Showing posts with label Walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Walking. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 21, 2015

.Yawn

I realized that it's been a lot longer than I thought since I ran last; nine days ago yesterday to be exact. Oopsie. I didn't mean to take a nine day break but between being busy, preparing for our trip, and being flat out tired it just didn't happen. I'm still learning to juggle life with a baby!

We just got back from Vegas on Saturday from Stella & Dot's national conference (Hoopla) and it went really well. Not only was the conference really good and very informative, but Kendrick was an absolute rock star. On the flight there I took people's advice and had his soother in for landing and take off and he didn't fuss at all. He just sat in my lap and stared at me! :) On the way home he was a little fussier as the flight was during his bed time (will try not to make that mistake again), but when he went to asleep he stayed asleep and we managed to get him home and in bed without him fully waking up! During the sessions he either slept or played with his toys, and when he got fussy and I picked him up, the people behind me made faces at him and he giggled and smiled. I couldn't have asked for a more well-behaved baby and now it's given me a lot of food for thought for when we travel to Australia in the fall!

So after doing a bunch of research I have decided that I'm going to purchase a Fitbit. I had one of the very first ones that clipped onto your pants and to be honest I didn't like it. But that was quite a few years ago and I think I'm ready to give it another chance. That being said, I'm not sure which one to buy! I thought I was pretty set on the Fitbit Charge HR however now I'm considering the Fitbit Surge. I really wanted something that has a heart rate monitor built right in, but that also tracks my sleep (for the past year or so, even before I got pregnant, I have been having problems sleeping for long periods of time). The big differences between the two are that you can get text messages on the Surge (doesn't really matter to me), change a song on your music (good, but really not a big deal to me), track multiple sports and the big one: GPS. As much as I love my Nike running app, it's not really meant for walking so when I use it for walks it brings down my average pace. It's not the end of the world, but I use that pace to figure out approximate KMs when I'm on a time limit. It would also be beneficial when I'm on vacation or running outside of Canada. The Nike app would cost me a lot to use data and I wouldn't be using it on hikes or other walks. Of course, there's also the $120 price difference ($179.99 VS $299.99). So many decisions! I still have some time to think about it as in either case I would want the blue or tangerine colors (basic black is way too boring) which haven't been released yet. Feel free to comment below if you have a preference one way or another, I'd love to hear feedback!

Speaking of sleeping terribly, I think it's time to make a trip to the doctor and the naturopath. I am a terrible sleeper. I am tired all day but when night time comes I find it really difficult to fall asleep and I wake up multiple times a night. These are the nights I should be sleeping because Kendrick has been sleeping through the night for about two months now! It's starting to really affect me so I'm going to see if I can figure out something. What are your tips for falling asleep at night?

xo
-Dianne

PS: Product Review: Yurbuds - $27 - Sport Chek

I have been looking for new ear buds as I find regular ones don't stay in my ears and I'm constantly re-adjusting them. I had ones that went around my ears but mid-run they would start to hurt so I was in the market for some new ones. I went to Sport Chek on the weekend and was looking at some $80 fancy ear buds when one of the workers came over and told me about Yurbuds and said one of his coworkers swore by them. It says "Guaranteed to Never Fall Out" right on the box, so I thought I'd give them a shot. 


As it turns out, they are awesome! I ran with them for the first time today and they were super comfortable and honestly didn't move, even though it was quite windy. I didn't have to re-adjust them once! I am very impressed and at a $29.99 price point they were worth every penny. They also sell sets for $40 and $50 but I couldn't see much of a difference other than the accessories so I decided on these ones. They also say they are specially made for women and have two sizes. Two thumbs up!

PPS: I know a few new mommies so I wanted to post some of my tips for air travel with a baby! I was very lucky that Kendrick was so good, but there were a few things that really helped me!

- Pay extra for the "plus" seats. On Westjet they are $50 and you get extra legroom, your first & second bag checked in free, and free food and drinks. Since you'd be paying $25 anyways for your bag, this is a no-brainer. If possible, also book seats A&C or D&F so there's a chance that no one will sit in between you! That extra seat is a bonus.
- You're probably going to bring more than you need. I packed way too many diapers, outfits and formula. But you just never know and it's better to be safe than sorry!
- Feed or give baby a soother during landing and take off. It helps pop their little ears!
- If you can help it, don't fly in the evening. I had to wash bottles and pump in the airport because we checked out of our hotel at 10:30AM and didn't leave until 8:30PM! If given the choice I would fly in the morning or afternoon
- Check with your airline but you should be allowed to take a diaper bag along with your own carry on and personal item. I kept all baby stuff in the diaper bag along with extra outfits, food and diapers. You never know when there will be a delay! You are allowed to take formula and breast milk through customs, just take it out for security so they can scan it.
- I found people around me were really helpful! If he started getting fussy the people behind me or beside me would make faces at him and he'd smile and giggle. It was a big help!
- Don't be afraid to ask for help. I find that hard sometimes but people (especially the flight attendants) will be happy to hold your baby for a moment while you get organized!

Saturday, May 16, 2015

.Action

May 14, 2015 - I RAN!

I was going to give myself another week or so before I started running again, but when I headed to bootcamp for the first time since last summer it happened to be a running day! I think I may have been the only one excited about this. :)

The concept was simple: run a lap around the soccer field as fast as you can, and then take a minute rest. Repeat another seven times. My goal was to run them all, even if it was incredibly slow I wanted to try really hard not to walk. I was able to accomplish my goal and ran around 2.24 KM (this is a little off because I was late in starting the GPS) with no walk breaks. I felt beyond awesome! Of course today (48 hours later) I'm feeling the effects of the run. Everything hurts! It reminds me of how many muscles you use running that you don't realize. 9.5 weeks after baby and 305 days since my last run, I conquered it. YAY.

These past couple weeks I've been taking Kendrick and going on lots of walks. I've done over 28 KM this month and we're only half way through! 



You can tell which walks I've taken the dog as they are a lot slower! I am so lucky to live in a city with lots of great walking paths and places to explore, as it makes walking that much more interesting! I always run with music but since I've been walking I've been going without headphones and enjoying the scenery and interacting with Kendrick when he's awake.

This past week I also tried out Mommy & Baby yoga at Purity Health & Wellness and it was fantastic! There is a mixture of yoga for mommy and baby massage and songs for baby. Kendrick made it about 45 minutes before he had enough and had a melt down, but overall it was fantastic. I met some new people and spent time with a friend and her little one while getting some exercise! I can't wait to go again next week.



These last couple weeks I've been pretty good when it comes to eating! I'm making/having smoothies 4-5 times a week and I'm trying my best to eat better. I still snack here and there (I love chips, and hubby brought home a mini cheesecake last week) but I've been starting to master multi-tasking with the little one and am able to cook more meals. We got a playpen as a shower gift and it's currently set up in the kitchen, so while I'm prepping a meal or cooking he can hang out next to me. Our friends Adam & Melanie bought us a couple of meals from Simply Supper that we are going to try out this week! It's a very cool concept - everything you need for dinner is in a large freezer bag and there are instructions on how to make it! It's healthy too! Tonight we had honey baked chicken & potatoes and they were delicious!

I'm trying not to weigh myself every day, but I did weigh myself yesterday and noticed I'm down a couple pounds and now 27.8 lbs away from my goal weight. I'm definitely noticing a difference in how I feel and how I look (with the exception of being tired, but I don't think you can ever really get rid of that when you have a baby.) Now that I've gone for my first run I'm starting to think about when I'm going to be able to squeeze in running on a weekly basis. I'm debating on going back to running in the early morning. Currently Kendrick gets hungry between 4:30-5:30 AM and I figure I can go for a quick run after I feed & change him and still have time to shower before hubby goes to work. It usually takes me awhile to get back to sleep anyways when I'm up for over an hour in the middle of the night, so this way I'll be able to get some exercise in and still hopefully be able to sneak in some more sleep before he gets up for the day. Considering the fact that it's 48 hours after my run and I'm still uber sore, I don't anticipate running for more than 20-30 minutes for the first little while so that I can slowly work my way back into it. According to the Nike 1/2 marathon training program I'm starting on June 1st (to train for the Edmonton 1/2 Marathon) I should be running around 8 KM a week before I start so I have to get moving. I'm starting to get a little nervous, however I just keep reminding myself that the goal is to finish and not to overthink it as it will only be five months after the baby and that itself will be an accomplishment!

Action Plan
Run 2-3 times a week
Bootcamp 1-2 times a week
Mommy & baby yoga once a week
Stroller walks 4-5 times a week

I know this may seem like a lot, but I'm taking advantage of the fact that right I'm home most of the day. Running in the morning will be an experiment to see how tired I am at the end of the day, and of course dependant on the weather. I'll provide an update next blog post as to how it's going! Being outside and absorbing vitamin D is obviously doing wonders for my system as I'm feeling fantastic and very happy! Yesterday I rearranged a couple kitchen drawers and shelves and all of my spices so everything is organized and easy to view when I'm cooking! It was a proud moment.

xo
-Dianne

PS: Stella & Dot is having a mega sale this long weekend, so please check it out! There are some items that are 50-60% off and once they're gone, they're gone for good! You'll also earn Dot Dollars so you can treat yourself to a wicked discount at the end of June. Check it out here! I'm starting to do trunk shows again as of June 8, so let me know if you're interested in getting some bling for free! 

PPS: I upgraded to a new gold MacBook and I absolutely love it! The keyboard is so smooth and the computer is really light. I highly recommend it if you are in the market for a new laptop!
Thursday, April 30, 2015

.Freedom

This past Monday I was exactly seven weeks postpartum. I can't believe Kendrick was born seven weeks ago! Time is really flying and he's changing so much every day! Next time I upgrade my iPhone I'm going to have to go with a 64GB, as I take multiple pictures of him a day and am running out of space. He's just so darn cute!

A week and a half ago I went to the doctor to go for my six week check up and after I got checked out the doctor gave me the go ahead to not only lift the carseat, but to slowly get moving and start working out again. I was over the MOON! I've been feeling so trapped at home and so bored of TV so I'm so glad that Kendrick and I can start going out and about during the day! I haven't watched Netflix in over a week! She told me the most important thing was to listen to my body and don't start off too crazy, and recommended no ab-specific exercises (crunches, etc) for another month. I was definitely feeling a lot better but still feeling a little bit of pain and had some difficulty getting out of bed or off the couch so I took it easy the rest of the week.

This week however I've felt very good. I've decided that my fitness journey to get back to pre-baby weight (or a few pounds lighter) is going to start now. These pictures were taken on Monday (I'm not a fan of selfies so these shots are headless):


If I don't leave with the baby, I fear people will still think I'm pregnant. Then again, I just keep telling myself that I haven't been able to do much of anything for over 10 months, so to get here at this point is probably pretty good. Essentially I know now what was baby weight and what was just extra weight (from maybe a few two many cherry candies) from the pregnancy. I'm about 30 pounds away from my goal weight (which is about five pounds lighter than what I was when I found out I was pregnant) and I hope to accomplish that by the end of 2015 if not sooner!

I've had smoothies for breakfast every day this week which has been pretty refreshing. Monday afternoon I went grocery shopping and bought some greek yogurt and frozen fruit for smoothies and dug out my Magic Bullet so I could make single portions. Here's what I bought:

Frozen mango, strawberries and blueberries
Greek Yogurt (banana, coconut and key lime)
Almond Coconut Milk
Spinach

I already had flaxseed at home, so this has provided me with enough to try different combinations until I run out of groceries! I admit it is cheaper to buy the frozen fruit at Costco, but the sliced ones at Sobey's I find work better in my Magic Bullet as it doesn't take well to full sized fruit. My goal is to have smoothies every day this week. They are quick to prepare and I can take them on the run if I decide to go out and about in the morning! So far so good! I've been finding it difficult to prepare healthy meals three times a day since the baby has come, but as he gets older I'm finding that my time management has been slowly getting better and I'm able to start to get things done some days (the key word here is SOME). I also am not a fan of almond milk on it's own or in cereal, but in smoothies it tastes delicious!

I went for a walk on Monday and it was awesome! Made it just over 3KM and felt a little tired but very motivated. I need to find a way to get some sort of sun shield for the stroller, as when I was walking back I had to keep the cover over him because the sun was shining right in his eyes! I felt a little bit crampy which definitely let me know that I'm not ready to run just yet, but walking was definitely a start! We didn't have a chance to go Tuesday or Wednesday but we did go for a short walk today and it felt even better! 

I also signed up for Mommy & Baby yoga this week at Purity Health and Wellness! I haven't done yoga in at least three years so this should be fun for Kendrick & I! I'm thinking of starting bootcamp with my co-workers next week too, so slowly but surely this mama is getting back into it!

With that, I will leave you with this photo as when I saw this onesie I actually laughed out loud in the store and couldn't say no... :) You'll also see my dog's paw in the bottom right hand corner - I think he loves baby photo time just as much as I do! He wants to be in all the pictures!


xo
-Dianne

PS: I went to get Kendrick & I's passport pictures done so we can apply for new passports in May. Getting a passport picture for a baby is a lot trickier than I thought! Essentially I had to kneel on the ground and try to hold his head up with two fingers, while using my other hand to hold down his hands (as he really likes to raise his hands in the air in the "touchdown" pose) and all while not having any part of me in the picture. Somehow, it we managed to get one in less than five minutes - hopefully Passport Canada likes it because I really don't want to go back and try it again! It's pretty darn cute though - now the little bugger is stuck with that photo until he's 5! :)

PPS: After buying this onesie yesterday I searched "hashtag" and "onesie" on Etsy and oh man, I'm in trouble! There are so many cute ones just calling Kendrick's name...