You're feeling more confident about your new role as mommy to this beautiful baby in your arms, baby is settling into somewhat of a schedule and your Doctor gave you the green light to step back into the gym; you're ecstatic until you try planking and ouch! where did your core muscles go?!? Having a baby takes an obvious toll on our bodies specifically on our core and abdomen and even more noticeable if, like me, you had a c section.

I've been exercising for a little over a week now with zumba, boxing classes, light weight lifting and bodyweight circuits. When I say exercising I don't mean going all out with sparring sessions but more like tipping my toes back into my pre-baby routine with modifications whenever I need them, which at first is a lot of the time. Regular planking, for example, was still too stressful on my core so I started by doing them off my knees. Bicycle crunches causing discomfort? Lower resting leg back to starting position before raising opposite leg and vice versa. It's not about jumping back into the gym thinking you will pick up right where you left off (which I confess is what I truly believed I'd do. Haha... reality check!) instead, it's more about slowly getting back into the groove and yes, eventually getting back to where you once were. It's been less than 2 weeks of working out for me now and I am already starting to feel much more like myself in the gym.

Finally, just have fun with it. Incorporate your baby into your exercise routine whenever you can and workout in ways you actually enjoy so instead of a burden, it's a pleasurable way of getting back in shape and relieving stress. Remember, your body just went through 9 months of amazing and sometimes not so pretty changes to create that beautiful baby you now have in your arms so be patient and understand it might take you just as long to get you "pre baby body" back.

As the quote says "slow progress is better than no progress". Good luck Momma's! 'Til next time.

Post-baby exercising Confessional