On everymom’s fitness debacle.
It is really hard to get back on the fitness wagon.
I’ve been pushing myself for the last several weeks to form a routine. This has generally consisted of eating a salad for lunch and including a pilates or yoga workout after Sami goes to bed.
On Tuesday, I plopped Sami in the jog stroller, complete with new wheels, and went for an intervals run. Walk one block, run one block, rinse and repeat. My body was thoroughly wiped after that.
There’s a lot that I didn’t consider before taking on that particular workout. I warmed up, but I’ve never run pushing the stroller before. It changes my posture. My arms don’t swing as much. I lean ever so slightly more forward. Lastly, but by no means least, it weighs 40+ pounds with Sami in it. Sure, I’m not carrying that 40 lbs., but that is some added resistance.
Needless to say, I woke up on Wednesday morning with some pelvic and lower back cramping that I can only compare to early labor. It hurt to sit down and stand up. Picking up my child would have been out of the question, but I just enjoy squooshing her too much to give that up.
My point in all this is simply that getting back to fitness after a maternity break of any length is more difficult than one might expect. Even if one is successful in getting there mentally, there are unforseen physical challenges, time constraints, and general exhaustion due to constant functioning. On top of that, there is no immediate feedback loop. It’s discouraging when working out is hard to fit in, physically harder than you remember, and then takes a month or more to produce measurable results.
It will be worth jumping these hurdles in the end, provided I can screw up the motivation to overcome inertia in the first place.
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