From postpartum to powerhouse: the struggle to integrate exercise into a busy schedule

I’m feeling a little bit chuffed with myself.

As part of my postpartum focus (although I can’t really say ‘postpartum’ now it’s been 20 months since I’ve popped a human out), I’ve embarked on a journey to integrate exercise into my daily routine. After much trial and error, I believe I’ve finally found a rhythm, and I’m hopeful (praying to the bloomin’ stars) that I might soon see some noticeable results. 

A core lesson I have learnt from my health coaching studies is that that exercise and a healthy diet need to become regular components of every person’s lifestyle, including my own. I had to shift my mindset from “let’s smash this out for 6 weeks to lose a few pounds” to embracing fitness and healthy eating as a lifelong habit—a journey I’m still navigating and is a bit like that terrifying wooden rollercoaster at Blackpool Pleasure Beach – full of ups and downs and the occasional uncertainty it’s going to fall to pieces.

After my first child in 2020, I managed to shed my extra pregnancy weight by following a simple running plan and regularly walking with Freddie in the pram. Although I have always had one of those metabolisms that I just have to sniff the cheeseburger and I become the cheeseburger, I’ve always been able to shift excess bodyweight when I need to, quite quickly. However, after my second baby, the weight has been MUCH more stubborn. A combination of a sedentary pregnancy (minus running around after a toddler) sponsored by McDonalds and post-partum indulgence in Cadbury’s Whole Nut chocolate are, without a doubt, contributing factors to piling on some pounds. However, I reached a point, alike to many times before, that I felt the need to declare war on my weight – trying the same techniques as before. But NO BUENO. I even signed up for One You Lincolnshire’s free gym membership to combat the flab, but balancing work, life, and childcare made regular gym visits unfeasible. 

Not even six months ago, my husband and I considered ourselves ‘time poor,’ struggling to balance work, life, and childcare. Inspired by ‘productivity gurus’ who advise all of us lay people on ways to maximise each nugget of time we have free in a day, we adopted the ‘5am club,’ waking up early to get things done—I would go for a run, and my husband would catch up on business invoicing. However, small humans also like to join the club, sometimes arriving early – the unpredictable nature of children’s sleep patterns often disrupted our greater plans, leading to inconsistent routines and eventual burnout. Safe to say, 5am club has been temporarily suspended. 

As cliché as it sounds and after many, many hours, days, weeks and months feeling frustrated at the inability to progress anything because I was trying to make a routine; the best method I’ve adopted, rather than sticking to a rigid schedule, is to go with the flow. Although there are consistent pockets of time which I will work with (i.e. 30 min lunch breaks at work to do a quick workout), if a pocket of time opens up, instead of scrolling on my phone or zoning out in front of the TV, I ask myself: can I squeeze that productivity orange even more? I’ll always have a to-do-list in my phone to refer to (I will talk about to-do-lists in later blogs as these are an excellent coping mechanism to help avoid overstimulation and burnout with everyday life) so I’ll pick an achievable item or two and physically tick that shit off. Then I’m not going to lie, I will probably carry on watching the last half of that episode of ‘Love it or List it.’

There has been a momentous shift in my own life to get to a point of where I am today. I mentioned in an earlier blog (reference) and will expand on when I write my ‘going back to work’ series, that when I first emerged from postpartum bubble and returning back to ‘normal’ life, the shit I was going back to wasn’t right for me. I’ve adapted, I’ve evolved, I’ve moved the goal posts many many times but have always been mindful to keep focus on coaching my own health and lifestyle, to regain a sense of identity and self focus.

This marks today as a solid consistent two months of incorporating exercise into my daily life. This has been possible because I have worked with what I have available and the path of least resistance. 

1. I work from home.
2. The kids are a bit older and more consistent in their own routine
3. The kids attend nursery three days a week.
4. I’ve found 30-minute workouts that I somewhat enjoy and squidge those into my work lunch breaks.
5. I’ve asked my husband to make me accountable. – accountability is half the battle!

I’m fed up with not losing weight, so I’m striving for consistency—fitting in four workouts a week and (mostly) eating right. I’ve dabbled in Joe Wicks’ workouts before but decided to hold myself accountable by signing up for his Body Coach plan. 

There are countless diet and exercise plans available. While many can change lives, you don’t necessarily need to sign up for them—you just need education and accountability to reach your goals. 

I’ve been through so many fads – keto, weight watchers, slim fast, restrictive eating etc and I end up yo-yoing back to old habits. I have to admit – I used to be an evening snacker – smashing my way through a worrying amount of chocolate during my evening chill time. I fought that craving – and yeah sometimes I still treat myself but when you are smashing a whole bar of Dairy Milk every weekday evening, you really have to take a look in the mirror.

Weirdly now those evening cravings have stopped and I can honestly thanks a healthy balanced diet and balanced blood sugar levels as a result (another post for later). Who would have thought that willpower could truly prevail?

So back onto the struggles of weight loss; I’ve experienced the strangest transition since having my second child. I just can’t shift those extra pounds!

Now, when I talk about my weight gain, I’m referring to my own personal ideals and goals. After having children, I put on 2.5 stone over my happy weight, the majority of which I gained after my second child. Of course, I’d like to be less than my happy weight, but I am talking about a weight which I am content with and can maintain without unrealistic expectations.

Mid-30s

Let’s talk about reaching the mid-thirties. I’d heard rumours about the body slowing down, but didn’t want to believe it. However, since reaching my mid-thirties, everything seems to have changed. *Drama*

I wanted to lose weight, so I tried my usual tactics: when I start to feel uncomfortable with my weight, I follow about six weeks of a regimented diet and exercise plan to combat the gain—usually running (Couch to 5k) and restrictive eating. Strangely, after six weeks of my weight loss plan, not a single pound was lost; in fact, I was still gaining weight. What the heck?! So, I focused further on my diet, cutting out snacks and evening treats—still no improvement.

So here I am today—still carrying that 2.5 stone. What’s going wrong?

I’m really chuffed to have been consistent with my exercise—the main thing is to keep at it—but something with the diet isn’t quite working for me yet.

I’m feeling stronger, I have more energy, I have greater cognitive ability, and I’m happier—my mood is lighter in general. But I’m still waiting for those scales to be kinder. More delving into the mid-30’s crisis for a blog post methinks.

It’s true that it’s not just the scales that need to be the focus here; weight fluctuates daily, so measuring bust, thighs, etc., is a better method of monitoring progress. But also, just being able to fit into those jeans is another, and I just want to fit in them! We are one month down; let’s get to 12 weeks and see how it’s gone. I’m also undertaking some hormone tests, to explore what’s going on a little bit further.

Why is regular exercise something we all need to plug into our lives?

Benefits of Regular Exercise

Incorporating regular exercise into your lifestyle offers numerous health benefits. According to the NHS, being physically active can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, by up to 50%, and lower your risk of early death by up to 30%. 

For postpartum women and those navigating the journey of reclaiming their identity, engaging in regular physical activity can:

• Provide time for yourself, reducing worries and depression.
• Help control weight and return to pre-pregnancy weight.
• Improve tummy muscle tone and strength.
• Enhance overall fitness.
• Improve mood 
• Improve sleep
• Regulate the lymphatic system (immune system function – kicking illness in the butt!)

The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that postpartum women (up to 12 months after baby) aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity every week. This can be achieved through various activities, whether at home, during leisure time, or out and about. That is a lot of time to factor in, so being able to factor this into your weekly schedule takes some thought. (additional information on exercise after pregnancy if you are just starting out post-popping)

It’s important to start exercising gradually, especially if you weren’t active before or during pregnancy. Begin with gentle activities like walking, and listen to your body as you progress. 

For those who like me, are clinging onto the term postpartum but not really:

As a general rule the NHS tells us that:

 Adults should aim to:

• do strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms) on at least 2 days a week
• do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week
• spread exercise evenly over 4 to 5 days a week, or every day
• reduce time spent sitting or lying down and break up long periods of not moving with some activity

To me, that’s a lot to consider and is why so many of us are classed as inactive/sedentary – because we feel like we just can’t meet those standards, but it is possible! By working with what you have, rather than integrating a brand-new routine that will disrupt your current eco-system we find that success is much more attainable. This is really important when you are a parent with a bonkers work/life/childcare balance. This is one of the ways that health coaching can support this – setting goals via manageable chunks so you can successfully make healthy habits that will last a lifetime. 

Remember, the journey to integrating exercise into your lifestyle is personal and unique. Celebrate the small victories, stay consistent, make yourself accountable and be patient with yourself as you work towards your goals.

Diet is also a huge player within the healthy lifestyle ethos, a topic I will go into further another time.

For now, I’m still very much on my exercise journey and I’ll update you after my 12 week cut off to see how it’s going!

Tiff x