Fitness Progress 9

Progress on Goals:
1. Do the Push-Pull-Legs type of training.
---I've been doing this and loving it!
2. Keep nutrition on point!
---For the most part, yes! I've really gotten rid of my sweet tooth, so that has been really helpful.  I just need to be a little better about tracking my macros!
3. Run 3 miles without stopping.
---Yikes! I actually intended on doing that today, and didn't go to the gym because Mason was up all night teething.  However, I have a plan to do that tomorrow morning!
4. Take more progress photos. Weekly?
---Not weekly but I have taken a set of them.
5. Try skiing!
---Tried and LOVED. Investing in ski gear currently!

I have been really loving the new training regimen I am doing.  I have been seeing great results in my strength and in my physique. Cardio days are harder for me to get out of bed though. It is much easier to get to the gym if I know I am lifting weight, but it has been good for me to improve upon my cardio fitness.

Here are some progress photos (9.5 months post-partum):

9.5 months pp vs. 4 months pp

I have been feeling really good about my progress this month. I did notice how asymmetric by body was after having Mason and working out has really remedied that issue! Yay!

New Goals:
1. Run 4 miles!
2. Take a deload week, and continue Push:Pull:Legs!
3. Bench press body weight.
4. Focus on more Spartan-training circuit pre-cardio or on the rest day.
5. Go hiking in the snow!

Mason is 10 Months Old!

This little tank is growing too fast! 10 months old already!

Feeding: He takes three 8 oz. bottles a day with solids in between.  He has a bottle before his nap, after his nap (or at 3 if he doesn't nap like usual ha!) and before bed.  We are still loving and using the Honest Company formula.  Mason loves cheerios (the plain kind), blueberries, peanut butter, avocado, applesauce, tofu and chicken.  Really I could probably just say he loves everything, because he really does.  He eats anything we offer him.  (Except for Great Grandma Larae's jello at Thanksgiving hahaha ;))

Sleeping: Mason naps once a day, usually at noon.  It varies from 1 to 3 hours in length.  Coincidentally, his short naps always surround my night shifts.  Funny how that works.

Growing: This boy seems huge.  We are told all the time by people how big he is! He is wearing mostly 12-18 month sizes.  Size 4 diapers.  His limbs are long, so many sleeves and pant legs are short for him.

He loves cars, our leather coasters, and getting into all the cabinets and emptying the contents.  He especially likes playing with the sponges he gets out.

He is walking more, but still uses crawling to get around most of the time.  He is a very quick little crawler! He climbs our full flight of stairs on a regular basis.

He loves seeing himself in a camera and instantly lights up and smiles at himself!

He loves wrestling with daddy.

His first word was "dada".  He can also say "Ike".  He growls and squeaks and loves to mimic sounds, especially if they are high-pitched.

He waves hi and bye, and is starting to move his hands in an attempt to sign "more".  He really loves books and reading.  He has become really good at turning each page.

Mason is a delight to be around.  He can be so serious, but also so silly.  He will let pretty much anyone hold him.  He does have some separation anxiety if Jeff or I leave him.

Fitness Progress 8

Progress on Goals:
1. Run a hilly mile in 8 minutes with HR in a good range.
---Done! It was 7:58 actually, haha! Close, but I did it!
2. Make a meal prep menu.
---Done! I need to make more options to switch things up, but for now I have one I can work with each day.
3. Target transverse abs 4 times a week.
---Eh... I think I've been doing it usually 3 times a week, but I have been really conscious about target and strengthening my overall core during other exercises.
4. Do 20 burpees in a row.
---Done.  To be honest, I probably could have done more, but stopping at 20 was good with me. ;)
5. Get up the canyons for a hike in the snow!
 ---Done, kind of. When we went to Sedona, we did a few hikes and there was snow!

I've been consistent in the gym and have been mostly good about my diet.  I am incorporating ideas of IIFYM, carb-cycling, and clean eating all into one.  It has been good to me so far.

I have been trying to find a good balance between muscle-building and increasing my cardio endurance. I think I've found something that will work for me.  I will be doing the Push-Pull-Legs kind of training.  This is where you dedicate a day each to upper body push movements,  upper body pull movements, and legs.  I do 3 exercises per day.  The same ones every week.  I do 5 sets of 5 reps, so I lift pretty heavy compared to my 10 rep exercises.  Every week, the goal is to increase the weight by 5 pounds on each exercise. Because of the high volume exercise, it is important for each muscle group to recover fully, so only 3 days of heavy lifting per week.  Then add cardio and stretching in between for a schedule that looks something like this:
Day 1: Push
Day 2: Cardio
Day 3: Pull
Day 4: Cardio
Day 5: Legs
Day 6: Yoga/Abs
Day 7: Rest

I did okay on vacation.  I tried to make smart choices, but definitely didn't turn down the opportunity to indulge in treats, like gelato! Came back and got right back into the groove.


New Goals:
1. Do the Push-Pull-Legs type of training.
2. Keep nutrition on point!
3. Run 3 miles without stopping.
4. Take more progress photos. Weekly?
5. Try skiing!

Mason is 9 Months Old!

Mason is a busy, thriving, big 9-month-old!

  
Eating: 8 oz. of formula 4 times a day. And solids in between those feelings. He eats like a champ. He still loves pretty much everything. His favorites seem to be peanut butter bread, applesauce, and chicken (or my chicken-less chicken).

Sleeping: he transitioned to one nap right before he turned 9 months old. It has been so good for all of us. It was surprising because I though he was too young, but he thrives with his new schedule.

Growing: he has had a major growth spurt. We can tell by looking at him! But also by his clothes and measurement. He wears 9 month, 12 month, and some 18 month clothes too! He weighs 20 lbs. 15 oz. (72nd percentile) and is 30 inches tall (93rd percentile). He's back up to closer to the percentiles he was born at. They suspect this is where he will stay.

Mason joined us for a big road trip. We drove for 18 hours to get to Sedona, AZ then 7 hours to get to San Diego, CA then 9 hours to get back home. He was such a total trooper! He made the trip so much fun!

We stopped at the Hoover Dam during the road trip to stretch his little legs.

Mason is crawling all over the place. After being coaxed to crawl by cheerios, he hasn't stopped!

He cruises around on his push toys like a champ. He doesn't need any assistance, except for turning. He can stand for 20 seconds or more, and took his first step on Christmas Eve.

He can click his tongue, wave hi and bye, "sing" to songs, and say "dada".

He still chews on his crib like crazy. It looks horrible with all the paint missing haha. We went to his doctor appointment and when she checked his mouth, she was surprised and said "oh my! He was white stuff in his mouth!" And I calmly replied, "it's just paint." She said, "lead-free?" "Yep!" No worries.

Mason is such a flexible baby. He hung out with his buddy Owen while we climbed at the gym.

We love being Mason's parents. He is such a good baby!

Mason is 8 Months Old!

Our big boy is 8 months old!



Feeding: Mason is still taking 5 bottles a day and eating solids.  He eats purees and soft chunks and is getting really good at feeding himself with his hands! He will eat food even if it appears he doesn't really like it.  He is not one to spit the food out.  And he will open his mouth for more, and shutter when he eats it! Haha! We think it's pretty funny.  The only thing so far he will not eat is jello.  Great Grandma made jello especially for him, and he wouldn't open his mouth to eat it, but he loved to play with it!

Sleeping: Mason takes 2 naps still.  One in the morning for about 2 hours and one in the afternoon for about 1.5 hours.  He is still on the 2-3-4 sleep schedule. His sleeping got thrown off by getting the stomach flu, the time change, and traveling all in one month.  He was waking in the night and waking up really early (4 AM!).  He seems to be back on track now, though.  He goes to bed at 7-7:30 PM and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 AM.  He uses white noise and sleeps on his tummy.  He doesn't suck his thumb as often for sleep anymore.
 

Growing: We took him in when he was sick and they weighed him.  He was 18 lb. 3 oz.  This was shortly after turning 7 months old.  He is climbing that growth chart! And everyone says he looks so tall.  He is too long for any of his 6 month of 6-9 month clothes.  Even some 9 month PJ's don't fit him.  He wears mostly 6-9 month and 9 month clothes and is still using size 3 diapers.




Poor Mason got that darn stomach flu, along with the rest of us! He was puking for a couple days and then had diarrhea for a couple days.  He was so sweet and wasn't grumpy at all.  He just had trouble sleeping and eating.  This was his first time getting sick.



He also experienced snow for the first time this month.  He loved touching it and eating it (ha!).



Mason is a crib-chewer! He has eaten quite a bit of paint of the rails on his crib. Luckily we used non-toxic paint!  There are cute little teeth marks all around his crib.  I'll go check on him to make sure he is sleeping rather than chewing paint when he first goes down for a nap.  Often times, I find him with white specks all over his face and mouth.



We took Mason on his first plane ride.  We went to Washington to visit Jeff's maternal grandparents.  He did SO great on the flights there and back! He fussed for a minute or so on the initial descent on the flight there.  He was pulling on his poor little ears.  On the way back, we made sure he was swallowing something during that initial descent and he didn't have an issue at all! He was a little celebrity on the plane and in the airport.



He had his first Thanksgiving in Washington.  He got to eat in this super cute, vintage-y highchair and Great Grandma Larae made him this adorable little card!

Mason can go from lying to sitting to standing (while holding on to us or furniture) and can walk along furniture.  He loves walking behind his walker toys! He would walk all day if I would let him.  He can stand unassisted for a few seconds.



He still has 4 teeth.  His cute top gappy teeth just kill me! They are too adorable! We still don't know the color of his eyes.



Mason makes our world go round! We just love him more than any word could describe!

Fitness Progress 7

Progress on Goals:
 1. Add cardio to training slowly (milk supply) in preparation for the Spartan race.
--- No longer nursing Mason, so the milk supply is no longer an issue.  I have started cardio training at least 3 times a week.
 2. TRY the 5 AM workouts for a week.
--- Did it and love it! That's what I will continue to do on days I don't work the night before.
 3. Drink more water!
--- Doing good here!
 4. Target tranverse abdominus.
--- Probably should do this 4 times a week or so.  I am doing it 2 times a week.  Not seeing any improvement of my diastasis recti yet.
 5.Get to bed earlier. (around 9:30 PM)
--- Some days are better than others, but it mostly just depends on when Jeff gets home from work.  For the most part though, I have been getting to bed before 10 PM.

The 5 AM workout time is great! I get there at 5 and workout until 6-6:15.  I get back home around 6:30 in time to make breakfast for Jeff and myself before he leaves at 7 AM.  Mason is usually up by then too, so it's nice to be able to spend that family time together bright and early in the morning.  I also don't need to use any childcare, obviously, since Jeff is home.  Bonus!

Training for the Spartan is going well.  I am doing sprints, stairs, burpees and hilly treadmill runs.  I'm pretty embarrassed about how out-of-shape I am cardio-wise.  I am training based on heart rate... so the speed of my longer runs depends upon my heart rate.  I want to train properly! So because of that, it took me 10 minutes to run a mile on a level 4 slope. Not great. But improvements will come, I am sure.

I have been tracking my macros kind of loosely so that I can get an idea of what I want to start meal prepping for muscle growth.  And I am having a hard time hitting my calories! (surprising!!) If I eat junk, obviously I have no problem exceeding my calorie goal, but I had a day where I had only consume 1400 calories and I felt like I had been eating allll day long.  First world problem, I know.  But I do recognize that's an area I need to improve! I bought almonds and avocados to add some good calories in.  Never thought I'd see the day where this was a problem, haha!

I'm really starting to increase my weight in lifting now that I am no longer nursing.  I am sad to not be nursing, but it is nice to be put aside worries about milk supply! It was so touch-and-go! I had a goal to squat my body weight in a set of 10 reps and accomplished that this week! So hooray for gaining strength! Just like with cardio, I like to train properly to avoid injury, so I am slowly getting back to where I was lifting before I got pregnant.  I was curling 20's.  Now I'm curling 15's, but I started at 10, then 12, so it is nice to see those improvements all around.  I'll get back to what I was doing before soon!

We have a couple trips planned the next few weeks, so I will be doing workouts wherever we are staying.  [We are going to Washington, Las Vegas, and San Diego in the next 4 weeks! Traveling for a  total of 10 days.]

I haven't weighed myself in weeks, and that's fine. :)

Goals:
1. Run a hilly mile in 8 minutes with HR in a good range.
2. Make a meal prep menu.
3. Target transverse abs 4 times a week.
4. Do 20 burpees in a row.
5. Get up the canyons for a hike in the snow!

Mason is 7 Months Old!

Mason James is growing so fast! 7 months! We never knew how fun a baby could be.

Feeding: At just a few days shy of 7 months old, Mason stopped nursing. (My milk supply just wasn't cutting it and he was refusing to nurse unless I was full, which would take 12 hours! It didn't take long for my supply to drop off. I didn't experience any pain or fullness after I stopped.) He takes 6 oz. of formula every 3 hours during the day. He also gets 2-3 meals of solids. He likes carrots with applesauce, butternut squash, green beans with sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. We make our food at home; he gets some puréed and some soft chunks.

Sleeping: still mostly sleeping through the night, with the exception of needing some extra loving every now again because of teething. He takes 2 naps. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Still doing the "2-3-4" sleep schedule. He always sleeps on his tummy with white noise playing.  He loves swaying and being sung to before bed.  We always sing "You are my Sunshine" to him.

 

Growing: Size 3 diapers. 6 month and 6-9 month clothes.

 
Mason is working on crawling, but cares a lot more about standing and working on walking. He can pull himself to standing, mostly using our fingers to hold on, but has pulled himself up onto the ottoman several times too. He moves all over but not very intentionally. He LOVES walking and standing with holding onto fingers and will get upset if you sit him down or pick him up when he is doing so.  We think it's pretty funny!

 

He loves playing and mimicking his daddy. They squeak and cough with each other. It's the cutest thing.





He went to two hot springs: Fifth Water and Maple Grove. He enjoyed them both!

 

We took him to Oktoberfest, he had fun people watching! He had his first night without either of us home with him (while we went to Garth Brooks' concert) and he did great!



It was his first Halloween and he was the cutest little zebra!

Mason loves reading books and pulling his toys out of the bin.

This boy brings us so much happiness and purpose! We love him so so much!