The obvious way to find out if you have overdone it is injury. I have been pretty careful about that though. I have friends who broke their ankle and it's not fun - especially if you have kids, so whenever I feel my ankle or knee acting up I make sure to only do low impact work-outs like cycling - which still burn a lot of calories if you go fast enough and make the resistance high. And I've found a miracle cream - Arnicagel. I used it for the first time last night and I managed to sleep pain free.

Yesterday though - I overdid it. I went to the gym in the morning and cycled 10.5 miles in 50 minutes, then I rowed 2000m in under 10 minutes and in the afternoon I took the baby for a 3 mile walk (the baby was in the stroller). It was hot. We are having a bit of a heatwave right now. I tracked my food and exercise and it turned out I actually had negative calories even though I stayed in my range and ate about 1600 calories - but I worked out so much that I ended up burning more than I ate.

During my walk I stopped at CVS and picked up some stuff. Only that I didn't "pick it up". I left my purchase at the store. Luckily, when I realized a few hours later, they had found it and I was able to pick it up on the way to my evening class. So I was at class for about an hour and a half when I realized that I had never fed the parking meter! I jumped up and ran out and luckily, I had not gotten a ticket. But these are two things that never happen to me. I am the kind of person who is very conscientious of things like that. I think as a mom you kind of have to be (at least after you pass the first few months of "mom brain").

I realized I hadn't provided my body with enough nutrition to work properly. Weight loss is great. I am losing weight pretty quickly and it's tempting to go "Biggest Loser style" and work out as much as possible and eat only enough to not feel like I am going to starve but your body needs fuel to work properly. I am a mom and I am responsible for the well being of my child. What if I would have forgotten HER somewhere?

So this certainly doesn't mean I am going to stop working out but I think I will try to stay closer to the 1800 calorie goal (recommended for nursing moms) and I will add nuts and more protein to my diet. Talk about a wake-up call!