Hey there!
It’s Friday! I know, I know, you may ask, “What difference does it make? Aren’t you on maternity leave, anyway?” *As a side note, in the province of Quebec, we are entitled up to 50 weeks off. Happy dance!* Yes, you are right, but I am super thrilled to have my hubby home for the weekend. It’s always great to hang out as a family. Plus, Sofia is super funny these days. For instance, I was over the phone with Justin yesterday and was mimicking his snoring the night before, when all of a sudden she started laughing at me. *These moments are so precious!*
Yesterday, I was hanging out with a friend and we started talking about exercising after having a baby. I was thrilled that finally I broke the 117 mark and I’m currently in 116-pound range. *That’s where Justin will sigh and shake his head lol!* No, I’m not obsessed with my weight. I’m not following any diets either because it’s more important for me to make sure that my baby gets enough milk and nutrients than it is to drop a pound or two. But it is nice to see that the short workouts I do on a daily basis make me fitter and leaner.
As you may know, when Sofia was about 8 weeks old, I joined a weekly yoga class with her. In October, we also joined a dance class. *I will do a separate blog post on a dance class shortly.* However, even though I had lots of fun there, I was scared to add more activities because my C-section incision would swell up when I would even end up walking too much.
In the end of September, I came across 31 Days Away From a Banging Booty challenge, I was all for it.
There’s something about having a schedule that makes it easy for me to commit. Moreover, I can focus on a specific body part. Squats was a simple choice because it didn’t engage my ab muscles (my main concern at that point of time) while keeping my core composed.
When November came around, I was ready to focus on my core! After a quick Google search, I came across the following 30-day challenge.
I’ve really enjoyed it because it gave me some sort of a gentle transition from not doing any ab exercises for over 9 months to actually feeling the change in my core strength.
See some of the previous challenges I participated in here:
- Strengthen Your Core: Spartan 30-Day Bear Crawl Challenge
- Sweat, Smile & Repeat: Spartan 30-Day Abs Challenge
- 30-Day Spartan Team Workout Challenge
- 30 burpees for 30 days
- 30 push ups for 30 days
- 30 squats for 30 days
- 1 mile a day for 30 days
At the same time, I find it’s important to mention that you have to do these kind of challenges in addition to your daily workouts. Otherwise, they are not as effective. Keeping your workouts balanced (cardio, strength & flexibility) is key to success.
Putting up her first Christmas tree last night!
Now that December is just around the corner, I’d like to focus on my upper body strength. *I definitely have a head start constantly carrying around my ever-growing 15-pound baby. Haha!* I’m thinking a mix of push-ups, pull-ups and maybe adding some dumbbells to my workouts. Any suggestions?
Do you like incorporating 30-day challenges in your workout routine? Why?
xoxo
Olena
candies & crunches 