So last I posted I announced my pregnancy and the growing of our little family - And now, 9 months later I'm happy to say my beautiful daughter was born November 8th at a healthy 8 pounds 7 ounces. The pregnancy went wonderfully, but there was a complication with delivery resulting in an emergency C-Section - but I have a healthy baby girl, so there are no complaints from me!
But now I have to get back to business. I have a new goal, and a new timeline. On April 18th 2013 - I will be standing on the beach in Mexico beside a dear friend supporting her in her marriage to another dear friend. I not only have a dress to look good in - but a bathing suit!! eep!
Unfortunately I'm starting worse off than my previous "Before" photos and measurements because of my little pumpkin. I gained 33 pounds in my pregnancy, and I'm already down 20 - meaning I have 13 that I have to lose just to get me back down to the 207 that I started with earlier this year when I started this blog. I also have a couple extra inches on all of my measurements as well, but especially on the belly.
It takes a lot of skin to stretch to this:
So now unfortunately I'm left with a bit of a "mommy tummy" where I have a few inches of skin that is super squishy and collects right in the front of my stomach and sort of "flaps" downward.
Needless to say, I'm a little self conscious about this new body change, and I want it gone! Especially if I need to go swim suit shopping in the next little bit here! As of right now - I will be opting for a one piece bathing suit for the first time in 10 years unless I can tone up this tummy!!
I don't even care about the stretch marks! I want the skin flap gone!
Now because I had a C-Section, I have to do things a little differently - I haven't been able to jump into working out again, because I'm not allowed to! The truth of the mater is a C-Section is a pretty major surgery cutting through all sorts of muscles and such - so you need to let yourself heal for a minimum of 6 weeks - but possibly longer. I'm not allowed to lift anything heavier than my baby - which means anything over 10 pounds is out of the question. As well - I can't do any exercises that involved my stomach at this point (so... most all of them - you know when a fitness instructor tells you to engage your core? yeah... that).
Which means I'm still sitting in limbo until my OB clears me to hit the weights again. My appointment with her is January 2nd, so hopefully she has some good news for me! Until then - I need to do something, as I can't just sit here idle knowing I have a small timeline to get back in shape that is fast approaching. How fast you ask? Well I have 12 weeks before I have to take my bridesmaid dress in to be altered. 14 weeks if I pay a fee of $25 to get the alterations rushed, and 16 weeks before I pack a bag to board the plane.
A lot can happen in 12 weeks! in 2010 I went from 202 pounds to 185 in 12 weeks just in time for my own wedding!! And that's actually my goal this time around, I want to be 185 by Mexico - meaning I have 12 weeks to lose 35 pounds - totally doable, except I can't workout yet for at least another 3 weeks... meaning now I have 9 weeks, and that scares the crap out of me!
So in the meantime, I'm trying a new product called Zaggora Hotpants - I know it sounds lame, but hear me out. This company makes workout clothing that is similar to wearing a wetsuit - it holds the heat next to your skin, and causes you to sweat 4X more than any other clothing - take a look at the scientific evidence of how it works. Basically, holding in the sweat means your body temperature increases, which means you increase your energy expenditure and thus burn more calories. I was skeptical, of course - and the company understands that - so they ask that each person who buys from them tries the 2 week challenge, where they take their measurements, and then wear the garments for 30 minutes of activity everyday for 2 weeks, and then take their measurements again. And the testimonials speak volumns! But I'm going to put my "Hot Pants' through the ultimate two week test - I'm not going to workout in them on a daily basis (because I can't) I'm just going to wear them around the house while I feed my daughter, and empty the dishwasher and fold laundry - and then I'll take my measurements again in 2 weeks.
I always wondered if the people who had good results in the 2 week challenge were because of the clothes, or the exercise. So I figure this would be a pretty good test to see! I'm taking the exercise out of the equation, and I'm relying completely on the clothing. I might as well - I can't do anything else for the next 2 weeks!
The products I bought were the Flares, and the Body Blazer. The flares are almost exactly like trying to pull on a wetsuit - they are skin tight pants that go down to your ankle - it takes some work to get them on, let me tell you:
Next is the body blazer which is a sort of zip up long sleeved jacked - another fight to get into! Once everything is on it's quite comfortable, and fits you like a second skin - it even keeps you warm:
The only thing I really don't like about the outfit is the neoprene sort of sound it makes when you move - the rushing, shhhhh sound as you move your arms and legs, so I tend to put an old crappy pair of yoga pants over the flares so I don't get the thigh rubbing shush as I walk down the hall. As a bonus my full body suit kind of makes me feel like an Avenger... and I'm okay with that.
I weighed myself this morning, and I took all my measurements - it was a little depressing seeing my new starting mark - but I guess that's what happens when you get pregnant weighing the most you've ever weighed... now I have a new "most ever". This better be the last time! I also took pictures, but I'm not brave enough to post them just yet - I need a little time to make myself feel a little better about my body image before I start passing these one's around. I've always been pudgy, and although my stomach has been bigger than some, it's never been saggy or squishy - and that's something I am extremely self conscious about. I'm built like my dad - I may be big, but I'm firm - I never look as big as I actually am because I carry it pretty solidly - until now. So until the squish starts to get smaller and I can post up some results photos along side the "Before"s, I just need to keep them to myself. It was hard to take a picture today, and even harder to look at it after.
Anyway - here we go again with measurements:
Weight: 220
Right arm: 15"
Left arm: 15"
Chest: 41"
Belly Button: 41"
Hips: 48"
Right thigh: 27 1/2"
Left thigh: 27"
So from my last "starting point" I have an additional 8 1/2" to lose - it could be worse - I just need to get the okay from my doctor and then throw myself into working out on a daily basis again. Last time around I lost 14 inches in a week - I can do this. I sure hope the Hot Pants work :) It would be nice to start off my workouts already down a few inches!
