Mom's Fit and Well Event at Sunnyvale Sports Basement

In 2010, I wrote a post sharing my tips for exercising and weight loss and it is still one of the top performing posts of this blog. Check it here. In the years since then, I lost more weight and got more toned by running half marathons, lifting weights, and going to the gym 7 days a week. Pretty much if I saw it on Instagram, I did it. When I got pregnant, I only walked, took some Zumba classes, and did light hand weights as my exercise.

Having such a large belly made me feel like my arms and legs were still skinny in comparison. Now that baby is out, everything just sags and looks chubby. At 7 weeks postpartum I started swimming which is actually the perfect exercise to get back into losing weight. It's low impact and stretches out all the muscles. I didn't lose too much weight from a month of regular swimming but I definitely felt my muscles get back into balance. The pool is closing soon so I joined a gym. As eager as I am to get back into distance running and lots of crunches, when I work out, my hip joint hurts and my muscles spasm. Everything just feels so misaligned and rusty.

Shari from my blogger group posted this Fit and Well event aimed towards moms so I went last week and learned so much that will help me with my work outs. I need to be patient with my body's ability to recover. Healing is much more than how skinny I look. For me, it will be about
Running without having this loose hip joint feeling.
Doing ab work without feeling like a turtle on it's back.
Ending a workout without my leg muscles going into spasms.
Improving the posture of my upper back which is constantly hunched from holding my son.

I stopped doing exercises that target the ab muscle specifically and started doing more things for my back, arms, thighs, and hips. Many of these exercises will also engage the abs but at least they won't directly strain them.

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The first class of the fitness event was Bombay Jam Dance Class, which was like Zumba with Indian belly dancing. It was very fun. The moves are easier to learn than Zumba and gives just as much of a workout. (Photos by Shari)

The event was sponsored by Smarty Pants vitamins. They make naturally sweetened gummy versions of daily vitamins. 

The prenatal vitamins were good. Not very sweet or sticky and easy to eat. It takes about 6 gummies to equal the amount of vitamins usually found in a pill. Prenatal vitamins can be very large and hard to swallow. Some women have difficulty with this and the gummy vitamins are a good alternative.

We got this nice goodie bag and I am making my way through some of the snacks.

There was a bounty of Hint Water at the event. It tastes as natural as infusing water with fruit. These are some of the best flavored water I've tasted.

I haven't had a chance to try the Big Slice apple packets yet.

I just finished eating the Smart Candy vitamin gummies in the top right corner. It's a bit too sour and sticky for my preference in gummies. Smarty Pants prenatal vitamins tasted much better. It doesn't look like these two companies are related despite the similar names.

Those Beanfields bean and rice chips have a good flavor although the texture gets mushy in your mouth quickly. It definitely gives me gas. I still feel healthier eating it versus potato chips though. I also tried the peanut butter Dynamos in the middle and they're really good. Not super sweet. Just enough bites to fuel a short workout.

I have not had a chance to try these products yet but I can't wait to try the chemical free WaterWipes and Goddess Garden Sunny Kids Organic sunblock on my son when he's older. Mommy Nearest is an app to find family friendly places near your location.

I already devoured all 4 of the Krave Jerky packs and they were yummy!

Gomacro bars were available at the event. The are smaller, healthier versions of energy bars. It's less dense, not as sweet, and tastes lighter.