Postpartum Fitness Goals

It's the beginning of a new month and I'm finally starting to feel myself again. My blood pressure is seemingly controlled by medicine for the time being and I have even decreased my dosage since delivery three (almost four) weeks ago. Eventually I hope to come off of it completely and there's no reason for me to believe I can't do that. Anyway...

3 Weeks Postpartum

I feel pretty good! I've started jogging again, but won't resume any other workouts until I'm cleared by my doctor. I hope she will tell me I can at my six week appointment that will be here before I know it. Getting back outside and sweating has been slow going. I've already improved a lot, though. I started off barely able to run a mile, but I'm building up to feeling strong again.

Here are my Postpartum Goals for the next couple of months:

1. Run 50 miles in September

2.Train & complete a half marathon in November (I haven't signed up yet, but I'm planning to do a race I've been wanting to do for awhile now. I hope I see a lot of improvement in my run pace over the next month.)

3. Confidence

4. Lose the remaining baby weight. I'm currently at 126 lbs. and I feel most comfortable at 120. I was almost at my goal but my milk was decreasing too much so I had to start eating more calories to keep that up for baby. It's not that I was dieting-not at all. I just find it difficult to find time to eat when I'm taking care of all three babes.

5. That brings me to my next point. I want to start eating better. I need to fuel this body and nourish Merit's. In the past, I was healthiest when I ate clean for at least two meals a day. I'd like to get back to that.

6. More water. Always.

What are your health goals this month?

Clothed With Strength {a new shop}

Hey, y'all. You know I haven't been around much and part of that is because I've been busy with my new business! I planned on having this big hoopla GRAND OPENING but as I suck with coding and all things technical I just couldn't get the website the way I wanted it. I caved and set up an Etsy and took orders via PayPal on the facebook page and bam. It has done really well. I still eventually hope to have a legit online store one day, but until then these two avenues are working just fine. I've recently began talk with stores around the area to expand to sell there as well. So, what is it I'm selling exactly?

Clothed With Strength is an active apparel line for women. It combines two of my passions: faith and fitness! If you've followed along my blog for any length of time you know I felt lead to do something that I am passionate about, something that would help me contribute financially to my family. Last year as I began trying to get healthy and fit after having baby #2, an idea started to form in my mind. It eventually grew into what it is now and hopefully it will continue to grow. I'm having so much fun doing this! I hope you'll browse the Etsy. I've sold out of so much lately it has been hard to keep inventory in. I do have some sizes/shirts left, though so go shop if you wanna!

Here are some happy customers in their gear! 

And this week, I'm offering up this sweet deal:

30% off this New Balance Sleeveless Tank-

As I said, I've been having a lot of fun wearing and distributing this gear. I've been trying to keep up with running while preggo, but it is HARD. Last weekend, Clothed With Strength was at a local 5K in my hometown. Sales did really well and so did this 6+ month pregnant gal. I finished in 31:33, which is good for me considering the extra weight I'm packin'. I had to walk a few times because my heart rate was getting higher than Doc tells me is okay and plus, ouch, my back and belly were aching. Anyway, I was proud to have finished it but I think I'll take it easy on cardio from here on out. 

Here are some photos from the 5K:

That's my bro and my sister helping me. He ran with me and she manned the table while I was gone.

I'm just so thankful to my friends, family, and customers for making this worth my while. God has been so good to bless me with supportive people in my life and I'm very, very grateful.

I don't know where this business is headed, but I am enjoying where it is right now. Thanks so much for supporting me.

Website: Clothed With Strength
IG: @ClothedWithStrengthApparel
Like Clothed With Strength on Facebook
Etsy: ClothedWStrength

New This Week

In an effort to keep things current around here (who knew motherhood to mobile children was so time consuming? ;) ), I thought I'd talk all about what's new. I'm hip like that. Take for instance...

My new shirt and hair! I went blonde(ish) again. I'm just happier this way. In addition, I treated myself to a new shirt/jacket because I never do that sort of thing and I loved this one. I found her at a cute little boutique in the town I live in and it was half off. Score.

If I posted the Best Week Ever with Mrs. K like one popular blogger you might know, I would totally  include The Biggest Loser Finale. It might be the coolest thing on t.v. these days. You probably know that I love the whole show, but the last night is always my favorite. It's inspiring to see these people transforming their bodies and lives...and doing it without some silly diet or scheme. Good ole fashioned hard work in the gym and eating healthy foods can and will change you. I just love seeing that reminder, although I will admit that I ate three Krystals while watching the finale. What? It was for the baby ;) Just look at these transformations:

Winner: Rachel

At Home Winner: Tumi

There were so many others, but I can't google all day, people. I've got priorities.

Moving on...While those folks are losing this Mama is gaining. I'm up to 120lbs and my belly is definitely poking out despite people telling me often that they can't tell I'm pregnant. My secret is flattering shirts on repeat. I'm 12 weeks along this week and I got to see my littlest babe wiggle and squirm in an ultrasound yesterday to check for abnormalities. Thus far, the baby is measuring normally. My heart melted when I saw baby #3 moving and shaking. What a miracle, ya know? I mean, at just 12 weeks there's a tiny living baby inside. It's not a bunch of cells, it's a human with legs and a heart and sweet little arms moving all about. It's amazing.

My silly toddler's new favorite phrase is "Oh dear". You can tell who he hangs out with most, eh? And Baby A? He is all over the place. He's walking well now and it still confuses me. I think I know where he is in the house judging by the absence of knees hitting the floor as he crawls and where I left him, but nope! That boy is a walking machine. Hard to keep up with. I'm so proud.

Knock on wood lots of times, but I THINK the sickness has finally left our house. If we're friends on IG or FB, you know that we had a rough last couple of weeks. We all got sick and then better and then sick again. It has been gross but we survived.

Also new? I've got a cool review coming up for ya. Sneak peak:

All that and it's only Wednesday! I hope you have a great rest of the week, friends.

Love,

2013 in Review

What a crazy quick year 2013 was for the W Family! Here's a 12 month recap:

1. In January, I wrote this post marking the beginning of my journey toward fitness. It's funny how I say my goals are to get fit and not get pregnant "especially the latter." Oh, how comical. After having Baby A I weighed 132. By the end of the year, I'm holding steady at about 118! I'm proud of my progress.

2. February brought a new move onto the horizon. The boys and I settled into life in sunny Florida and J finished up training for his new job out of state.

3. In March, we got crafty with a toddler activity board!

4. Then we took a few trips south in April. We left Jacksonville for Orlando and Sarasota and made precious memories with our kiddos.

5. In May, I set my sights on a goal of running 100 miles in a month. I hit my goal AND broke a new personal record. In addition to that, my family came in from TN to see my cousin get married. We had a good time showing my sister and bro-in-law around our new home in Florida.

6. June was so much fun, too. My husband graduated with his MBA from Norwich University in Vermont. It was my first time visiting the state and I fell in love! Then my pal came to Florida to visit us.

7. Still plugging away at getting fit, I created the Burpee Sprint Challenge in July. Then something Amazing happened at the end of the month! J secured an interview within his company for a job in East Tennessee and we soon heard back that we were moving HOME!

8. August was obviously crazy. We packed up our house in a weekend and I drove with two under two the full 8 or more hours home. We celebrated K's second birthday and Baby A turned 8 months old.

9. Thrilled to be home, we set out to hike the cumberland trail with the boys when we weren't busy shopping for a house in September. I also set and achieved a goal of running 50 miles that month.

10. In October, we finally moved into our new house!

11. November, my birthday month, was pretty uneventful. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in TN in over five years or so, though.

12. December has been insane, too. Lots of new developments. Baby A turned 1! We found out our family is growing again!


We are looking forward to the new year. I'm still formulating goals in my head, but I'll be sure to share those with you when I get a chance. Thank you all so much for reading and supporting me in 2013. See ya next year ;)

Pregnancy Fitness & Soft Body Woes

You know what's hard? Getting fat after I've worked diligently all year to be comfortable and proud of my body. I look down and I don't see a hard body that has been eating better and lifting weights and running. I see a soft body, as if I've never ran a day in my life. It's difficult to go through pregnancy after pregnancy with low self-esteem. My face breaks out. I have odd discoloration on my skin. My belly is expanding so early as it always does. I look like I'm carrying a couple extra cheeseburgers, not a life and I'm only roughly six or seven weeks along. I feel so thankful to be able to carry our children when I know so many cannot, but still the thoughts creep in. I suppose the only way to keep them at bay is to continue training and that's what I've been doing. I'm dedicated to staying active and healthy as long as I can.

When I found out I was pregnant, I was keeping up with a pretty rigorous routine and I committed to sticking with it until the doctors told me otherwise-

I started focusing on my legs and backside with this workout. Try it!

Then Annalise posted the Air Force BMT Fitness Standards so I tried to see where I was at with that. I think I'll keep working on this. I'd like to improve and get to the highest level. Something to work toward anyway.

But despite staying motivated, I'm getting slower. Running seems to take twice the effort these days. Perhaps it's in my head, but I've almost added a whole minute to my normal mile.

What did you do to stay active during a pregnancy?

Christmas List

My man always waits until the last minute to go Christmas shopping. Not me. I like to buy in advance so I'm not stressed out by the time the big day rolls around. I almost always have a few that I need to pick up a few days before Christmas, though. It never fails. I'm not where I'd like to be on our list, but hopefully we'll get there. As usual, I thought I'd make it easier on J when he goes out shopping. Not that he's not good at choosing gifts for me- he is. BUT...I am diggin' these:

Do you shop well under pressure? I don't. Yesterday, I was feeling the stress of SEVEN DAYS and I wandered around aimlessly after the two gifts I went after were nowhere to be found. I was power walking through our tiny little mall like no one's business, but I wasn't getting anywhere. Sigh.

Tis the Season.

Thoughts on Baby #3 and Friday Link Love

Thank you all so much for the congrats and in case you haven't heard:

We are expecting! I tend to tell people when these things come about because I'm just so excited and because, well, I'm a writer. I need to write. I need to document. My feelings get all sorted out this way. While this was such a beautiful surprise for us, it's also a little scary. I wonder what the transition from two to three will be like! We'll be outnumbered after all. It was a surprise, but we do want a big family and so this is just perfect for us. We know these years will be precious and fleeting and perhaps a bit crazy, but we are thrilled to have this blessing and a new adventure as a family of five. I'm newly pregnant so of course I would appreciate your prayers for a healthy baby. I won't be going to the doc until after Christmas because the schedule was just too crazy, but I'll know more then. I wanted to share our news on social media because I knew if anything happened to this precious life I wouldn't grieve silently. I'd have to write about it. We are hoping and praying that this little one grows to a healthy, happy babe in about 8 months. Thank you for your support and love! Also:

It's time again for...

1. It's nearly Christmas and I still haven't done my annual (virtual) Christmas List! My husband really depends on that, but I just haven't had time. I thought I'd throw this in the ring, though. I want P90X3! Get ripped in 30 minutes? Surely I can do that ;) Anyway, here's my favorite Beachbody lady, fellow blogger, Alana!
2. Also in the spirit of Christmas, my favorite web designer posted a Joy To The World free printable! It's pretty. I'd print it if we had any colored ink left. Ink cartridge is on my list of "crap to get".
3. If you don't make any other cookie this holiday season, make this one! My mom makes the best thumbprint cookie EVER. Not an exaggeration. You will definitely want to hop in that kitchen ;)

Anyway, what else did I miss on the world wide web today? Send me the good things you've found!

December Goals

I made some blanket type goals for 2013- the kind those in the psychology world know to be Crappy Goals (ok, I made that up). I wanted to get fit. I wanted to read more. I wanted to write more. There were others, but as I typed out just what I wanted to accomplish this year, it was only half-heartedly that I did so. Goals should be measurable and specific, something all of these lacked. When I saw Laura write out her goals for this month alone, I started thinking- Why wait until New Years to get crackin' on the things I want in my life? Here's what I'm working on this month:

1. 10,000 words on novel- I have begun writing the next great fiction novel. Get excited, folks! Seriously, though...I want to reach at least 10,000 words making the total word count around 13,000 by the end of the month.
2. Drink 3 camelbaks of water daily (at least!)
3. Workout 4x (at least) per week
4. Bring Christmas Cheer to our neighbors (deliver cookies, write a sweet note, caroling) (bahaha on that last one). What an odd practice caroling is...so I'm totally kidding with that one. I can't carry a tune in a bucket.
5. Start and Finish homemade gift for my sweet Cray K. I look forward to showing you all this one!

What are your goals for the last month of 2013?

Arms & Abs

Many of you ask me how I find time to workout with the kids and I just wanted to address that quickly. It's hard. It is. When your kids are running you ragged and then magically, they finally sleep at the same time, sometimes you just want to sit there and do nothing. Working out isn't always the first thing I want to do either. It's a choice...but I encourage you to take every opportunity to be active. It will make you feel better in the long run. Of course, there are days when I decide a long, hot bath and a good book would do more for my soul and those are good days, too. I'm not knockin' those. 

A huge part for me in finding time to workout is being able to get creative here at home. We have slowly started to piece together a small home gym. I say that with aspiration in my voice. We hope one day to have a home gym...right now it's some free weights, resistance bands, some workout DVDs and a stationary bike! My point is, you can work out anywhere. Use your body as your weights if you don't have any. Yesterday, I promised to share one of my workouts with you. I wanted to show you exactly what I did this week, but my kids are tugging at my pjs, looking up at me waiting to be fed so the detailed post of specific exercise routines will have to wait. I've got priorities, man.

Anyway, pinterest has been huge in helping to keep me motivated. I like to pin exercises and reference them frequently. Lately, I've tried these and would recommend them:

Also, try these moves to workout your arm muscles without the strain on your wrists.

These are always good, too-

When people ask me what I do to workout my arms and abs, I immediately pick out planking as the best thing to do for both. You can plank anytime, anywhere (if you don't mind odd looks) and you can try to beat your own times. I usually throw in a 3 minute plank at the end of every workout I do. Try to plank every day. Do it. I dare you.

Additionally, there's a workout trainer app called Skimble that I utilize when I'm feeling very uninspired and need a little kick. It's free!

Have you pinned any exercises that I should add to my boards?

September Fitness Goals

I've been singing the same tune for what seems like months. My exercise and weight loss/gain is a freakin' yo yo and I've done nothing to stop it. Moving is always so hard on my body. I tend to go for easy and fast which usually results in choosing foods that are absolutely terrible, not to mention fake. Oh, but they taste good, don't they? I'm hovering around 119-121 lbs right now. It fluctuates a lot. Regardless, my clothes don't fit as well and I have just an overall sluggish feeling. I'm hoping I can turn this around in September by making (and sticking to) some fitness goals.

1. 50 Miles in September
2. Ab Challenge
3. Hydrate
4. Paleo approach to breakfast & lunch

I've had a few good workouts since I've been home, though. J is commuting nearly three hours total to work everyday so it's hard to have him watch the kiddos. By the time he gets home, he's tired and dealing with loan/house responsibilities. I've tried to workout with the kids, but you know how that goes sometimes. They've gotta be quick!

What are your fitness goals next month?



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Favs: Workout Gear Edition

1. CamelBak eddy- I use these constantly throughout the day. I find that the straws are deceptive. I drink more with them!

2. Polar FT40 HRM- I love to use this to track my heart rate and calories burned.

3. Shorts & Bra by Champion- Workout gear doesn't have to be expensive. I find affordable, comfortable, and cute gear at Target all the time.

I have yet to find the perfect running shoe. I also haven't found a good pair of running earphones. The ones I bought from skull candy are total pieces of poo poo, just so you know.

Anyway, yesterday I had an amazing workout in just thirty minutes. My arms are sore today! I tried Bobbi's Spider Thrusters- man, oh days. Those are tough. Go to her site and check it out.

Just look how many calories I burned by incorporating these with a little cardio and other arm exercises:

Do you have favorite workout gear that I need to know about?

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