Running

Just a quick blog while Ben is still asleep: he's been sleeping an hour and 20 mins already (he usually sleeps about an hour) so there's not enough time to start doing anything, but I'm also aware he could sleep another half hour or so possibly, so thought I'd come on here for a while.

I have started going running with a friend from church and I am doing quite well if I do say so myself. I used to go running every day (except Sunday of course) on my mission and really enjoyed it. I was on my mission when the 30 minutes of exercise rule was started and was diligent in taking the time to keep my body fit. I saw numerous benefits for my health- being able to stand up all day on Temple Square with sometimes only one 30 minute break is no mean feat!

I have decided that I have been given such a wonderful gift. I lost a lot of weight before becoming pregnant with Ben, then a little more during the first trimester. Since Ben was born I lost the baby weight extremely quickly and was back into my normal size 12 jeans two weeks after the birth. I was eating anything and everything I wanted and a LOT of it, but breastfeeding seemed not only to make me an eating machine but at the same time to make the fat seem to drop off. Three months later I was almost back to the same size jeans I was when I returned home from my mission (UK size 10, US size 6: I know it doesn't sound amazing but it's small for me), without any of the effort! Sadly my breasts look set to never recover (of course this is due to having a child, nothing to do with breastfeeding), but everything else is looking very trim if I do say so myself.

Anyway, having seen how some of my peers have struggled to lose the baby weight I have decided that I need to show my appreciation for this gift by making an effort to keep myself this way. I do enjoy exercise on my own terms, i.e. I love cycling and running, but I very much dislike the typical girlie-bonding types of exercise (yoga and aerobics spring to mind!). I'm quite a private exerciser, I suppose. Anyway, I think I have found a great running buddy. She's a hard worker and fun to talk to. She also sets a good resting/walking pace, whereas I'm better at setting and maintaining a good running pace.

After our second run I'm really enjoying it, and I didn't pull ANY muscles this time! I'll keep posted on how it goes.