I can’t believe we are here, six months postpartum with Collins! I remember thinking about when I would write a six month postpartum wellness/fitness update and thinking it seemed SO far out, but time has passed so quickly.
My hope in writing these updates is that I can be an encouragement to those who are perhaps not quite so far along in their postpartum recovery. I remember looking at my body in the hospital and being both in awe of what it was capable of and in dismay because I felt so very unlike myself. Recently, I’ve learned a lot about what it means to give your body grace in the transition and appreciate small victories along the way.
Mind Update //
Months three through six have been pretty uneventful! After making the switch to formula I really felt an overall emotional leveling out and an improvement in my mental health as we finally got into a good groove with sleep, naps, and general schedule. Although I try not to live and die by the schedule, I find having predictability in our routine helps our whole family function better. For me a schedule actually creates MORE freedom in my days.
I’ve also felt myself making huge strides in terms of my overall body confidence and satisfaction – something that I’ve struggled with on and off for years. For the first time in a very very long time I feel so good in my own skin. Strong, healthy, capable. And while I know there are things about my body that aren’t perfect, becoming a mom the second time around has really pushed me past focusing on the imperfections and embracing the here and now in regards to my body.
Fitness & Body Update//
In terms of actual fitness, around the 5 month mark I started to really feel like I was back in pre-baby shape in terms of my fitness and endurance. As you probably remember, I started working out about two weeks postpartum with Collins and it’s been a LOT of hard work and sweat equity over the past five+ months. Last week I ran my first 5K post baby – and my fastest ever time. And although I felt like I wanted to puke after, it was fun to see how far my body has come in the last five months.
I’ve gotten a lot of questions on Instagram about what workouts I’ve been doing. I run once or twice per week when the weather is nice, go on lots of long walks with the girls and doing workouts at home with my Beachbody on Demand subscription. I’ve done a lot of different workouts through BOD – 21 Day Fix, 21 Day Fix Extreme, Shaun Week, Shift Shop, 22 Min Hard Corps, etc. – but my favorite continues to be T25. The workouts are hard, fast-paced and can be done in 25 minutes. That said, I do try to mix things up so my body doesn’t get too comfortable with any one workout. And I think I’ll be doing the new 80 Day Obsession when it launches in January!
Eating and Food//
Since I’m no longer breastfeeding, and haven’t been for quite some time, I am able to eat with a little less thought about calories and overall intake. I had been curious about intermittent fasting for quite some time but it wasn’t good timing while pregnant and nursing, obviously. I’ve been dabbling in intermittent fasting for over a month now and have LOVED it. If you’re curious on learning more about the science behind IF, I would recommend this podcast to start. This article is also a good intro to the concept.
Basically, I try to fast for somewhere between 14 and 16 hours per day, with a minimum of 12 hours. I’ve tried not to be too legalistic about any of it, because life happens, but it’s really encouraged me to NOT mindlessly snack or eat after dinner. Additionally, as an early riser, I was finding that I would eat a snack after dinner, around 8:30 pm and then get up and have breakfast early, around 5 or 6 am, which meant my body’s digestive system wasn’t really resting much each day. The more I read about IF, the more convinced I was it was worth trying. And so far so good! I’ve noticed that my body has leaned out a bit, I have more energy and it feels good to give my system time to rest without eating around the clock.
You can read my other postpartum recaps below:
Mind and Body After Baby // 3 Months
Mind and Body After Baby // 3-6 Weeks