Baby O turned 6 months old on Sunday. It was very bittersweet. I love seeing his little personality coming through. Seeing him break into a big smile and giggle at me when I walk into the room melts my heart every single time.
How can you not love this face??
©Fit Mom in Training
Trying to run away from mama’s camera!
©Fit Mom in Training
In terms of how I’m feeling, I feel great! Every week that passes I’m hitting new milestones, working hard, eating well and most importantly, listening to my body. One thing I’m learning is how important that it, not just when you’re fighting an injury but when you’re fighting fatigue, illness, mental stress. Let me bring some perspective to this:
When it was just Fit Boy running around the house, I was working out 5-6 days a week, mixing up running, swimming, weight lifting and spinning. I had a balance and it was the right amount for me. Because I have access to a gym and a great running trail near where I work, it always fell into my schedule. I worked out at full capacity but never beyond that.
Fast forward to the present. I have a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old. Baby O. Does. Not. Sleep. He’s just that kind of kid. It frustrates me endlessly but this has been our reality for the past 4 months with him and there is no signs of that changing. Right now, I work out 3 days a week. Because I’m training for some fall races, my workouts consist of running and swimming when I can. Right now, that is my full capacity. It’s about half of what I was doing before but it’s as much as my body can handle given the level of exhaustion I’m experiencing from the lack of sleep.
I am perfectly OK with that.
The baby weight is gone, I have a waist again, and other than the extra skin and surgical scar, you really can’t tell that I had a baby recently.
Why yes, that is a bow-tie 
And yes, my hair really does look that bad most days.
Why would I not be OK with that? I’m operating at my full capacity and doing just fine. In time, I’ll be able to go back to more intense workouts and strength training but I’m not ready for that yet. My body isn’t ready and to be perfectly honest, working myself to the point of injury, illness or worse isn’t worth it. I’m still meeting the goals I’ve set out for myself. When I’m able, I’ll reach for bigger goals.
Your turn: Did you come back from pregnancy or injury at the same level you left or did you take your time and let your body guide you?
I got injured coming back from pregnancy….double whammy!! Once I did regulate I was stronger than I had ever been! It was awesome!!! Hoping the same will be true after #2!
I think you look beautiful in that photo with your son!
I don’t have any babies yet, but I’m a full time nanny, and my youngest is 5months, so I know how it can get! The other two are 4 and 6yrs. Anyhow, you have such a great perspective on things and it’s very inspirational!! I take a lot of it to heart for when I have my own some day in the future and my body goes through the pregnancy recovery etc! Thanks for sharing!!Spa love!
I did not come back at the same level. It took me a while to get back physically. But even though physically I’m back at that level the perpetual lack of sleep does take its toll!
So glad I found your blog!
Your body will naturally try to keep your sleep debt as close to zero as possible. This explains why a lot of people sleep in on the weekends, because their body wants to catch up with the sleep debt. Or when you go on vacation to a different part of the world, you might be lacking on sleep because of the traveling so you catch up on it the first week of vacation where you sleep a lot.