Starting from scratch

When I was laid off in September of 2008, after getting over my dramatic "devastation" of being out of work, I decided that I no longer had any excuse to be out of shape, not that I ever had a good excuse for that anyway. So, out of work with time to spare, I began working out from scratch. I began this journey at our local YMCA. Faithfully, four days a week I worked up a good sweat to a variety of bootcamp-like classes. In addition, I did the occasional yoga class, bike ride, walked the dogs, went running with a good friend, and eventually began morning bootcamp classes, which said good friend and a partner teach (I will stop here to put in a plug for Forever Fit Bootcamps--if you are in the Edwardsville area, you should check them out--it's a fun workout that is always changing, so you will never get bored, but always burn a ton of calories!).

During that time of working out, I watched my endurance go up, and my jean size go down--it was awesome, and I felt great! I was able to continue bootcamp-type workouts and running until I was 19 weeks pregnant, which made my recovery SO much easier, and the thought of giving birth to more children in the future a happy thought to entertain. Present day, I am 10.5 weeks postpartum and seven pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. While this sounds like a huge accomplishment (down 34 pounds), I really haven't done too much. Breastfeeding twins and taking walks everyday is about the extent of my calorie burn. Truth be told, I miss running. I miss the feeling of sweat dripping off my body for reasons that are exercise induced and not hormonal. I look forward to getting back to those days again!


After being on bedrest for the last two months of my pregnancy, the first time I went for a postpartum walk around our neighborhood (somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 of a mile), I got shin splints and a side stitch--oh how far I had fallen! After that first walk I have been out with the girls every day the the gracious spring weather has allowed, I've increased my mileage, and can actually go multiple miles without pain in my shins or side. I've begun to run again, but it's hard--the pesky side stitches I said goodbye to during my walks now plague me when I run more than a mile, but I refuse to be discouraged!

Starting from scratch is hard. The guru of one of the yogas I practice says this, "Never too late, never too late, never too bad, never too sick to start from scratch once again" ~Bikram Chouduri. This is my mantra, and may it be yours too if you are starting from scratch on your workouts.