I have been working out routinely now for about six weeks or so. I started out by jogging at night after dinner and getting the kids in bed, so that put me jogging around ten o’clock at night. Started jogging around the block that I knew to be about a mile in diameter, so I would do two laps. This went well until I got spooked by one too many slow cars a couple times turning around for another pass and one time someone actually called out the window to me. This led me to stick to the road directly in front of our house. In order to get a good cardio work out in, I would have to sprint to one stop sign and walk back, doing this for about twenty minutes. One time I startled a family of racoons that were out for a stroll. They didn’t know that I was more afraid of them, so much so, I started looking for a good tree to climb contemplating many possible scenarios. Finally, I got a double jogging stroller which allows me to jog in the mornings with my girls and under the comforting protection of day light.
Along with cardio, I started strength training again about three weeks ago. I have been doing really good trying to hit each muscle group twice a week. I have already noticed significant changes: bum is lifting, shoulders are more toned, I’ve lost inches but I don’t know how many because I never measured myself in the beginning. Frustratingly, I have not seen my number go down on the scale. I know this is due to the fact that I am strength training and therefore gaining muscle mass which actually weighs more than fat, but it doesn’t console me much. Like everyone else, I look to the scale. It is hard not to. Mine still tells me I have ten pounds to lose. I need to keep in mind that my baby is only three months old, so I am still recovering from that too. I probably need to do a little more cardio though. Maybe just one more run a week. Right now I can count on running twice a week. All in all I am feeling great. I have so much more energy and I am very encouraged by the signs of a steller body still existing. Even though my two year old made it difficult in the beginning, she has now gotten used to mommy working out and understands to give me a little space so neither one of us gets hurt. I soldiered through and made it over the initial hump of “starting”, and it feels wonderful.