So I have decided to jump on to what is the "Show us your Life" bandwagon! I've been reading this blog called Kelly's Korner and Kelly does a community link blog every Friday and calls it "Show us Your Life". She has done these for quite a while now, but I've just been slow to catch on and actually do a post to link up to it. And the topic for the week I chose to start with (this makes me laugh...): Workout/Fitness Secrets/tips! I know, What am I thinking??
I do not work out. My "work outs" include walking to the bathroom and back to teller line at work and going up and down the stairs from the downstairs to the bedrooms every evening. That combined with lifting a twenty pound baby all the time seems to work for me. I have never been a consistent exerciser. I took aerobics and was in the color guard (a flag girl) in high school, so I stayed in shape. Then my sophomore year in college I played tennis for the Salem Tennis Team and I waitressed, so I was somewhat toned. After that I started working for the Credit Union as a teller and gained like 15 pounds (you know, since all I did was sit on my butt and snack all day). Fast forward 3 years and there starts my story. This is my journey to lose ten pounds:
It all started about 18 months ago in July of 2008 when I decided I wanted to lose a little bit of weight. I wasn't overweight or hadn't suddenly gained any weight, but I just wanted to fit back into my "skinny clothes" from a few years earlier. So I didn't really actively go on a diet or start exercising, just tried portion control with my meals. I don't think I ever saw any difference and really wasn't that zealous with it.
Then in September, I got pregnant! It was a bit of a surprise, though definitely NOT unwanted (and really not even unplanned. I still don't know why I was so shocked. You know how people say they just know they are pregnant before they take a test? Well I was not one of those people. I was not expecting it)! So over the course of the next 38 weeks I gained around 36 pounds. (I know you are wondering what in the world this has to do with my quest to lose weight...be patient. I'm getting to that). Then my precious Addison came into the world in May 2009 and I immediately lost 6 lbs 13 oz (plus fluid and whatever else came out with her).
Over the next few weeks I saw pounds drop away. I was still very hungry and eating what I felt was a lot since I was exclusively breastfeeding (though looking back I was normally hungry but either too exhausted or too busy to eat regularly). By the six week check up I think I was about 10 pounds heavier than I was when I got pregnant. I was feeling pretty good with my body, although it was a very very far cry from perfect! Gradually I noticed my clothes would get loser and I would try on clothes that had been tight a few weeks earlier and they would fit. Then those clothes started to get lose and soon I was back into all my old pants and weighing in at my pre-pregnancy weight. But the weight loss didn't stop there. By 5 months I was about 7 lbs lighter and in December I got the stomach bug and got down about 13 lbs lighter. Now I'm about 10-12 lbs lighter than I was before. I am in a size TWO and it completely shocks me! I was a six before I had Addison. I had given away a lot of my smaller clothes while I was pregnant because (1) I hadn't been wearing them for about 3 years because I couldn't fit in them and (2) I just knew I would NEVER be that small again, so there was no sense keeping them, and letting them get me down because I couldn't wear them.
So that was my journey to lose 10 pounds! step one: get pregnant. step two: have baby. step three: breastfeed/pump for an extended period of time. step four: shrink. Yeah, I know it is not that easy for most people and I have a very strong feeling that as soon as I stop breastfeeding I will find those 10 pounds and then some!
I have used the Wii Fit and I liked it for about 3 weeks when Addison was about 5/6 weeks old (BEFORE my maternity leave was up. No time after I started back to work). It's a really neat way to work out and keep up with your progress. I just don't make the time for it right now. IF I had a gym closer to my house AND if that gym was free AND if that gym was empty of super fit and beautiful people that make me feel horrible about myself, maybe, just maybe, I would go and work out. But that is a lot of IF's and AND's so I think I'll just stay home!
Happy Working out/dieting. I'm sure I'll be joining the fun in several months after Addison stops nursing!
2 years ago
Hi Jenny, as a mom of two teenagers, I can remember the days of not having a lot of time. I was pretty thin back then from chasing my kids, but I found that taking the babies on long walks in their stroller was the easiest way to get in some exercise.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm pretty sure you would be viewed as one of the thin and beautiful people at the gym yourself!