Starting Your Fitness Journey After Pregnancy + Free Workout Planner
The time has come and it’s finally time to start your fitness journey after having your baby. Congratulations! This is a huge step in taking time for yourself and investing in your health. In this blog post, A Complete Guide To Starting Your Fitness Journey + Free Workout Planner, I give you my best tips on starting your fitness journey. Plus a free printable planner to keep track of your progress!
If you’re newly postpartum or have had a baby recently, check out my blog post on how I lost weight after 2 back to back pregnancies.
Whether you’re postpartum or simply want to start a new healthy lifestyle, this blog post can help point you in the right direction to become confident in the gym, and confident in yourself.
Plan Out Your Fitness Goals
Before starting a new fitness journey, I always like to think about what my fitness goals are. Yours could be: lose weight, gain weight, get abs, grow your glutes, get toned arms, and so on.
Everyone’s goals are different. We all have different body types, metabolisms, and schedules, which is why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work.
Not only that, your goals can also change all the time. My goal before I had children was to be lean with huge glutes! After I had kids, I realized I had to shed some baby weight, and I didn’t want to continue growing my glutes. I wanted to be slimmer all around, which is way different than how I had previously trained.
Writing down your fitness goals is a great way to visualize what you’re working towards. This is why I created a free fitness planner to help you achieve these goals. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to print yours!
Heres an example of what my fitness goals are as a mom of 2 toddler’s:
- Aim for 65oz of water daily (I got this number by taking half my body weight in ounces).
- Go on at least 1 walk with my kids or aim for 10,000 steps per day.
- Strength train at least 3x a week. If I can do more, great! In this season of my life, I just can’t dedicate that much time to training, and that’s ok! Do what you can in whatever season of life you’re in.
- Stick to a 90/10 nutrition plan. 90% of the time are whole, read foods. 10% are the fun foods 😉
Developing daily, weekly, and monthly goals are a great way to plan and execute your fitness goals.
Follow a Fitness Program
Whether you’re brand new to starting your fitness journey or a seasoned pro that want’s to do something different, my biggest piece of advice would be to follow a fitness program.
Yes there’s a ton of free workout’s on Youtube and Tiktok, and those are great! But having an app on your phone that plans out your workouts every week makes staying on track so much easier.
Most fitness apps now have meal plans in them as well, so its a win-win. Here are a few of my favorite fitness programs that I’ve followed in the past, and loved:
• Evolve You: This is an amazing workout app that I used for gym-based strength training workouts! They have home programs as well. They also have cardio classes, stretching, HIIT, as well as a community of women for support. This is a great fitness program that I highly recommend to everyone. You can also do a free trial!
• FitBody App: I love this one because it has a pregnancy and postpartum program, as well as home & gym-based workouts and so much more. I used this app during my 2nd pregnancy with their pregnancy at-home workouts and followed it up with their postpartum program. They also provide a free trial.
• Nike Training Club: this app is completely free and has some amazing classes. It’s easy to use, while the only downside is that there’s no actual training plan, it’s just workouts you can follow along.
• Peleton App: I had an obsession with my Peleton bike. I still have it, but I’m more focused on training in the gym right now, rather than spin classes. But did you know the Peleton app has thousands of classes? It’s not just spin classes! ANY workout you can think of, the Peleton app has you covered. This app has the most diverse range of workout classes than any other fitness program I’ve tried.
Following a workout program helps tailor your goals and fitness level. You can choose the level of intensity, and how many days a week you work out. This helps set the tone for achieving your goals.
If you’ve never followed a fitness program before, try one of the free trials of the programs I’ve listed above, or find one that you feel suits you best. There are hundreds out there!
Get Smart About Nutrition
It’s no secret that what you do in the gym really doesn’t matter that much if you’re not fueling your body properly. You can’t expect to gain muscle and grow your glutes if you’re not eating more calories to grow those muscles.
You also can’t expect to lose weight if you’re overeating at each meal and not burning more calories than you’re consuming.
As humans, we love to complicate things. It’s quite simple really, eat whole, natural foods. Stay away from overly processed foods (yes, I’m talking about bread. One of the most processed foods you can consume. Have you looked at the ingredients on a package of bread lately?
Of course, for some people, it’s not that simple. I understand. Sometimes there can be underlying health issues going on. I suggest before starting any fitness journey you get a full blood work panel done. Test your thyroid and hormone levels. This is especially important if you had a baby recently.
I used My Fitness Pal religiously when I started my fitness journey. I loved tracking my food and plugging in the numbers to try and hit my goals every day. This was extremely helpful in learning portion sizes and about macronutrients.
A few other benefits from using My Fitness Pal include:
• calorie tracking
• exercise tracking
• meal planning (the app offers meal planning tools and healthy recipies!)
• insightful reports (gives you data about your eating habits, activity levels, and progress towards your goals)
The best part about My Fitness Pal is that it’s completely free, too! I highly suggest everyone track their food for a month just to see where you’re getting your protein, carbs, and fats from.
Starting Your Fitness Journey Needs Motivation
We all need a little motivation here and there. When starting a new fitness journey I like to make sure I have all the essentials I need. Gym bag, foam roller, jump rope, workout mat, etc.
While this may not be for everyone, new workout clothes always motivate me to workout. There’s just something about a cute matching set that makes me want to conquer my workouts.
Of course you don’t need new items to start your fitness journey. But if you can, it doesn’t hurt!
HERE is a full list of my favorite workout essentials. I list some of my favorite workout sets, sneakers, equipment, protein powders, and more. Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Invest in your health now, so you’re not paying for it later!
I suggest following motivational accounts on Instagram and Tiktok. These can help you on those days when you’re not as motivated (and there will be plenty of those). Following people that have had similar journeys to yours can be inspiring, too.
Free Workout Planner
I created this free printable workout planner with goal setting in mind. This planner includes 6 pages of:
- Daily workout planner. An overview of your day and goals.
- Workout goal planner. Plan your goals with actionable steps to achieve them.
- Workout program planner. Write down which program you’re following (even if it’s a free one from Youtube or Tiktok!).
- Weekly workout schedule. Easily see your week of workouts at a glance.
- Weekly meal planner. Plan out your meals to help stay on track.
- Notes page. Write grocery lists, names of podcasts you want to listen to, goal ideas, and everything else!
CLICK HERE to print your free workout planner.
Key Takeaway
The first step is to just start. Figure out your goals, and your plan, then start. Taking care of yourself should be a priority, although I know it’s hard sometimes when we have so many other things going on in life.
Your kids deserve a healthy parent. Your spouse deserves a healthy partner, and you deserve a happy, healthy life.
By taking the first step towards prioritizing your health, you are setting yourself up for success and positive change. Remember that progress takes time and consistency.
Surround yourself with support, stay focused on your “why,” and embrace the journey with an open mind and heart.
Who Am I?
My name is Nicole and I’m a 32 year old stay at home mom to 2 toddlers. I live in Miami, FL, and I have been passionate about fitness and health since I was 17 years old. I’m a former bikini competitor and I am certified by ISSA for personal training. I started this blog to help moms and women with all things motherhood, health, and wellness.
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Great guide to starting your fitness journey after pregnancy!