Bouncing back after Baby No. 1 wasn’t as hard as bouncing back after Baby No. 2. I had to work twice as hard and be stricter with myself than after Baby No. 1. There were also additional side pouches (a.k.a. “spare tires”) that weren’t there before! Because my awesome gym, ChuzeFitness, has daycare at a super reasonable price for both kiddos, I was able to get back into the gym after 6 months. I hated to wait that long, but do you really want your newborn baby surrounded by that many children early on? Since I was okay with the 6-month wait, I got a double stroller for my two children. I walked three to four times a week and did some Fit4Mom StrollerStrides classes. I enjoyed meeting the other moms and getting in a workout.  However, as soon as I could go back to my solo workouts, I was totally okay with that switch back; honestly, I welcomed it. I know that ChuzeFitness isn’t the only gym offering childcare at a reasonable price, check out Vasa and 24 Hour Fitness too.

Being a mom is hard enough but never being able to take solo time is even harder. After the six-month stroller phase, my schedule back at the gym, leaving the children in the gym’s wonderful daycare, involved two to three days of cardio mixed in with two days of weight training. I chose Cycling class because I personally don’t run anymore due to some neck issues. I also chose BodyPump classes as my weight training because I was able to get in a full-body workout without thinking about it—and all in one hour! Win, win. Someone else does the planning; I just show up.

Whatever doesn’t challenge you, doesn’t change you.

Hence my advice:  When you can safely trust your children to competent daycare, don’t over complicate things. Just show up and do the workout. But do it full heartedly or you’re just wasting time.

After a few weeks, I saw some improvement but not enough, so I realized I had to do something about diet as well. You honestly can’t do one without the other. Really, don’t cheat yourself by thinking otherwise. I decided to do WW (WeightWatchers), and the pounds just came off. Mind you, I didn’t have a ton to lose, but it’s always those last 10 pounds you really need to work for. WW helped get me there. I know other systems have worked for others so find what works best for you, this is just how I did it.  This is my post-baby getting-my-body-back story.  I hope that these musings on my own experience help motivate you in one way or another to help with your own post-baby situation. I’d love to hear how you did it below in the comments!