Facing Fears and Accomplishing Goals

I'm taking swimming lessons. I don't like swimming. I hate that pools are usually cold. I hate getting wet with chlorine or fishy water because I have to think about when I will shower it all off and how fixing my hair afterwards is a hassle. I'm thinking my anxiety about swimming started when I was in elementary school and I would go swimming almost everyday in the summer. My hair was so green! I tried lemon juice, Sun In, leave in conditioners and none of it would keep my hair from turning green. It was a little embarrassing.

It's not that I don't know how to swim. I can definitely swim well enough to jump off diving boards and rocks and swim back to a boat in a lake. I'm usually one of the first ones to jump off of things.  

This is me jumping off of some rocks in Puerto Vallarta a little over a year ago.

 My problem is inefficiency. My form is atrocious. One of the things I've wanted to do for a while now is a triathlon. If you are not a very efficient swimmer and hate the water, this could be tricky. When I was very pregnant and dreaming of the things I could do when I was no longer pregnant, I made a goal board for 2015. On that board I have "Become a better swimmer" and "do a triathlon sprint". Dreaming of doing these things is very different that actually accomplishing them. When all the other times I said I was going to do these I would put it off for another time. I knew I needed to have a plan. I could go swimming as much as I wanted but if I didn't rework my form to be better, it wouldn't help me much.

 This is why I'm taking swimming lessons. I had my first one last night and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. The pool wasn't cold. I had a swim cap and goggles on. I bought some one piece swimsuits because no matter how fit I am, I will always be self-conscious about two piece swimsuits even though I buy a new one every year. I'm going to make sure that this is the time I learn to love swimming and get over my insecurities or other weird issues. I'm constantly afraid of looking dumb and I'm sick of living like that. I can have wet hair and no make up on when I leave the pool and that's okay. I can have the goggle and swim cap marks on my face and just not care because it shows that I'm doing something.

Face your fears and accomplish your goals! This is my new mantra!

On another note...

Baby P is 8 weeks old today. Isn't she cute?

I took some gross bathroom selfies this morning because I could see my upper abdominals! 

I still have quite a bit of loose skin that hangs over my c-section scar but that will go away with time. I'm pretty pleased with this improvement since 4 weeks PP.

I will get an updates progress picture in the same outfit as above sometime soon to get a better grasp of progress being made.

Your turn:

What goals have you made for 2015 and how are you accomplishing them?

Postpartum Running

Well, I may not be able to run like I'm being chased and that dinosaur would totally catch me, but I needed extra motivation this morning to run even though it's hard. 

My view this morning

You see, even though I worked out pretty hard my whole pregnancy, I feel very out of shape. I get out if breath very quickly and I'm not even running that fast. It takes everything within me to keep pushing myself when I'm like that so I can rebuild my lung capacity. It will take time, but it's frustrating.

If you're wondering how my incision is feeling when I run when I had my c-section only 5 1/2 weeks ago, my secret is a neoprene tummy wrap.

It holds everything in with support and also reminds me that I need to take it a little easier when I'm doing other things like lifting weights. I also like it because it feels like it tucks in my excess skin from pregnancy. I will at some point wean myself off of it because after my last pregnancy I felt like I was relying on it too much and not engaging my core. The name is Baboosh Baby and is endorsed by Brooke Burke if you are interested in looking it up.

Something I'm excited about is that I went on a Lululemon shopping spree at their outlet in Burlington, Washington when I was there this summer. I was taking a chance that my old size would work after pregnancy, but the last couple of days, I've been able to wear some of the items.

How cute are these running tights?!

What do you like to listen to when you run? I totally listen to the Britney Spears station on Pandora. :)

One Month Post-Partem

Well, I had hoped to do some photos at 2 weeks PP but I was still carrying so much extra fluid that I didn't think it was an accurate representation of an actual starting point on the road to getting my body back in shape after baby number two. To see where I was before I got pregnant, here's this photo:

This photo was also taken right after I went on a gluten binge and was having some extra bloat problems. However, I look at that now and I would give anything (most blood, sweat, and tears) to get my stomach looking like that again.

And now, four weeks PP, this is what I've got to work with: 

Up until last week all I have been able to to was walk on the treadmill. I was able to vary my pace and incline to get the most bang for my buck. Last week I couldn't take it any longer and started to do some easy jogging and some drop sets with dumbbells for my shoulders, triceps, and biceps. I figured I could work these muscles groups without straining my incision from the c-section. I have my PP doctor appointment next Thursday and I'm considering wearing workout clothes so I can go straight to CrossFit afterwards. Haha!

Although the pictures above are humbling and show me how far I have to go, I'm excited for the journey and more photos to compare my results throughout the coming months. I'll leave you with a comparison photo to when Inwas four weeks PP with my first baby. Although there's not a significant difference in my body overall (wouldn't it be nice if you just gained weight in your stomach and nowhere else?!), I notice a change in my stomach. Now if I can just get my nutrition on par...