I took your advice on running while breastfeeding and it paid off! On Saturday, I successfully ran 4.5 miles pain free. Here is what I did:

1. I fed Tommy when I first woke up and then pumped afterwards what was left.
2. I put on my new Juno bra from Moving Comfort. This wasn’t sent to me, I bought it online via the Brooks website on sale for $39.99. I ordered the 34DD hoping it wouldn’t be too big as my other Moving Comfort is a 32D… It was almost too small. The girls were SNUG and it felt like it barely fit.
3. Run at a comfortable pace which was a ten minute mile.

I ran 4.5 miles at a medium effort level. I couldn’t believe how much stamina I still had. I was tired when I finished but I was surprised that I didn’t need to stop at all. Most shockingly, I was sore Sunday. I am never sore after running except for long marathon training runs and race days.

I shared this photo on Friday on my Instagram to show the difference between my belly while pregnant and now, six weeks postpartum. From the side, I will admit, it is slightly deceiving.

I hesitated posting a progress picture. I’m not sharing it to make any new moms feel bad or show off but to inspire others to continue exercising through pregnancy and not feel guilty about what you eat. I still have 10 lbs to lose but know it will take some time and am working out more to get back in shape rather than lose weight.

Again, I haven’t really looked at my diet. I have an oversupply of breast milk so if it gets reduced as a result of working out, I’ll be happy. Tommy has gained about a lb a week since birth exclusively being breastfed… he is 15lbs at just 7 weeks old so he could probably use a little milk reduction too. Kidding, I’m not putting him on a diet but I did read that if you have a forceful let down it sometimes can cause extra weight gain in babies. His weight by the way for non or new moms is on the chart as being equivalent to a 4-6 month old.

After getting cleared by my midwife, here is what my week in workouts looked like:

• Monday: REST
• Tuesday: Two SFitGym.com Workouts, total 30 minutes body weight strength + cardio
• Wednesday: 30 minutes Elliptical
• Thursday: 45 minute Spin Class at NEW Recycle Studio in the South End
• Friday: 15 minutes Elliptical, 30 minutes Strength Training
• Saturday: 4.5 mile run at 10 min/mile pace
• Sunday: 45 minute Spin Class at Recycle Studio

On Friday, I binge watched YouTube videos on Diastasis Recti. I’m pretty confident I do not have one after checking multiple times since giving birth. The gap is getting smaller and right now is about one finger wide. I’m going to do a bigger post on this but wanted to quickly address it on my blog. I was very careful during my workouts while pregnant to avoid exercises that might cause my abs to separate more than normal. I stayed away from crunches but did plenty of planks which some experts think you should avoid. I didn’t.

At the gym later that night, I did the following strength training workout:

• 10 Band walks with the black resistance band above my knees to the left, then right followed by 10 body weight squats. Repeat 3x.
• 15 Bridges with feet two fists apart, then 15 Bridges with my toes pointing out at an angle for an external rotation. Repeat 2x
• 12 Bicep Curls using 15 lb dumbbells followed by 12 Single Arm Rows on each side with 15 lb dumbbell. Repeat 3x
• 15 Chest presses with 15 lb dumbbells followed by 15 Tricep Skull Crushers. Repeat 3x.
• Abs – I did 40 second side planks on each side for a total of 3 sets.

I’m excited for another rest day tomorrow. I finally feel like myself again and can’t wait to get back out to running again this week.

I think it is safe to say that six weeks was a major turning point for me as a first time mom. I finally feel like I’m getting used to this now role and am able to sprinkle in bits of my old life successfully.

When did you find your turning point? Did you have a big baby like Tommy and did his weight eventually plateau?