Weekend Snapshots & (Postpartum) Weekly Workouts

Hi friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. And I hope that those of you who are mommas were able to soak in the day yesterday.

And for those of you who had a hard day yesterday, I’m thinking about and praying for you, too. I shared my thoughts on this Mother’s Day on Instagram yesterday, and I want to thank you all for the support there. Y’all are the best. <3

We kept things on the low-key side around our parts. It’s been so long since I shared any kind of weekend recap, so in a true unpredictable fashion, I’m popping in today to share a few photos from the weekend with a round-up of recent workouts at the bottom. I have received a few questions on what I’m doing for workouts right now, so I figured that a return to the series would be helpful for those who are curious. It also holds me accountable, so I’m all about it.

Here’s to kicking the week off on a high note. Happy Monday!

 

Weekend Snapshots

 

Saturday

I was thrilled to be able to meet my friend Meggan, who was in town visiting, for brunch on Saturday. She’s only seen the Midtown part of Manhattan, so I wanted to meet her somewhere lower to explore a new-to-her area. I read a suggestion to try a restaurant called Spring Street Natural in SoHo from an article on the top brunch spots in NYC, and it surprised me when I couldn’t even find it in Google Maps.

We made a reservation for the late-morning, but we were only one of the few tables in the restaurant. I don’t know why, because everything was great and we were surrounded by a lovely environment. There’s even a downstairs area that would be perfect for a private event. I walked down there to use the restroom, and there was a bartender, cool lights, and music playing.

Skyler did great through brunch, and we cashed out to move on to walking around the area while I still had a window of time. I love the artsy flair to SoHo. There are so many cool boutiques, restaurants, and local shops that are extremely unique.

I ended up breaking off from the group to nurse Skyler in a garden, then strolled him around with us for a little bit before heading home. It sure does take a lot of energy to get him out into the City! He usually taps out (as do I) after three hours or so, so I took his fussiness as a cue to Uber home and spend the rest of the day indoors.

He was extra snuggly and went to sleep slightly earlier than his usual bedtime. Scott was working, so I spent a little time cleaning up the house, doing laundry, and turned in by 10 p.m. Crazy night, y’all!

 

Sunday

Scott volunteers to help on staff at our church on Sundays, so he’s usually gone from 8 a.m. until about 1 p.m. I would join him for the 10 a.m. service when I was pregnant, but I’m just not ready to bring Skyler yet. We tried to take him to a nighttime service a few weeks ago and he was NOT having it. We’ll probably try again in another month!

So, I opted to stay home with Skyler and started my first official Mother’s Day cuddled up on the couch with him while streaming a service from our home church in Orlando.

It was pretty neat to see the part of the service where the pastor asked everyone who wanted prayer for healing or growing their families on Mother’s Day to stand. Last year, we asked the pastor to stand for us since we weren’t there, and, while leaving our names private, he publicly prayed for us and asked the whole congregation to join.

We feel so blessed to have our precious baby boy Skyler with us just a year later, and now we are praying for other families! Mother’s Day isn’t an easy holiday for a lot of people, so please know that I’m thinking of all of you and hope you were able to enjoy the day as much as possible.

That said, my Mother’s Day “started” after Scott took a quick nap after coming home exhausted. I nursed Skyler, then handed him off so I could enjoy my first postpartum run alone and aimed for thirty minutes on the running loop in our local park.

The first mile and a half felt easy, which really surprised me. I had tried to jog in a recent Orangetheory Fitness class, and I couldn’t even do that. It could have been thanks the fact that I felt pretty rested and took the previous three days off from workouts to recover from a cold. I took my time, stopped to snap a few photos and walk here and there, and turned around at the 1.5 mile mark.

As soon as I turned around, however, I felt it. It’s possible that my legs were already sore from an at-home barre workout I completed before my run (more details on this below … I was feeling really good!) but I think my body finally realized what was happening. Ha!

I motivated myself to keep moving over the next mile or so and then felt good again for the last half mile back to the apartment. It felt amazing to get out and run again! It had been over a year (right before I got pregnant) since I really ran, and I honestly can’t wait to go back for another one. I won’t be tackling any long distances anytime soon, but instead, I’ll be listening to my body and seeing where runs take me for a while.

After a nice long shower (it’s the little things, right?) Scott and I walked Skyler downstairs to run a few errands. I got my eyebrows threaded, then we went into the Verizon store to upgrade my phone! There isn’t much wrong with my iPhone 7, but the battery was starting to die quicker and quicker and … well, portrait mode. I had no idea what that was when I upgraded to the 7, and if I did, I would have gone for the 7 plus from the start. It is what it is.

We considered my upgrade to the iPhone X a combination of a push present, birthday present, and Mother’s Day present. I’ll gladly take that and I am so excited to be able to take better photos to share here!

We ran by the grocery store on the way home and picked up some essentials from the week. Scott volunteered to cook dinner while I nursed Skyler and put him to bed, and I came out to a wonderful chicken pesto pasta and side salad that tasted like perfection. We spent the rest of our night video chatting with family for Mother’s Day, and I turned in around 11 p.m. hoping for a decent’s night sleep. It wasn’t a bad day at all. 😉

 

Weekly Workouts

(May 7 – 13th, 2018)

 

I’m looking forward to bringing a version of Weekly Workouts back around here!

I get a lot of questions on what I’m doing in the postpartum fitness category and what my future plans are, so I’m hoping that a quick recap of what I did throughout the week can answer those questions and possibly help some of you who may be in my same shoes looking to get back into working out!

 

• Monday – At-Home Bodyweight Workout

I shared this workout on the blog last week, and it was perfect for getting a total body workout in at home after Skyler went to sleep. It’s a treat to get out to workout these days, so I have a feeling that I will be creating a lot more of these in the near future.

This workout is perfect for those just getting into working out, those returning to workouts after a bit of hiatus, and postpartum mommas. Since there isn’t any equipment required, you can complete it in a small apartment space, outside, or at the gym paired with a good cardio session!

 

• Tuesday – 2.5 walk through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

After walking across the entire park and throughout the garden for a few hours, I knew that was going to be my workout of the day. My legs sure do get tired quick!

By the way, I drafted a Friday Favorites post that included several photos from this trip with the intention of sharing it last week. Oops. I guess we will get back to that this week – stay tuned!

 

• Wednesday – Orangetheory Fitness

I didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night and felt like a zombie come Wednesday morning. I planned to go to Orangetheory that morning for a challenging cardio and strength training workout, but I knew my body needed rest instead. I don’t always nap when Skyler does, but I sure did as much as possible that day.

By the time the afternoon rolled around, I felt better and jogged a mile down to the studio for an afternoon workout. My jog quickly turned into a walk, however, as my tiredness started to set back in. Knowing I wasn’t going to push myself too hard, I hopped on the strider instead of the treadmill and took it at an easy pace on the floor.

(throwback to working out at OTF at 36 Weeks!)

I never got around to sharing my prenatal fitness tips while doing Orangetheory Fitness workouts, so I think I’m going to combine it with postnatal and share it all together coming soon. I love hearing about those of you who regularly attend OTF, too!

 

• Thursday – REST

After an exhausting Wednesday, I think my body really needed to rest and simply be a mama to a newborn without trying to do everything else during the day. I truly embraced this concept on Thursday when I woke up with a runny nose, an achy body, and a headache. I napped as much as possible and didn’t leave the apartment other than a quick late-night walk with Roadie.

 

• Friday – REST

 

• Saturday – REST

I continued to rest on Friday and felt better to work out on Saturday, but the day slipped away from me. That’s okay though, since I ended up walking a lot in the City.

 

• Sunday – 30 minute barre sculpting workout via POPSUGAR + 3 mile run outside

I finally started feeling like myself again, so I was determined to get a good workout in on Sunday. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to leave the apartment to attend a workout elsewhere, so I turned to YouTube and found a great at-home barre strength workout to stream for free. I usually search for whatever I’m in the mood to do (barre, pilates, yoga, etc.) followed by POPSUGAR because those tend to be my favorite style of workouts.

I loved the workout (although I had to stop a few times on the legs and abs portions — hello jello legs), and I especially appreciated the stretches that they incorporated throughout the video. It was a good one!

Skyler was being good after the video, so I handed him off to Scott to entertain while I decided to take a run outside solo. I was going to take Roadie with me, but I really wanted to enjoy my short window of time that I had to run and I knew that he always stops to sniff everything. I’ll take him for a jog again soon, but for now, I really want to start building up my running stamina again!

I wrote more about my first run back above, but am pretty happy knowing that I got to 3 miles in a 10:08 min/mile pace. After almost a year of walking instead of running, I’ll take it!

 

***

 

I was originally frustrated that I skipped so many workouts, but looking back, I’m proud of the ones I completed. I’m currently 8 weeks postpartum and am listening to my body for what feels good and what doesn’t when it comes to getting back into fitness. I waited a full 7 weeks to attend my first workout post-baby, so I know it will take a while to get back into the swing of things. Baby steps is my motto!

One thing I made sure to do was embrace my rest days, and there’s nothing wrong with that, either.

 

Thanks for popping in to chat today, and I’ll see you back here again later this week!

 

Questions of the Day

• What was one highlight from your weekend?

• What is your favorite kind of workout right now?