Tag: Toddler

t r a i n i n g

On By lex270In Fitness, Parenthood, Uncategorized, WakeboardingLeave a comment

Baby number one, check.  Got back into shape, check.  Baby number two, check.

Now its time to get back into shape for the second (and last time – no more babies!). Everyone I’ve spoken to said it was much harder the second time around to get your body back.  I’ll be honest and admit to thinking it was a load of bullshit and that if you really wanted your figure back, you’d do it. ***

Ahhhhh sweet ignorance.

Well now I’m smack dab right in the middle of it.  Five months post baby and not an ab in sight.  The fact that I’ve done completely bugger all for the past couple of months might have something to do with it.

Why?  Why when I started out so well (power walking, yoga, circuits & wakeboarding), and then just stopped?

I’ll tell you why.

Its because I now have not one, but two kids.  Two little people demanding my undivided attention from 6am until 7:30pm, and then an hour or two in the night as well (from both kids on a bad night – turns out toddler sleep regression is actually a real thing).  I know this is only short term until the new baby goes through the night (or at least thats what I’m told), but I’m continuously exhausted and the thought of working out, or doing anything for that matter, seems like the biggest task in the world, (if the bathroom gets cleaned this month it’ll be a bloody miracle).

Its not all bad though as through all the power walking (while pushing a double buggy), living room yoga, kitchen circuits, clean eating, and wakeboarding, I’ve dropped the baby weight (had about a stone to shed), but now its time to tighten up.  I want to feel strong and energetic again.  Is that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

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I’ve started working with PT Chris Kelly to get me back into shape.  I know, first world problem to have a trainer, right?  However, I see it as an investment into myself.  How much are you willing to pay to get the ‘you’ you want back?  I could spend that money on booze (I probably would but Aldi now do a great, and cheap, wine selection), or I could spend it on a gym membership, which I’m not going to lie, I seriously thought about doing. But personally, me joining a gym doesn’t actually get me to the gym, I wouldn’t go and I’d be £££ worse off a month with no results.

Also the body has been through a hell of a lot with bringing a baby into the world and you need to be careful with how you train afterwards.  So I thought it best to seek professional advice, and as a coach myself, I know the benefits of having a coach and how they can see things you can’t and guide you towards your goals.

I’ve had three sessions so far and I’m feeling good.  I’m always so much happier after a workout because my body’s moving and my bloods pumping, I feel ready for the day ahead, that along with eating right keeps me sane!

*** I know everyone is different.  All different shapes and sizes.  Its about doing what is right for you and what makes you happy.  Some people are happy with their new postpartum body that has just created a child and thats great, it really is, the female body an incredible machine!  But I personally don’t feel happy in myself unless I know my body can do certain things.  And these are physical things, such as wakeboarding, which is tough on the body.  If my body can’t do what I want it to do, I’m not a happy chappy.  So I do all this to keep me on the water which keeps me happy! ***

Flying Long Haul with a Two Year Old (without an iPad)

On By lex270In TravelLeave a comment

To date we’ve done 10 short haul flights with Ethan sitting on our laps.  There has definitely been a correlation between his age/size and how difficult he is to handle.  So you can only imagine how worried I was flying across the Atlantic with him… However, because he had his own seat, things were different this time.

I was a mess, I was over tired, I couldn’t lift/carry anything – I was a lame ass excuse for a human in my opinion, ask my husband, he’ll agree.

We had everything sorted though, a HUGE bag full of toys, snacks, cuddly toys, books, you name it, it was in there – (apart from an iPad).  And then we had another bag full of nappies, milk, change of clothes, sudocrem, calpol… which turned out to be very lucky indeed as we ended up flying the next day, so we had another night in a Heathrow hotel with our luggage stored in Airport security!

The key to flying when 6 months pregnant with a two year old is this… get your partner to look after them.  Jonny boy was amazing, he entertained, fed, changed, napped, ran around with Ethan the whole 10 hour flight, and he was a happy toddler with no tantrums.  It also helps if they win over the flight attendants too, get them on your side so they bring over a constant stream of goodies, activities and treats.

The flight home was a night flight.  We took off two hours late – within 20 mins of sitting on the plane Ethan had managed to fall into the footwell headfirst (which wrongly we found hilarious) hitting and cutting the back of his head.  I had a looooooovely lady sitting just across the aisle warning me about all dangers of concussion (like I don’t know them already, I’m just an idiot wakeboarder after all).  So it was actually lucky we sat on the runway for a couple of hours so I could keep an eye on him before we embarked on an eight hour flight across the ocean.

Just because its a night flight doesn’t mean they will sleep.

Out of the eight hours, he slept for about four of them.  I didn’t get any sleep – its weird, I thought I would if the lil man was catching some shut eye.  But then I couldn’t sleep because I felt like I needed to watch him incase he rolled off the seat again and also the crazy voice in my head saying ‘ what if someone takes him while I’m asleep?’  Absurd I know, but thats just parenthood for you.  So while my two boys were catching flies, I got to watch The Theory of Everything and Wild in peace!  It was the best flight I’ve had in ages!  Just a shame I could have a few glasses of red to top off the experience.

You can take a horse to water.

On our decent into Heathrow we got the juice cup ready for Ethan to enjoy so that we could enjoy a quiet landing.  That didn’t happen.  He didn’t want to drink which meant his ears were killing him apparently due to the size tantrum he threw.  The plane was silent and people were looking at me.  I just shrugged my shoulders… we tried many times to explain to him about how having a drink would take the pain away but he wasn’t having any of it… (and even the shoving it in their mouth tactic didn’t work). Theres only so much you can do when your seatbelt has to be fastened and the child is throwing the mother of all tantrums. 

Tips for flying long haul with a two year old when you don’t have an iPad: 

Toys.  Take lots of toys.  Hide your most decent toys for a couple of weeks before you fly and then bust them out on the plane at crucial moments.  Buy new toys.  Wrap old toys up in wrapping paper to make them exciting again. 

Snacks.  Loads of their favourite stuff to offer at crucial moments to prevent tantrums etc. 

Nappies.  If they are still in nappies then make sure you have loads in case you were stuck at the airport over night unexpectedly with no luggage and your car in long-term parking. 

Clothing.  See above tip.

Stickers.  Activity packs / sticker books / colouring in.  By the time we’d landed, our window area had been redecorated.  We cleaned it before we left though – aren’t we nice. 

Kids Meal.  Pre order a kids meal.  We never got ours on the way out due to flying a day later but the air hostesses threw together a nice little food tray to make up for it. 

Cartoons.  Show them how to play the TV and find their favourite cartoons ASAP. 

Was it all worth it…. absolutely.

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