Pre-Pregnancy Jeans

Pre-pregnancy jeans.  They are our dream and our fear.  Dream that we can be the size we once were.  Fear that we may never be.

I am not an expert on exercise.  I am also not a model for Fitness Magazine.  However, I want to encourage you that it can happen.  You can wear your pre-pregnancy jeans again! 

It took me 7 months and 11 days.  I give most of the credit to lifting weights.  I had never been much of a gym person before.  It was a little intimidating, but I did some research and gave it a try.  I started noticing results after one full month.  All of these weight loss products and gadgets make you think that losing weight is easy or fast, but that is far from the truth!

Lifting weights is so important for women.  Mostly we think lifting is for men only so they can become big and muscular like Hulk Hogan.  However, that is a myth. Lifting weights is very important for our health.  Read this article about why women should lift weights. 

Let me share with you a few resources that have helped me understand exercise.  The first is the book Fitness For Dummies.  It is excellent!  Here are a few excerpts that are my favorite:

Why you've gotta lift weights

The only way to increase your metabolism is to build muscle, which you can best accomplish by lifting weights.  How does this work?  First, a couple of definitions: Your metabolism refers to the number of calories you're burning at any given moment, whether you're watching The Weather Channel or riding a bike.  But when most people use the term, they're referring to your resting metabolism, the number of calories your body needs to maintain its vital functions.  Your brain, heart, kidneys, and other organs are cranking away 24 hours a day, and your muscle cells are constantly undergoing repair.  All of these processes require energy in the form of calories simply to keep you alive.

But here's the key: Your resting metabolic rate depends primarily on your amount of fat-free mass - everything in your body that's not fat, including muscle, bones, blood, organs, and tissue.  The more fat-free mass you have, the more energy your body expends in order to keep going.  So, you want to be muscular.  You can't do anything to increase the size of your liver or brain, but you certainly can make yourself more muscular, and lifting weights is the primary way to do just that. 

If you don't lift weights, your metabolism will slow down every year, as your muscles slowly waste away.  And with a more sluggish metabolic rate, you'll gain weight even if you eat the same amount of food.  How's that for incentive to hit the weight room?
 

Another resource to learn exercise routines is www.muscleandstrength.com.  This link will show you how to work each muscle group.  You can click on each muscle and view videos of so many exercises!  It's awesome!   They have routines for beginners, intermediates, and advanced.  Try it out!