The Story of a Fitness Resurrection

  Posted on January 28, 2015 By

 38 Comments

Once upon a time there was an active girl.  As a kid she was always up to something that was physically healthy – swimming, soccer, volleyball, skating, track and field and even curling.  In fact, her parents had a rule that she had to be involved in 2 evening activities a week, as a young child often one was social like brownies and one sports related.  As a teenager it was always sports and a part-time job.  Some of her teams and individual sports she made it to Provincials, and in fact was fortunate to be part of winning teams.  Throughout she was never the all-star on the team, but she always held her own.

As an adult she loved spin class so much she attended two different classes a week at 5:30am before work.  She often had a gym membership and sometimes even had a personal trainer.  On nice days she could often be found going for a run/jog, sometimes almost literally dragging her non-athletic dog alongside.  Sometimes she attended yoga classes. She would spend her summer weekends hiking in the 20140517 - Our Mother's Day Hike In the Mountains4mountains, sometimes going 10-20 kilometers into the back country with her giant pack for a few days at a time (with her dog and husband of course).  She played on an adult soccer team.  And one time she even ran a 5km to raise money for a local charity.  She would spend her winter weekends on the ski slopes.  When possible she would bike to work during the summer to both spare herself rush hour traffic and to fit in some exercise.

She was never super skinny, but she was pretty much well-balanced in her weight.  While she may not have loved everything about her body, she was never too worried about her weight.

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Then one day she had a miscarriage.  Then she had another, and another.  The specialist told her to stop doing any exercise beyond walking her dog after she ovulated every month.  Honestly, it wouldn’t have mattered what the doctor said, she was too scared to exercise anyways.  What if it was something she was doing that was causing the losses?  So, she quit her soccer team and gave up her gym membership.  She stopped going to spin class and stopped going for an evening run with the dog.  She gave up yoga and cycling.  She didn’t go skiing and she never went hiking.

The pregnancy – miscarriage cycle ran fowl with her life for over two years. The inactivity weight gain was compounded and even accelerated by the fact that with each pregnancy, she put on some weight as most pregnant women do.  With each loss she seemed to put on a bit more weight presumably from not eating well enough. The whole thing was turning into a vicious cycle that had no end in sight.

Beyond struggling with all of her losses, she also struggled with not having physical activity in her life.  She always used exercise as a mental health release on stressful days.

So, two years later, she finally saw another doctor who gave her a second opinion.  He said, yes, do go for a run every day.  His only restriction was that I do not start training for a marathon.

So, first she started running again.  She found her two year old new shoes, still in the box and ventured outside one afternoon for a jog.  It was hard work.  She had never been this out of shape before.  She hurt.  But she persevered and went again the next day.

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Her husband encouraged her and even joined her.  They started working out together 5 days a week.  As the season had changed and the weather turned cold, they started using the fitness equipment they already had – a treadmill and their road bikes that were set up on an indoor trainer for the winter.

Eventually they expanded their home gym with a bit of help from her parents when they gifted them an elliptical machine.  They bought some additional weight equipment second-hand online.

They hired a personal trainer who set them up with a program that they can do at home using their own equipment.

And now, together, they do upper body workouts twice a week, lower body workouts twice a week and cardio once or twice a week.  Some nights they go skating together on a local pond.  Some days they also go for long walks with the dog.  And they even plan to go skiing again for the first time in two years.

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And that my friends is the story of how Mr. MPB and I have resurrected fitness and part of how we are reclaiming our lives.

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 Category: Pregnancy, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss      Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

38 Comments on “The Story of a Fitness Resurrection”

    • One thing the blogging world is great for is helping us feel less alone! It seems like someone has been there or done that at some point, and I know it always brings me comfort to know my crazy is actually normal in an atypical situation.
      Love to you through this fitness cycle. It’s so freaking hard sometimes!

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  2. Good for you! Thanks for sharing your story. Very relatable and also very motivating! I am trying for my own fitness resurrection right now bc I too had been on an exercise restriction. Well, I say screw that! We need exercise for more than just our physical well being.

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    • Asides from the actual miscarriages, I think the exercise restrictions were one of the hardest parts of our whole RPL journey. For me, it turns out I needed exercise for my mental health more then I had ever realized and removing it from my life took away a very healthy outlet for stress. So, I completely agree with you, screw that and start exercising again and reclaim just a little bit of your life. Wishing you the best as you work to resurrect your own well-being!

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  3. What an exciting post! It must be lovely to get back into being physically active when you haven’t been allowed to (rightly or wrongly) – especially if it was something you once loved. You’ve made me want to go for a run 🙂

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    • I do believe now that it was wrong that I was told not to be doing any real exercise. I know I still wouldn’t have been willing to do it anyways, but having a medical “expert” tell me I’m not allowed to just reinforced the fear that my lifestyle could have been causing the losses.

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      • I know just what you mean – you examine everything you do to pinpoint a cause, a reason for what’s happened. I’m just so glad to hear you have got back into it – it’s so good for our bodies to move. Something I need to do a little more of.

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  4. Isn’t it wonderful to rediscover all the amazing things your body CAN do? Nothing like wrestling power away from infertility.

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    • It is a wonderful to rediscover something positive my body can do!! And it is so empowering to be able to take back part of my life, and feel like I’m living again! 🙂

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  5. I can really relate to this for the most part. I was also a very active kid, playing multiple sports and always involved in everything. In college I did intramurals, and took classes at the gym, and then post college I would gain a few pounds and just hit the gym or run 4 or 5 miles for a few days and get back down to normal. Not super small, but healthy. Then infertility struck. I’ve not had a miscarriage, but even doing IUI cycles I was scared to do any “real” exercise except walking, and the meds and the emotions totally got the best of my waist line! I would get back into working out for a few months then cycle again and it would just start all over! Good for you guys for keeping up with being active! xoxo

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    • It really is a vicious circle, eh? It’s hard to be physically active while trying because I found that there was always a nagging voice in the back of my mind saying, what if this causes another loss. I simply couldn’t get it out of my mind and it really wasn’t a healthy way to live. (Of course that’s easy to say now that we aren’t trying and I’m looking back at it). Anyways, love to you and hoping you too can break the cycle!!

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  6. I love this post. It’s so sad and inspiring all at the same time. The way it’s written is really touching. Exercise is so good for mental health and to have it taken away from you during an awful time is simply horrible. I’m glad you’re getting back on track and I love your pics and feel a little motivated so thank you! x

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  8. YES! Get after it! I did the same thing after each loss… I slowly stepped away from everything fitness related (that I loved). I tried to reintroduce things, but I was never consistent. It’s so hard to break the cycle of inactivity. I am/was over the moon when they said I could start yoga and light activity, it feels so good to be able to get this body moving!! XO

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    • Yes, moving our bodies is just an amazing feeling!! It’s funny on our one day off a week, we are now both itching to go for a run! Now, it would just be great if my body started to look a little bit more in shape. 🙂

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  10. You know how much I love fitness. I’m so proud of you for reclaiming your love of physical activity. It’s even better that you and the mister do so much of it together, and at home. We’ve got a home gym as well, but I like the routine of going to the gym, so that’s where I go. How awesome would it be for you to set fitness goals like running a 10K next?

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    • I will run the idea of 10K past Mr. MPB (that was an unintentional bad pun). I have no doubt that we’d be able to do it.
      We used to go to the gym very regularly, but I much prefer to be able to work out at home – I have no excuses on cold or lazy days because it’s right here. 🙂

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