So here's my commitment -- 20 minutes a day. If that means just step-walking on the Wii Fit while watching tv, so be it. I'm enough out of shape that that's enough to break a sweat. (Pathetic, I know.) That's what I did today, while Anand took his morning nap. I'm going to try to track it here for a while, just to help keep myself honest. If anyone wants to do it with me, feel free to post in comments. Exercise is better with company. :-)
And now, I'm going to try a sit-up or two. Haven't done any of those (what with pregnancy / c-section) in at least a year, and I'm going to be wearing a sari in my sister's wedding in July. Some sit-ups would be a good idea, I think, if my tummy's going to be on display. :-/
7:30 update: Worse than I thought -- I basically can't do sit-ups. No stomach muscles! Did 50 crunches, 100 bicycle exercise. Hopefully if I keep doing those, the stomach muscles will start coming back. If I have time after grading today, will go into the basement, see if I can find my weights so I can start doing bicep curls and the like. The other thing saris show off are your arms -- it'd be nice to have them at least a little toned.
I’ll join you. A yoga ball also helps with tummy muscles and balance….
We have one deflated somewhere in the basement, but the odds of my finding it….
Glad to have company! 🙂 I’ll try to do the exercise stuff as separate posts, so feel free to note in the comments what you’re doing!
You have inspired me to do a good half-hour on the Wii Fit. I’m with you on the “twenty minutes a day” commitment, at least for March. 21 days makes a habit, right?
That’s what Ben Franklin said. 🙂 Coolness!
Not to discourage new forms of fitness, but research shows that housework burns more calories than moderate exercise.
Heh. That might explain where the Anand baby weight seems to have gone. But that weight loss seems to have plateaued, so I think I need to add something else to the housework.
I’ll join you, Mary Anne. Patrick is 3 months old this week and I’ve made some half-hearted efforts to exercise (Wii and PIlates), but nothing regular. I lost the baby weight (36 pounds) very quickly– and have lost a few more pounds besides– but I would like to lose another 20 and it’s going to take some real work to tone this C-section flab. ;-(
Wow — you’ve done a lot in three months! I admit to being jealous; it’s taken me five months to lose 20 pounds of Anand-weight.
Ah well. It’s not a race, right? Welcome.
Don’t be jealous, Mary Anne. I lost the initial 36 pounds in three and a half weeks simply because I didn’t eat. (Not deliberately– just didn’t think to eat, combined with depression and exhaustion.) The other 8 pounds have taken me 9 weeks to lose. (I read somewhere that 25% of women lose their pregnancy weight in 6 weeks, the rest in 6 months.) A good chunk of my pregnancy weight was water retention. I gained 6 pounds in the last week of my pregnancy (and had crazy high blood pressure). Plus, this is my first baby and your second– I am sure that makes a difference in terms of what the body is willing to let go of– and how fast!
Maybe, but it was Kavi’s weight that stuck, not Anand’s. 🙂
Anyway, I was mostly joking. I know it’s super variable, and I’m glad that I ate after he was born! I don’t do well without fuel; if I don’t eat regularly, I starting feeling nauseated and faint.
That actually happened to me today — was out running errands, forgot to eat something before I left, and felt like I was about to pass out in Walgreens. Made it home and totally SCARFED a cold burger from the fridge. Also drank a bunch of water. Then felt better.
I had times like that during pregnancy and was so good about keeping healthy snacks in my messenger bag or purse. Not so much now that I don’t have the same “crashing” feeling. (Mine was definitely a blood sugar thing during pregnancy, courtesy of gestational diabetes.)
Yes — I thought that would go away post-partum, but I seem to still be getting it. Wonder if the gestational diabetes left me a little sensitive to sugar levels? I should probably go get it checked, but oh, I really hate the diabetes test.
Did you get your blood sugar level checked post-partum? They told me to test occasionally and then I was checked again at my 6 week post-partum appointment (which was closer to 8 weeks, actually).
You might check your levels at home and see if the numbers are within range for a non-pregnant woman. If not… off to the doctor! (I’ve read that some women remain diabetic post-partum. Hope that’s not the case with you.)
I didn’t get them checked. I think I was supposed to, but I was changing doctors, and I think that slipped under the radar.
I do still have the at-home kit, so I suppose I ought to test. Sigh.
Definitely test. I don’t have the paperwork in front of me, but I believe the numbers for a non-pregnant woman are 140 or less after a meal and 100 or less after fasting.