How to Know When You Need to Change Your Strategy Postpartum

How do you know when you need to change your strategy postpartum?

While there's a lot to be gained by working with a Pelvic Health Physiotherapist, as well as a certified Pre/Postnatal trainer, there ARE some things you can watch for yourself.

That whole, "listen to your body" thing - well, it's kinda (incredibly) confusing when you don't know WHAT you're supposed to be listening for.

1. Pain: Pay attention not only WHILE you're doing the movements, but pay attention to pain the rest of that day and even into the next day. Sore muscles because you worked them is one thing, pain is different - you'll know the difference.

2. Peeing: This one refers to loss of control of either bladder or bowels, at any point in the day - not just while doing the movement. So while you may not leak DURING squats, are you losing control of your bladder (or bowels) more than normal the rest of the day, or into the next few days?

3. Prolapse: If you haven't been diagnosed with prolapse and are wondering what this is, it may feel like a heavy sensation in your vagina like something is out of place or causing downward pressure. Or, it may feel like you need to have a bowel movement even when you don't. This is one I was acutely aware of when my daughter was still in the front carrier - I didn't feel anything WHILE walking with her, but later that day or the next day I would have an obvious heavy feeling, letting me know it was either time to switch her to the back, or shorten our walks.

4. Pressure: Are you creating excess pressure in your abdomen while doing movements? This one can be assessed either visually to check for coning, which looks like a little mountain ridge protruding down the center of your abdomen - usually most obvious at the belly button. Have someone watch, or video yourself. The second way to assess this one is with your fingers, checking your diastasis and how it's responding (another video for another day!) during the movement.

Lastly - not everything is going to give you feedback when pregnant and postpartum, which is why I think it’s SO important to work with a Pelvic Health Physio and a *certified* Prenatal/Postpartum coach.

So, where do we go from here?!

Join the newsletter to be sure not to miss future posts on HOW to change your strategy, PLUS I'm creating posts for individual movements starting with box jumps. Is there a movement you're wondering how to modify? POST IT BELOW and I'll do a video series based on your request!

Why My Goal Is To Be Completely UnBalanced

I don’t know how long “balance” has been my word, but it’s far enough back that in University when people started getting tattoos I was like, “ya, I’d get one, maybe one that illustrates balance.” I am happy to report there is not a libra-scale permanently on my body, but I did continue to grip the concept of balance tightly nonetheless. 

Balance between work, play, fitness, nutrition, family, and friends has long been my obsessive goal. I viewed balance as the ONLY way to go about life. I strived for it in every way. My balancing act involved going all out in everything. If you’re thinking this sounds unattainable and exhausting -  it was.

Through both independent as well as course-led self-discovery work, I realized it wasn't balance I was striving for. It was perfection. And it was not working for me anymore. [Side note: If self-discovery work interests you, I highly encourage you to check out Neghar Fonooni. I have a slight (huge) girl-crush on her.]

Somehow I had warped balance to mean doing well in ALL things. Balance, as I had created it to mean in my head, meant doing no less than 80% in every category. So really, balance was a whole lot of work. And ironically, I was actually completely unbalanced.

How can we possibly be performing at 80% or higher in every aspect of our lives? It’s just not possible. At least not for the long run, and not if mental health and low levels of anxiety are anywhere on your “balanced” list.

Previously if you were to ask me, “what are your priorities?” I’d list off family, work, fitness, health, friends, play. Sooooo basically everything. Let’s talk about what “priorities” actually are. If you haven’t read Essentialism yet, do it. In Essentialism, Greg McKeown talks about priorities:

The word priority came into the English language in the 1400s. it was singular. It meant the very first or prior thing... Only in the 1900s did we pluralize the term and start talking about priorities. Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow we would now be able to have multiple “first” things.

Boom! I love this. We can’t have multiple “first” things, and we can’t be operating at 80% or better in every.single.category. Let's be honest, even better than 50% at all aspects of life sounds pretty daunting.

The benefits of acknowledging "balance" wasn’t working for me?

Sanity. Taking mass amounts of pressure off. Acknowledging my limitations was relieving. Realizing that the reason I feel like I’m not balancing it all, is because I’m not, and I can’t, and it’s not reasonable to expect it of myself or anyone else.

One blog post I came across recently that particularly hit home on this topic is “Embracing Your Life’s Seasons" by Taylor of SheThrivesBlog.com.

The title alone tugged at me. We are constantly in flux between seasons. Those seasons will continue to change, sometimes by our own doing, sometimes not. The season I am in right now looks much different than it did a little over a year ago. My time is dedicated to raising a little human. There are some small pockets of time to myself, and with effort and support from family or a babysitter my husband and I get time for just the two of. But the singular priority I have daily, my one “first”, is raising my little girl.

I'm learning to embrace my season. Right now, my season does not include running a full time business, having perfectly prepped nutritional meals at all times of the day, nor does it include being a full time recreational athlete. Each season has limited space in it, and right now, those things don't fit. When I finally released the pressure I was putting on myself to have a perfectly tidy house, perfectly planned meals, and perfectly regular workouts, a huge weight was lifted.

Do I miss things from previous seasons? Absolutely. Do I want to re-introduce things from them when the timing is right? Absolutely. But now is not the time. And I’m slowly accepting and embracing that. That doesn't mean that all those things aren't important to me anymore - of course I want to eat as healthy as possible, and get in daily movement, and spend time with my husband and friends. But, it does mean those acts look different than they used to.

In less time than I’m ready for I know my little one will be pulling on her backpack and running up the steps to her first day of school. And there I’ll suddenly be, with more hours in a day to myself than I’ll have had in 5 years. Another seasonal shift. I have a feeling when that day comes and I’m likely bawling into my coffee cup like so many mom friends have shared they did, that I won’t look back and say, “man, I wish I gave up more sleep so I could go to the gym 6 days a week.” Or, “I can’t believe I fed us mac & cheese because I chose to take our little girl around the neighbourhood in her sled along with my husband and dog, instead of staying behind to make a proper Pinterest worthy meal" – whatever that looks like.

No. I want to look back, and know that I fully and completely embraced my current season, and gave it my all. I hope this year has prepped me to accept the next big shift more gracefully than this time, because let me tell you – this time was messy, and don't think for a second that this mindset shift came as easily as an Amazon Prime order. A lot of tears. A lot of resentment. Anxiety. Reading. Courses. And days where it all fell apart and felt like I was starting at square one again.

To be completely above board, I almost didn't post this because the day after I wrote it I had one of the toughest "I miss my old life, and I miss my old healthy body" days than I'd had in a long time. But it just reminded me of one of my favourite terms from Neghar's course: I am a "recovering perfectionist". Recovering, because it's going to take effort and time to embrace this season, and the next, and the next, and the next... And there will be days when it feels like it's all unravelling. But, as with anything, the important thing isn't what I thought or did yesterday, it's what I'm choosing to tell myself today, what I'm choosing to do today.

Today, right now, I'm continuing to strive for a completely and wonderfully unbalanced life. It’s freeing, refreshing, and I never would have thought being this unbalanced would leave me feeling so grounded.

That feeling when "trusting the process" delivers your reward

You know when you make a decision and at the time it really sucks because it means giving up something you really want right that moment (instant gratification) in exchange for something way down the road, and even though you know the trade off will greatly trump all those little "need right now" moments it's still so hard to trust the process at the time? And every time you have to pass on that want, over and over, you question, "is it worth it?".

But then the day comes where your patience and months (perhaps years) of tough decision making rewards you. This applies to so many things in life. Today I got one of those long-awaited rewards after months of having to trust the process.

I am so excited that 8 months of trusting the process has led me to this moment. Eight months ago I knew I needed to change my mindset on workouts, based on my knowledge of pelvic floor health and diastasis recti. I was doing Crossfit 5x/week, and am, as my husband describes me "insanely competitive". The competitive streak is directed against myself - I'm not trying to beat anyone else in the gym, just myself, always wanting to learn new skills or improve my previous weights or sets. While the gym is a great place to unleash this, it is not a good combo when pregnant and long term health and fitness well into my senior years is the goal.

So I held back. I changed gyms. My pregnancy workouts felt more like my old warm ups did, but I trusted the process. Mentally it sucked a lot of days, trying to match logical brain to emotion-driven brain.

I cried numerous times. I felt like I'd lost a piece of my identity. I've identified as an athlete for years, and as a trainer since changing careers a few years ago. And now I hadn't run in months. Hadn't touched a barbell in as many. My workouts involved lots of seated isolated muscle exercises. I missed my old coaches, and the noon crew that pushed me (and heckled me) and provided me a space to mentally reset each day as well as provided a physical outlet.

I had melt downs when I wondered if I'd ever be able to do what I could pre-pregnancy again. But again, I committed to trusting the process. Some days I hated the process. I had to remind myself:  isn't being able to do 70% of what I could pre-pregnancy for the rest of my life way better than being able to do 100% of what I could pre-pregnancy but only for 2-5 years because of the damage and beating I'd do to myself by pushing for that extra 30%, just to "prove that I could"?

The smile on my face today is after a visit to my pelvic floor physio, where I received that long term reward of being smart these past 8 months instead of just going for it because I could day after day at the gym. I don't have any pelvic organ prolapse and my ab separation is in a good place for only 6 weeks postpartum and the tone feels like it should at this point. This might sound tiny to you, but the alternatives I hear way too many women talking about post partum because they just didn't know how to care for their pregnant and/or postpartum bodies makes me incredibly happy to be where I am right now.

This is just the first of a mini-series of blogs I'll be releasing, so be sure to check back if any of the below apply to you:

• You like nerding out about body stuff.
• You're an athlete who "leaks" (regardless of if you've had kids or not) - this was me in University when doing large amounts of bounding and plyometric workouts as a middle-distance sprinter. I just didn't know better.
• You're currently pregnant.
• You plan on being pregnant at any point in your life.
• You've had kids.
• You have someone in your life who fits the above and you want to help educate them about how to better care for their body.

Stay tuned:) 

Inspiring Women of YYC: Jaclyn LaBerge

I get to work with so many amazing women week after week, and they all inspire me in their own unique ways. The physical strengths is one aspect of why they're inspiring, but the thing that lights me up and gives me goosebumps is hearing their stories - their "why's", their challenges, the obstacles they've overcome, their perseverance, patience, and determination to be the best version of themselves, no matter what that entails.

I'm so excited to get this first feature up on Jaclyn, who works full time in corporate Calgary by day and trains diligently by night on a mission to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics as a member of the Canadian National skeleton team.

What do you do for physical activity and how many hours do you train in a week?

JL: I am training to earn a spot on our women’s Olympic skeleton team, with the ultimate goal to win a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics!

I train about 20-25 hours a week – a combination of weight training to build strength, Olympic lifting to build power and sprinting for speed. We also do some technical work to practice our pushing starts (we push our sleds for 20m before jumping on!).

What drives you to train?

JL: My ultimate goal of going to the Olympics drives me to train. But underlying that is the feeling of accomplishment that comes from pushing and challenging myself physically and mentally! I love working hard, leaving the gym feeling like I have made myself better.

I love the feeling of trying something new or challenging; I find it so exhilarating! That could be trying to get a new personal best on a lift, or even working on technique. Sure, it’s uncomfortable and sometimes you fail. But I would rather go home feeling satisfied that I attempted it, than regretting I didn’t even try. This also helps keep me motivated to train, because every day is a chance to challenge yourself!

 What are some of the benefits you've experienced from training?

JL: So many I can’t count. I think the biggest one is learning to believe in my abilities.

I’ve struggled with accepting and actually being proud of what I have and can accomplish. It never feels like enough, especially when I compare myself to others. But I’ve learned you can’t. This is my life, right now, in this moment. I think about how hard I’ve worked. Maybe right now, I’m not where I strive to be.  But I have to give thanks to myself for getting this far. I have learned to appreciate that and know that it is what makes me, me. If I have tried my hardest, how can I ever be mad at myself for that?

Acknowledge, respect and appreciate what you have accomplished and the effort you have put in. 

What challenges have you run into and/or overcome from training?

JL: Aside from the mental aspect, the most challenging piece has been dealing with injury. I had a hamstring tendon injury which took me out for 6 months. It was so frustrating to go to the gym to see your competitors getting better while you are just waiting to heal. I may have cried on the stretching mats more than once…

The biggest learning is LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! It knows what to do. Nags and niggles, are a sign something isn’t right. If you have those, stop and rest. If that doesn’t fix it, seek some physical therapy. Your body will find ways to compensate, it wants to complete the tasks you ask of it…but it will do so using other muscles, tendons and structures which aren’t designed to be doing that work.  And that will only work for so long…   

What was your primary goal for seeking nutrition coaching with Raw Fitness YYC?

JL: I wanted someone to take the stress away from me in telling me what to eat. There is so much information out there and I ultimately became confused about what I should be eating and when and how much. It was causing me a lot of stress and I wasn’t seeing any positive results – Quite the opposite!

After meeting with Nicole, I knew she was the nutritionist I was looking for. She understood the importance of my training and worked with me to create a plan that managed to help me lose some fat but gain muscle. She took away the stress of being scared to eat carbs and has created easy, nutritional habits that will stay with me for life!

Want to find out more about this amazing woman and follow her story? Or maybe help sponsor her road to the Olympics? Check her below:

Website: jaclynlaberge.com

Facebook: @jaclynlaberge

Instagram: JAXLABERGE

Twitter: @JaclynLaberge