Sleep is so important though as new mums can be very evasive! Last night Callum had the best night sleep ever so I had the best night sleep and what a difference this morning. I have hoovered, stripped the bed and put in wash, dusted and tidied up, put laundry away rowed for 20mins and 20mins strength training all before 9am!
If you are working out regularly you need to give your body a day or even 2 days off and relax and sleep sleep sleep. Your body will recover, your muscles will strengthen and you will feel energised.
The importance of rest days is that when we work out we are essentially tearing the muscle fibers, letting it build back up and strengthen itself. If we don't give our body a chance to repair and rest then it will have the adverse effect and we well become weak and lethargic.
So sleep, take a day off and let your body grow stronger.
Happy Blitzing!
Hey! I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed with your results! I really hope I can get there soon too! I have a 3 and a half month old baby girl, basically have had no time to exercise thus far (I manage my husbands dental practice and part time manage a non-profit organization also...aside from housework!). Now that she's sleeping better and I am also sleeping, I think its time I really start to get back to my exercise habits. I took your advice and logged into the calorie count website (about.com). The only question I had was with regards to breastfeeding. I am exclusively breastfeeding and was wondering as to how I should calculate the amount of calories I need to be consuming? I'm literally hungry all the time, but eat very healthy and avoid junk food almost all the time. I know I can't cut calories because that will deter weight loss, but at the same time, I'm not sure how much I should be eating to actually start losing weight. I literally haven't lost anything as of yet and am hoping to lose 30 lbs to get to the weight I would like to be. Any advice would be appreciated. In the meantime, keep up the awesome work!
ReplyDeleteHey Amy, you're totally right about sleeping!
ReplyDeleteMy baby was teething last week so he was waking up approx. every 2 hours!! I was a walking zombie the next morning! But I did take it easy and I didn't push myself (just the usual daily walk and that's it) and last night he only woke up once around 2am and I got a better sleep, today I feel so much better and I might do some exercise. You're always touching on the right issue in the right time ;-).
I wanted to answer to the anonymous girl up here (if I could since I managed to lose weight with Amy) calculating how many calories you need depends on many factors including your age, weight and activity level. when I wan around 83kg I needed 2200kcal, but now that I'm 72kg I modified my intake again to 1800kcal, as a breastfeeding woman (like me) you should never go below 1800kcal as that might lower your milk supply. Essentially, to lose weight "the healthy way" calculate how many calories you need on calorie count and substract 500kcal from it (but since your're breastfeeding you won't need to substract, because the process of breastfeeding takes up around 300-500kcal daily). Another important thing is that you wanna burn the fat by exercise not by cutting down calories, so eat a healthy, balanced diet (Amy has an example of her daily menu on the blog) and try to do some cardio workout (at least 4 times a week, but always start slowly and work your way up).
I hope I helped you somehow :)
and once again Amy great post ! xoxo
Well said sandy! I was going to say much the same! I would also add that, because I have no idea about your height and weight I would be guided by calorie count. For me, I am 167cm (5ft6ish) and dropped to 1800cals when i was 72kg. I am now 65kg and my milk is still good. But everyone is different. Never go BELOW 1800 but you yourself will know when your milk drops or is good so be guided by what your body tells you. It may take a week or so to find the balance. Try 2000 cals and see if your milk is good and you are still losing weight, or 1900 cals etc. All rules are general and need to be tailored for each of us individually.
ReplyDeleteGOOD LUCK! you can do it!!!
xxx
Thanks! To put things into more perspective my weight right no is a whopping 67 kg and height is 160 cm. I have been eating approx 2200 calories thus far, because sincerely, I just feel so hungry! I will try to go to 2000, before I had my baby I was eating approximately 1600 calories/day or so. Even during my pregnancy I didn't eat that much, but breastfeeding is really taking a toll on my calorie count. I have started going on the treadmill again and some light strength training, hopefully I can start kicking it up a notch soon! Let me know what you guys think of my calorie count, I really do appreciate the advice :)
ReplyDeletesee how you feel on 2000. What sort of things are you eating? You need to snack as well as have meals so you are eating more or less ever 2 or 3 hours to stop the hunger pangs. High protein snacks are great as they keep you from nibbling, there is a post about them in here somewhere. I have breakfast say 8am, snack at 10am, lunch 12ish, snack 2ish, snack 4ish, dinner 6ish and sometimes another snack about 8. Its all about food choice and eating the right things to help you feel full and to keep eating throughout the day. Hope that makes sense!
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