theprogressivemama

Hi, my name is Kimra. I just had my second child 9 weeks ago. After my first son, my body went back to my pre-pregnancy size within a few weeks. This time it just isn't happening. My body looks great, except for my "muffin top", which is the thing causing me not be able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. My midwife said it is fine for me to begin exercising, since I'm all healed up, but I really don't know where to begin. I have only done mild exercising since high school. Rollerskating sometimes, and went for hour long walks every day during both pregnancies. But I've never done exercising particularly for building muscles, but I really would like to. I eat a whole foods plant-based diet. I eat about 95% organic. I've been vegan for about 6 years now, was pescatarian for 8 years before that. I've always been skinny. I weigh 97lbs right now and I'm 5 feet tall. I've never been overweight but I would actually like to GAIN weight, particularly muscle weight. Since I'm nursing my newborn I already have to eat 500 extra calories per day. I'm eating about 1500 calories a day right now, which is normal for how small I am but if I start exercising I'm definitely gonna need more calories. My goal is to just be tone and have nice abs before bikini season. I am very blessed and didn't get any stretch marks on my tummy from pregnancy, so I really want to show off my body this summer. I want to feel good about my body and I wouldn't mind if people called me "MILF" behind my back. haha. Anyway, everything on the internet is about losing weight, well I'm not looking to lose weight. I'm looking to build muscles. Basically I need an exercise routine schedule. If I have a schedule I am more likely to stick to it and not get off track. My goal is to have flat abs by April and to fit back into my size 2 and size 3 jeans, and muscley abs by June. I would like muscle definition in my arms and to be able to do at least 20 pull ups (I can't even do one right now which makes me feel really weak since I used to be able to do over 50 just a few years ago). I do not have access to a gym, because a gym membership is not in our family budget right now, but I do have a treadmill, weights, pull up bar and yoga mat. I also own the P90X dvds and the Insanity dvds. I attempted them a few times but my body hurt so bad afterwords I couldn't even do the next days exercises, so I guess I need to start small and work my way up. Can anyone help me out or make some suggestions for me? Are there any workout schedules that are gradually more intense over time? instead of intense from day 1? Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanx, Kimra