High Heel Mileage

Hi, I'm Amy, a 40-something writer, wife to @expataviator and mom to Violet & Wren. I'm either overdresed or in my pajamas - there is no in between. Can be found with a book in one hand and glass of wine in the other. Occasionally covered in toddler gunk. Email me at [email protected].

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It’s been so long since I’ve posted that I need to change my “about me” section from ‘30-something’ to ‘40-something.’ Insert aged cringe face here.

How is everyone?! I downloaded the app back onto my phone with every intention of coming back to this safe space to vent-rage-celebrate then promptly forgot because, well, life.

So before I really get back into it have some photos of my face and family. See you soon!

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My first thought upon waking up this morning...

“I can’t wait to go to bed tonight.”

I’m too old to have kids this young. 🥴😵😴🧟‍♀️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️

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Ok, now you can call it a comeback 💪🏻

I’m gonna call this Day 2 (In the name of actual effort and not the easy postpartum weight that came off immediately.)

Loving my creepy basement gym workouts. I’m saving myself the cost of a gym membership and commute. Having an elevated heart rate from fear of a giant lurking spider is just a bonus.

Nothing insightful to word vomit tonight. Just showing up 👋🏻

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I wouldn’t call it a comeback BUT it is an evening workout after the girls have gone to bed reminiscent of my routine in England when I lost the baby weight last time 🙌🏻

I’ve been thinking a lot about what my health and fitness goals are. Seems to be a sensitive subject these days. There are people who think if you’re trying to lose weight then you must hate yourself. Or that you have to love your stretch marks, lumps and bumps. And I don’t fall into either of those camps. Hatred of myself isn’t driving my need to FEEL or LOOK better. And I don’t LOVE or HATE my stretch marks. I’ve accepted them - they’re there. Their names are Violet, Wren, Pizza, Margarita & Tacos!

So, while I still don’t have a number/weight/size/feeling I’ll figure it out along the way.

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Sunday morning coffee chat?

I probably have approximately 6 minutes before a mouth needs fed and a butt needs wiped (very important not to get those two things confused...)

I’ve been thinking a lot about this time postpartum with Wren versus last time with Violet and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve been misremembering everything. In my mind, I wasn’t as squishy, weak or tired. When in reality - and thanks in large part to my archives - I’m realizing that I was very much as squishy, weak and tired. In fact, maybe even more so. As a first time mom I was not prepared for how tired I would be, but now after 3.5 years of broken sleep I’ve just gotten on with it and adapted.

Really the only difference between this time and last is that I have less time to dedicate to fitness. The first time around I worked out when Violet napped, but now when Wren is napping I have a very active preschooler keeping me company. Not ideal, but also not impossible.

I guess my point is that I can’t keep looking in the past to find something that worked because I’m not that person anymore. I have new, different challenges to contend with, and that’s normal and fine. I just have to remember not to get discouraged when my brain wants to try to tell me that this is too hard or insurmountable.

My body won’t always ache when I get out of bed or off the floor (although, 40 *is* approaching quite rapidly) and I won’t always need to catch my breath when I run to the top of the stairs to check on the girls. Like literally everything else in life, it’s temporary and just for now. It could get worse or better and that’s up to me to decide.

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Wine, a half-clean house & catching up on reality TV: the title of my autobiography. A little Southern Charm followed by The Hills and maybe Stranger Things if I can stay awake past 10pm...

I sneaked in a quick 20 minute workout this morning while Wren napped & Violet watched mind-numbing YouTube kids. I really want to start getting up to workout before they wake up but Wren is still waking several times a night for feeds/general butthole baby behavior and by the time my alarm goes off at 6am my brain feels like someone put it in a blender. Having a baby at 37 when you already had a few extra junks in your trunks is laborious. I tired. But I’m making baby steps everyday to get where I want to be. I don’t have a number or size in mind yet. Right now my first goal is to get out of bed without any popping/cracking/groaning/grunting.

Week 15 // -34 pounds postpartum

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This little nugget is finally on a schedule and *finally* napping solo longer than 30 minutes at a time. After 3 months I feel like I can see some semblance of a routine coming together (through a lot of googling, sleep consulting and trial and error.)

I’ve been exercising sporadically for weeks now but hopefully now that we’re settled and work on the house is easing up I can kick it up a notch.

I gained a whopping 56 pounds with Wren (compared to 22 with Violet) and still have 20 left to lose before I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight. (After that I’ll tackle the pizza and wine weight...)

I’m not sure how exactly I’ll use this space again for fitness purposes but really loved the accountability and routine of posting back when I was losing the weight before, sooooooo, here I am again.

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Sorry I’ve been MIA. I’ve been busy making dis fat squishy (read: I’ve been napping and eating nonstop since you last heard from me.)

Wren Willow

3.19.19

8lbs 12oz

20.5”

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It’s my favorite time of day.

Where I convince Violet to lie down next to me and watch a movie on my laptop so I can take a nap.

✌🏻

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Violet has now taken it upon herself to check her own temperature since I’ve now fallen asleep on the couch twice this afternoon. Most sick kids sleep, sleep, sleep - this one watches Peppa Pig at 4am while I beg her to let me sleep. I don’t know how much sleep I actually got last night but I do know I almost wept when the barista handed me a giant iced coffee this morning.

Her sickness also meant I had to cancel my personal training session this morning but I’m secretly relieved. I’ve managed to not cry once during PT, but I’m pretty sure today would’ve been the day. 😭😂

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Violet conquering the big yellow slide at the county fair last night 💜

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Weekend workouts ✔️ Everything hurts (in a good way?) It’s been a long & sometimes fun weekend. We took the kiddo bowling yesterday. She rewarded me today by acting like a possessed toddler & also peeing in her car seat and bed. Yaaaaaaay, toddlers. It’s ok, I cried it out in the shower and later sweated it out at the gym. It helps that she was asleep when I got home from the gym. I love that munchkin but sometimes we need a break from each other. I was such a great parent before I had a kid. Lololol. Gonna go take a muscle relaxer for my old lady hip & close the book on this drama-llama-mama weekend.

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I’m impressed by the calorie burn in the short amount of time but more impressed that I didn’t puke up the quesadilla I ate right before this. 🤢 Dinner plans with a friend meant a late night gym sesh but I am so enjoying working out lately. So happy with the Transform App (the Chris and Heidi Powell program). It’s the most effective, no-nonsense program I have ever come across. The workouts are challenging but manageable and the meal plans are insanely easy. No ridiculous 12-step recipes with ingredients you’ve never heard of. 👍🏻👍🏻

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Before & After. Did not want to. Did anyway. Plus 30 minute HIIT run. 💪🏻

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Working on bulking up my breakfasts and eating more during the day per the dietitian’s suggestion. Keeping the evening snack monster at bay is the biggest challenge for me, so more calories earlier in the day will hopefully help. 🤞🏻

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When you’re already 97% toward your ‘move’ goal for the day 💪🏻 Metcon + HIIT all from the comfort of my living room.

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It just took me way too long to figure out how to add a photo to this post with the app. In tech years, I’m pretty sure I’m already an extra on Jurassic Park but I’m also still managing to get hormonal breakouts like a teenager. #overachiever After spending the first 6 months of this year watching my jeans get tighter and tighter, I set some goals and eased back into a fitness routine. I’ve been doing the transform app with Chris & Heidi Powell for almost 3 weeks now and I’m still really enjoying it. The workouts are challenging and varied without being overwhelming and impossible. As for my eating, well, isn’t that always the real issue? Once I figure out how to declassify pizza and wine as their own food groups, I think I’ll be onto something. My weight right now is *just* under where it was when we visited America in August 2016, which means I’ve been treading water +/- over the past two years. I’m still 25 pounds *under* my pre-pregnancy weight & around 50 pounds under my postpartum high, so I’m calling it a win with room for improvement.