6 Month Progress - Gained About 13 Pounds of Lean Mass

I'm a week late with this progress report.  A lot has been accomplished since I began my fitness journey 6 months ago.  Weightlifting was particularly beneficial for my health.  I nearly corrected my 2.5 finger diastasis recti.  I now have a small area where it is 1 finger wide.  I may not have mentioned that I also had some pelvic floor issues, but that was largely corrected after weightlifting for at least 3 months.  I tried to solely diet after having my second child, but my blood sugar issues resisted it.  Weightlifting somehow helped me correct the hypoglycemia such that I can go longer stretches without getting shaky.  I do some walking on my property, but most of my time is devoted to weightlifting.  Assuming I did not lose any lean mass from the time I was married to having my second child, these are my stats:

2011 Marriage Year: 125 lb, 91.2 lb lean mass, 33.8 lb fat mass, 27% body fat

2016 Just Prior to 1st Pregnancy: 135 lb, 91.2 lb lean mass, 43.8 lb fat mass, 32.4% body fat

2017 9 months after 1st child: Back to 135 lb (see above)

2020 After 2nd child prior to exercising again: 152 lb, 91.2 lb lean mass, 60.8 lb fat mass, 40% body fat

2020 After 6 months exercising: 143 lb, 104.4 lb lean mass, 38.61 lb fat mass, 27% body fat

I gained a lot of "fat mass" being an office dweller from 2011-2016.  The form of exercise I did intermittently was running and/or walking on a treadmill.

Getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight was not too difficult after having my 1st child.  Breastfeeding seemed to be effective for reducing my body fat without exercise.  After my 2nd pregnancy, breastfeeding did not seem to have any weight loss benefit.  I also could not manage to diet alone, since my blood sugar seemed to tank easily and I'd get shaky (and cranky!) trying to reduce my caloric intake (insulin resistance?).  I later decided to begin exercising at the end of June 2020.  Pregnancy and postpartum effects made me pack on a lot of body fat!  Not to mention, the second time around, I had postpartum insomnia and depression.

I was not the "leanest" individual before becoming an office dweller and then having kids.  Perhaps that made it easier to have excess body fat after a few kids?  It took a lot of hard work to gain 13 lb of lean mass and reduce body fat.  I could not do it via diet alone after having my second child.  Some moms seem to be able to after multiple pregnancies (I did after my 1st).  Hormones get wonky so moms that cannot seem to "lose it" easily need a break.  Some can just cut the calories without the blood sugar problems,  Others can add a little exercise.  I know one mom that does not seem to have a dedicated exercise routine and does not look like she had 3 kids!  Good genetics she once said.  She's probably right.  But this one had to exercise (walking + weightlifting), and after a few months of that, cut the calories a little while continuing to exercise!  But it seems to be for the best.  Who wouldn't want more lean mass (which a lot of that is probably muscle)?  Hey, perhaps you too have good genetics for gaining muscle mass.  You would not know it unless you started weightlifting.

I am in the process of becoming an "office dweller" again, but it seems clear to me that I need to continue weightlifting to stay healthy.  After all, I just bought some size 8 pants (I was a 12 after my 2nd) and small (and a few medium) blouses!

By the way, last Thursday I bench pressed 105 pounds (that's almost as much as someone at my weight who has been weightlifting for 2 years).  And I'm talking about lifting that bar off my chest.

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