My plan for working out after having a baby was always to put it off until after Christmas. I didn’t want to weigh myself and then eat lots of mince pies and get annoyed with myself. I really want to enjoy baby’s first Christmas and that means indulging in Christmas pudding, pigs in blankets and mulled wine.

I don’t have much time to myself now so in the new year I’m really going to have to carve out some me time to fit in exercise. There are 4 things that I’m going to try and fit in here and there. I’m not going to go OTT with a plan as that will be really demotivating if I can’t do it. However I am setting myself a goal. I want to be able to do the New Forest 10km race in September 2017.

Running

Now I have a race to aim for I’m going to get on the couch to 5k bandwagon again and get working on it. I did the New Forest 10km in 2015 so it will be good to do it again. I did want to do the half marathon but I think that will be too much pressure with only 9 months to train for it – especially if I can only make it out for a run once a week.

Yoga

Yoga with Adrienne is my favourite exercise YouTube channel. I loved her 30 days of yoga series a couple of years back and I think this will be a good place to start getting back in shape. I’m not going to promise to do it every day, but while Eleanor sleeps in the morning maybe I can do this if we’ve had a good night. I hope the yoga will help with my lack of core!

Swimming

Eleanor goes to WaterBabies every week and she loves it. I don’t get much exercise but bouncing around in a circle for 30 minutes must do me some good. I did swimming every week in the latter part of my pregnancy and it really helped. If I can swim more in 2017 I definitely will.

Walking

There’s a local mums group that goes for a walk once a week and I haven’t managed to make it to one yet. After Christmas I plan to go to at least 2 of these a month. I live next to a large park and lots of fields so hopefully I can get outside with Eleanor in the sling and get counting those steps. I actually have a Garmin running watch with a step counter so maybe I should start wearing it as an incentive.

If I can complete the New Forest 10km in under 1 hour I will be really chuffed! I did it in about 1 hour 20 last time so shaving off 20 minutes might be a challenge. We were lapped by half marathon runners, it was actually quite embarrassing but it was the first time I’d run 10km. While training I’d only ever got to about an hour of running.

My Goal

Run the New Forest 10km in under one hour.

There, I’ve made myself accountable now by telling you all my goal. I hope I can shift some of this baby weight and fit back comfortably into my old clothes soon.

How are you getting back in shape after having a baby?