Health & Fitness

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I definitely have and so have a few close friends willing to tell me, but this blog has definitely been slacking when it comes to photos of me. I mean, you wouldn’t even know who I am unless you looked at our Trip Reports - and that’s because Brett has the camera and takes so many good photos during our trips, I just want to post them all!

My excuse is that I have mostly been in some transitional state…pregnant with Trent, breastfeeding and working and finding it difficult to work out, working out and trying to lose weight, pregnant with Aubrey. Sure, pregnancy can be a beautiful thing, but I’ve said it before…I felt crappy this time around…mostly in the beginning, but then when I felt better, I started dealing with gestational diabetes and just felt big and tired and didn’t want any photos taken of me…well, at least ones that wouldn’t be photoshopped lol. I’m not complaining, just saying that it was a heck of a lot easier to share photos of Trent, seeing as he is the cutest thing anyway.

But I would like to change that and start sharing more of me. One way I hope to accomplish this is to document my journey of losing the baby weight and getting healthy and back in shape…all while breastfeeding and being a working mom to two kids. This ought to be fun.

So let’s start with a “before” photo…although I’d rather call it an “after” photo since it is after the delivery and shows how a mother’s body can take time to get back to normal after doing such an amazing thing. But all wordplay aside, I think any before/progress photos are amazing motivators to any transformation journey. Seeing yourself day to day makes you not see all the changes, but a good before/after comparison can show just how far you’ve come.

This is my 2 week post baby body (taken yesterday).

I have lost 27 pounds since coming home. I was 225 at the hospital during check-in and I was 198 yesterday. I should have joined a bunch of DietBets and made a ton of money! I did not see that significant of a drop up front with Trent, but that’s 100% due to the fact that I could hardly move after Trent and I can do so much more this time around. I had a bad laceration with Trent and none with Aubrey, and let me tell you, that makes all the difference. I even went for a walk two days after I came home from the hospital!

Baby Jogger City Select Double Stroller (Love love love!)

I told myself I wouldn’t make any big changes for at least 2 weeks. I do drink a lot more water since coming home, but other than that I have been enjoying the lovely meals brought to us by friends and whatever food Brett brings back home after running any errands. I will be slowly getting back into the working out part. I didn’t work out during the pregnancy (other than walking Trent to the park and stuff), so I don’t want to do too much too fast and risk having problems. I plan to start with walking and light weights and work back up to doing the Couch to 5K program along with Brett, since we did really well with that last year. It’s also just too darn hot out right now to do much outdoor exercise. An ultimate goal of mine would be to run a Disney race!

I hope to create more regular-ish posts to share my journey and truly bring more “working mom” into this blog and not just have it be all about Trent and Aubrey, but still plan on seeing a bunch of them still too

I have 8.5 more weeks of full maternity leave, then 2 months of part time leave, which I hope will allow some great progress to be made!

 

Remember when I posted about the new monthly workout outfit subscription service called pv.Body? I got a fantastic workout outfit shipped directly to my door. As a quick follow-up, I LOVE the shirt I got. It’s extremely comfortable and fits so nicely that I wear it around the house, even sometimes when I’m not working out! I especially love how stretchy the fabric is because it makes it so convenient to breastfeed.

Well, after a few months of success, the folks at pv.Body have changed gears a little and now make their own line of workout gear called Ellie.

What does this mean for those people with pv.Body subscriptions? Your subscription will still continue as part of the Fit Fashionista Club, but the best part now is that you can pick the 2 items you want each month! Unlike with pv.Body, where you got 2 random pieces based on your style profile, with Ellie you go to the website and pick out the 2 items you want for the same monthly subscription price of $49.95.

If you happen to be indecisive, don’t worry. If you don’t pick out the 2 items you want by the 10th day of the month, Ellie will send you 2 items that they’ve chosen for you.

Even better, Ellie will offer 24 new pieces to choose from each month!

The only downside I can see some people may have with the switch is that they won’t have other name brands sent to them, like Lululemon or Nike. But honestly, you never knew what you were going to get each month anyway…at least with Ellie you have a choice, which gets rid of the risk that you won’t like what you’ve been sent. I can see how people might think this was some sort of bait-and-switch to lure customers in and then give them a different brand. For those people, you can always cancel your subscription at any time. New people might like the new options and having more control of the items they pay for. And if you still don’t like something, they still offer free returns.

Also, Ellie/pv.Body is a fairly new company, so they are still working out the kinks in their plan. Based on other reviews I’ve seen, they have been pretty slow and confusing in their responsiveness to customers. They are extremely excited in their Facebook and promotion emails, so hopefully their customer care emails and responses will follow suit. Given this big change, I am certain they are getting plenty of feedback, comments, complaints, questions and so on, which I would think will die down soon enough.

Now onto the good stuff…what I CHOSE this month!

For the top I chose The Vixen Racerback. It’s part sports bra and part loose, flowy shirt.

I don’t like sleeves, especially while working out, but I also wanted the flowy feel of a t-shirt, especially since I’m currently not in the best shape and didn’t want anything too tight. It is also long enough that I don’t have to constantly pull it down. However, it is a little more open on the sides than I thought it would be, and because of the mesh fabric, the sides start to pull down and it just looks sloppy. I really just think the cut is wrong. If they would have added a few more inches to the side, I would have loved this shirt. But in my opinion, the execution of it fell short of the idea. Plus the white mesh is sorta see-through, which I’m not too fond of. I guess I’ll be restricting the use of this shirt to inside the house.

For my bottoms, I chose the Kiss Me Capris. They are black form-fitting capris with a pink waistband with mesh overlay. They are pretty comfortable and great for transitioning into the Spring. The only thing I don’t like is how high the waist is…I feel like a granny unless I pull it down a bit. Mine are higher than in the photos below, and I’m almost 5’8″, so it’s not like I’m too short for them.

Now, in regards to the March collection. Ellie says that they will offer 24 new pieces each month. Well, perhaps they didn’t plan far enough ahead, but they just released their March collection and there are only 12 pieces. In addition, the March collection is called “Little Black Collection” - everything is black. Even though I like black and it takes up a good portion of my closet, I was kind of hoping for a little more variety. Luckily, they are still offering their February collection for you to choose from.

If you’d like to give Ellie a try, click the link below to get 20% off your first month!

20% Discount from Ellie. Look good and feel great!

 

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I am coming up on my 6 month postpartum date. Scary. In more ways than one.

I gave myself a goal to reach my pre pregnancy weight by our Disney trip. Well, that Disney trip was supposed to be this week but was cancelled to be rescheduled to a later date. Unfortunately, I didn’t reach the goal, but once I knew I wasn’t going on the trip, I kind of postponed trying to start any sort of fitness or nutrition agenda. I am about 6-7 pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight, and an additional 20 pounds away from my ultimate target weight. I don’t want to seem like I am just concentrating on numbers, but I’ve been that weight before and it felt healthy and comfortable, so I’d like to reach it again. Time to start writing those goals down on my calendar. I am a full-time working mom, so without sounding like an excuse maker, I’m going to say that it is hard to juggle working, spending time with Trent and Brett, blogging, working out, eating well, and enjoying activities and events with friends and family.

See, I even forgot to include sleep…oh sweet sweet sleep.

So, with that small blurb being said, I hope to talk about health & fitness aspects here a little more often, starting with a review of a new monthly fitness outfit subscription service called pv.Body.

pv.Body ships name-brand, quality workout outfits to your door each month for a monthly payment that’s a fraction of the retail cost. Each month, for $49.95, they send you a top and a bottom based on a style quiz you take on their website.

 

Currently, there are 11 questions on the style quiz aimed at determining pieces you’ll like. Some of the things they ask:

-Your top size and bottom size (I like this because sometimes people are different sizes)

-What workout style you prefer (yoga, gym, running, casual)

-Where you prefer to workout (at home, outside, gym)

-What kind of color schemes you like and if you like patterns

-What kind of tops you prefer (spaghetti straps, racerback, short or long-sleeve…you can pick more than one)

-What kind of bottoms you prefer (shorts, capris, long pants…you can pick more than one)

 

The style quiz helps them send you items that you will be satisfied with. With monthly shipment subscriptions becoming increasingly popular, one of the risks is that you never know what you will receive after you’ve already paid for that month. By taking the style quiz, you are reducing the risk of not liking what you get. But the best part is that if you don’t like what you received, you can return it! Also, if something doesn’t fit, you can exchange it and the shipping is paid for!

Now for the best part…what I got in my shipment!

 

It comes in this super cute pink mailer…so Brett can’t open it with the excuse “I didn’t know it was for you.” LOL

 

Inside, the outfit is folded and nicely wrapped in tissue paper. It’s like a present! Merry Christmakwanzikah to me!

 

I received a mauve racerback top with a built-in bra and grey leggings.

 

The top is from Nux. I had never heard of this brand before, but the material feels fantastically soft and seems like it is good quality that will last.

 

I absolutely LOVE this color!

 

The pants are dark gray leggings from American Apparel.

 

These pants are not something I would have chosen in the store if I were shopping for myself. I’ve always liked how they looked on other people, but have always hesitated to try them. But after trying them on, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I like them. The fabric is soft and stretchy.

 

As much as I like EACH piece, I wouldn’t wear them together (I only wore them both for the photo). I like to pair a tight piece with a looser piece to even things out…not two tight pieces or two loose pieces together. Maybe when I reach my goal, I might be more willing to wear two tight pieces together.

 

I decided to see just how much of a deal pv.Body was giving with this shipment, so I looked up these items on each company’s website.

The top is sold for $45 and the bottoms are sold for $48.

So this outfit is worth $93, a savings of $43. It’s almost like getting the top for free, especially if you consider shipping and possibly tax charged by the individual retailers. Keep in mind that this is without considering any discount codes or offers the companies may offer. Still a pretty good deal in my opinion. They state on their website that your outfit will be worth over $100, so this outfit came close but just under that amount, but still a great deal…especially if they send you more expensive or popular brands like lululemon (which seems to be what quite a few people are hoping for in their boxes).

 

If you enjoy working out, getting new clothes, getting surprises in the mail, etc. then pv.Body is for you. You can cancel at anytime if you decide it’s not for you. Simple as that. I think pv.Body would be PERFECT for busy moms who don’t have time to travel to the store to shop for new workout outfits. Heck, you don’t even have to remember to shop, it just shows up at your door! And you can retake the style quiz whenever you want to…so if you decide you want different color schemes, a different size (smaller perhaps?) or your workout style has changed, retake the quiz and pv.Body will update the type of clothes they send you!

 

Even better is that you can click on this link: www.pvbody.com, or any of the pv.Body links in this post, to get 20% off! That means you’ll only pay $39.96 for an entire name brand workout outfit!

 

Sweet! Just like this little boy! I could just eat him up. Babies can get away with chunky baby rolls…not fair.

 

Disclaimer: I received one monthly shipment/outfit to review. All opinions are my own and 100% honest.

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