It’s amazing the range of highs and lows a person can go through in one week’s time. But that’s life isn’t it? Postpartum is a journey just like every other aspect of our lives, and that journey comes with plenty of struggles. If you read my last post, you got an uncensored view of some of the struggles we face as moms.

The struggle is real, ladies.

When that happens, you cannot throw in the towel. Absolutely not. Don’t do it. Seriously. Don’t. Every part of you will regret it if you give up now.

Gosh, I hope I wasn’t unclear.

Because something happens when we’re in the middle of drowning and we give up completely. We feel worse. It’s true. Whether we get sick of our house always being messy so we stop vacuuming because it’s futile, or we throw our hands in the air because no matter what we do, we can’t seem to lose the weight.

So we stop trying.

And you know what? We end up in exactly the same place we were before, and none too happy about it.

Life is hard. Motherhood is hard. Running is hard. But what do we gain from giving up when we face struggles? Nothing. That’s right, nothing but a guilty feeling and a messy house.

It’s often in the dark and painful places that we grow the most. They’re called growing pains for a reason. It’s not pleasant. It’s not fun. But these painful and difficult experiences are what mold you as the mother, person, and runner you need to be. Nobody gets call themselves a marathoner without experiencing pain. And nobody gets to enjoy the amazing blessings of motherhood without first going through pain. The more it’s worth doing, the greater the pain.

This past week was a struggle for me, and I had my moments of giving up. (Hello, Culver’s Concrete Mixer! If you don’t know what that is, it’s delicious ice cream.) But I kept running. Because I know when I start letting that go, the rest will follow. I refuse to let that happen.

(Random side note: on my worst day, I had the best run. Funny how things work out like that!)

Here’s the 5 week update:

5 weeks post

Baby Girl: She’s settled into a bit of a routine, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Let’s be honest, this week’s routine is next week’s joke. But she’s been fun, and able to spend a bit more time not being held, so that’s a blessing. She’s grown so much already! I can’t believe she’s already a month old. Just crazy. It actually kind of makes me wish time would slow a little. Kind of.

Workouts: I was able to get 4 runs in, and I made it up to 4 miles. Slowly increasing my mileage, and the speed is naturally coming along. I do plan on starting speed work soon, but definitely waiting until 6 weeks post for that. I want to double check with my doc before really upping the intensity. Still working on the old core, and I increased the intensity of that. As antsy as I get, it’s so important to start slow and build from there.

Nutrition: Well, still not the best, but not the worst either.When I was having a bad day, I couldn’t get enough chocolate. Go figure. I think many of us are stress eaters or blues eaters, and that’s something I need to work on. Some of the best advice to follow is, when your stressed or upset, don’t eat. Find stress relief or an outlet somewhere else. Not food.

Weight loss: Nada. Sigh. I have to tell myself to be patient and just relax. I have one more week before I really focus on losing the weight and I just have to chill out. Baby Girl seems to be thriving, so I have no worries about my milk or our routine, but I will make myself wait until the 6 week mark.

We all face struggles, whether in our running, motherhood, or just life. But those struggles will only defeat us when we throw in the towel and quit. How do you deal with the struggles in your life?