Trimdown Thursday: Feeling Great!
I can’t believe it’s Week 7, y’all. Time flies when you’re having fun at the barre! I’ve been lifting, toning and burning this body of mine at Pure Barre for seven whole weeks and I can definitely tell progress. And I don’t just mean I can tell progress in my weight and inches (I can there, too…inching closer to 12 pounds off now!), but I can tell a difference in my strength and stamina. That makes me happy! If you’ve ever had a baby, you know that it can be disheartening to not be able to do a roll-up or a sit-up postpartum because your ab muscles are too weak.
Now that I’ve been doing Pure Barre for almost two months, I’ve really started to get the hang of the motions (lift, tuck, squeeze, bend and stretch…to name a few). In fact, my instructor E. told me after class last time I’m getting to be an old pro! (insert bashful face) I don’t know about that, but I’m definitely feeling my abs come back, even if I still look in the mirror and see flab and stretch marks. And, yes, I have stretch marks…let’s keep this real, shall we? I never get them during pregnancy, for some reason, just after. It’s a lovely little present from both my kids. 🙂 The good news is last time, they went away, so I’m pretty sure these will, too. This also means I will be wearing a one-piece swimsuit on next month’s beach vacay…oy! Oh, and what am I wearing above? It’s a line for nursing mothers that I LOVE…Au Lait. This is the black tank dress or the “Going Home” dress (I actually did wear this home from the hospital, too, and loved how comfy it was, while at the same time I felt chic.) and it has slits for nursing so it’s very easy access. I picked up these slip-on sneakers at Target from the Peter Pilotto collab (my mom thinks they’re hideous, but alas..) and I actually won this gunmetal Kooba bag last week. That was exciting.
So basically I’m feeling pretty strong in my abs, tucking and curling, but those reverse curls are still very tricky. I’m thinking of going full force on either the plank or the push-ups this week as I’ve been dropping to my knees this whole time to modify. I’m feeling so much more flexible as well, but that’s not really something I feel ready to “unmodify” yet. I just don’t see the splits happening anytime soon, and that’s ok. I’m working to my body’s best ability, as my instructors would say, and I’m getting the best workout I can. It’s quite amazing! Every time I leave class I feel better about myself and my body. And what I’ve found is when I’m well rested, I can totally rock a workout way better than when I’ve had no sleep (which unfortunately, is way too often). With that being said, I better go try to get some shut-eye! Mama’s gotta be ready for another day at the barre tomorrow…
P.S. Weight Watchers is also going very well. If you’re trying to lose weight or just watch what you eat, I highly rec the iPhone app because it’s super convenient. I record everything as I eat it with the touch of a few buttons. You can look up almost any food, including restaurants. So I feel like I can still eat pretty “normal,” I just have to watch what I eat and how much. It’s a great program so far!