hard.
"Splurge" days
But no the way some people do it. I don't count calories in general, so on my extra calorie days I'm not just "ignoring" or pretending it doesn't matter how much I eat/drink. I just make a point to not be super strict with my eating ever, and to have one day where I just basically eat and drink without worrying extra about it, but not truly bingeing on either.
Strength and/or Yoga
Daily!!!! Now, not every day is easy. Bad days with no or rough toddler naps or silly baby means only 5 minutes. Better days, where kiddos go down for bed and dishes are quick and laundry mountain is small - more like 30-45 minutes during nap or after they're in bed. Just do some everyday so it's accepted. Some days can be more like gentle stretches plus the bridges I HAVE to do to get my abs slowly stitched back together. Some days it's much more intensive with some arm balances, lots of downward dog, and warrior poses. Some days it's more like calisthenics from grade school plus squats and basic arm exercises. Hint: wear exercise quality clothing everyday, so you are just ready to go. Bigger hint: stash a resistance band behind/next to the couch. So you can whip it out and do 3 sets of 10 of 3-4 exercises really fast. Hoping to get a couple sample 5-15 minute routines written down. When I'm not busy doing them of course.
Not that any or all of these tips are for everyone or every circumstance.
BUT, I've managed to slowly lose 7 lbs in the last two and a half months. Which suits me because I know that slow loss is sustainable. And I have a bridesmaid dress to wear in just under 4 months. So I want to at least do it justice.
Picked up and vacuumed the house. Hooray for making my house feel nicer AND burning calories at the same time. Get more fit by wearing baby while doing it.
Learning to do sit ups early!
He's thinking his butt just doesn't fit in here well.
Looking pudgey? Nah, just can't get her arms down while she's bundled for mom shoveling
Getting her jump on
Practicing cobra pose!
I just think this is exciting. Because everything in moderation, and that means a little bit of whipped "cream" even for those who are dairy free.
Just an average day with kiddos playing trains...Legan topless, Jade threatening to eat trains, and a huge bottle of vokda in the back. Ya know, classy.
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