Lots of changes..

It is Fall and change is everywhere ... the leaves, the sunlight, the temperatures, the ... you know all the Fall clichés...

At our home there have been lots of changes also, and I'm happy to say they have all been for the good!

Firstly, although probably not most importantly, I have started something (well for the third time) that I am almost embarassed to admit, however, I am slightly proud of also...

But I must start with a story...

Picture this...

I was about 12 weeks pregnant, living in Vancouver, all my by myself, Colin had already moved to Calgary for his training, it was a Sunday afternoon, or maybe Saturday, not sure...  I was sitting on the couch, eating out of a pot, a whole package of Lipton Sidekicks... yes, I did eat the whole pot, 4 servings of pure sodium heaven... cravings were still at a high and instead of the normal recommended couple of pounds for the first trimester I had already packed on 13lbs, I was feeling pretty low, very gross and very sorry myself, oh did I mention constant nausea?  It seems the only fix for that was chips and donuts...

Anyways, sitting on the couch, cuddling with Pearl, flipping through the channels, and I happened upon an info-mercial .... it was for a program called Insanity, from the makers of P90x, it was a 60 day program promising ripped results.  I was mesmorized for about an hour, and probably another half bag of Hint O' Lime Nacho chips (another pregnancy favourite!!) and then I bit hard, I went online and ordered!  I have never done anything like that in my life, and probably never will again, but about a week later it arrived in the mail.  I was pumped to start, although I had to wait months and months.

(Here is the link... warning if you watch the video, you'll be tempted to buy in!!)
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do

Skip ahead many months and the birth of one son...

I was 3 weeks post partum, and beyond excited to get exercising to lose the disgusting amount of weight I had gained.  I had heard all the advice from other moms, from my midwife, and from the endless drivel I read on the internet, but was throwing it all aside, because I knew better!  I didn't need to wait 6 weeks to exercise, that was for the general population, not me!  So one morning, I announced to Colin I was starting my Insanity program!  Down to the basement I went, and emerged about 40min afterwards feeling good!  I was jazzed after having done it, felt a little weak, and very sweaty, but jazzed!  And it was definitely as hard as they had said it was, I had never done any kind of workout like it.  It's pretty much 40 min of various forms of jumping and pushups,as fast as you can go.

Needless to say, in less than 5 hours I was prone on the couch and unable to walk for about a week, I came down with a flu and developed a mastitis in my boob from the effort I had exerted just 3 weeks after having a baby... what was I thinking!!!? 

Well, I started the program again in August and got 2 weeks into it, until I threw my back, a combination of intense down ups and lifting an almost 30lbs baby all day.  So now I am in my 3rd attempt, I really do like it, it is unlike anything I have ever done, it's fast and extremely intense, and you do see very fast results (no I am not paid by Beachbody to say this!!). 

I am however taking a more middle of the line approach, I don't always do a workout everyday, and I am doing some running in between.  Why you ask?

Because I am now officially a working mom!!  So not a lot of time to workout, and I've been doing my workouts when Reed has gone to bed, so that's a big change, definitely more of an early riser rather than a night hawk, so keeping motivation up after dinner is hard.

I have been back at work for the past couple weeks, doing subsitute teaching, and it has been a lot easier to transition than I had anticipated.  We have a wonderful dayhome, where Reed is getting more and more comfortable everyday.  Although we only bring him there about 3x week, with Colin's schedule and helpful grandparents around, Reed has plenty of people to hang with when mommy is working.  I am however doing many half days, so that has made the transition for my part much more tolerable.  It's not easy to drive away when you leave your first born child crying in the arms of someone else... but I am told he cries for less than five minutes then is happy playing with the other kids. 

So lots of changes, and all for the good.