It took a really, really, really long time and a lot of tight pants before I realized my eating habits were out of control and my exercise habits nonexistent. Post pregnancy, I decided to eat everything I wanted because during pregnancy, all I did was puke. Soon after I “lost” the baby weight—which wasn’t much—I put weight back on in the form of brownies, ice cream and Snickers. Sometimes Three Musketeers. All of which sound really good right now.
Once I decided I was no longer comfortable in my clothes or in my skin, I took the plunge and found a cheap membership at an all women’s gym near my mother-in-law’s/childcare provider’s house. That was around January 2012.
I tried to work out on the elliptical machine at least 2-3 times a week, but I kept eating whatever I wanted and my workout regimen was hardly consistent. Surely weight would fall off like it did in college, right?
Yeah not so much.
I started to feel guilty for working out in the evenings or on the weekends because, let’s face it, I’m a working mom and already, my son is with someone else the majority of the time so I don’t deserve me time. I shouldn’t spend an extra hour a day without him. I shouldn’t spend my weekends at kickboxing or cycling classes when I could be taking my son to the park or the pool or just hanging out in the living room playing trains.
So I made excuse after excuse. And before I knew it, I saw a number on the scale I had never seen before in my life and my work pants wouldn’t button.
In July, Tracy turned me on to myfitnesspal.com and it has revolutionized my outlook on food intake and exercise. I began tracking every calorie I ate and working out every day. I wanted to fit in my work pants and only had one month to do so. I let the guilt go, stopped buying candy bars in the grocery store check out line, and set a goal to give myfitnesspal at least a month to show me results.
In two months, I have lost 11 lbs. I’m back in my size 6 pants and I feel better, not just physically, but mentally, as well. I couldn’t title it this way because I figured some more traditional moms might shy away from reading, but I’m going to be blunt: Working out makes me less of a bitch.
When I work out after work each day before I pick up my son, I get one beautiful half hour to myself. I rock the elliptical, sweat, and read books on my Kindle.
Sometimes, I watch cheesy court TV or cooking shows—which, seriously? Why do I want to watch people making food and eating it while I’m trying to drop weight?
Anyway, once I reached my first goal of losing 5 lbs, I upped my calorie intake slowly, making sure I was still making healthy food choices. I continued to cook from my Taste of Home Guilt-Free cookbook, and my husband even jumped on board to help me. After losing 10 lbs, I went ahead and upped my calorie intake again, to a more sustainable number. Tracy will tell you that losing weight is not about going on a crash diet—though I will admit that I ate 1,300 calories or under the first few weeks of my personal change to fit back in my pants—but instead, it’s about making a lifestyle change
I have made a lifestyle change. Weight Watchers desserts and fruit instead of ice cream out of the carton. Baked eggplant instead of fried. Eating out only once a week. Major positive changes.
You see, I never realized before that the dessert at my favorite restaurant was 1,020 calories. Holy hell. For an average person, that’s more than half your daily calorie intake. I never realized before that the fatigue I felt after work would subside if I pushed myself, got on the exercise equipment, and let the adrenaline flow. I never realized before that if I felt better about myself, I would in turn be a better wife, a better mother, a better teacher. I’m less anxious. Less irritable. I look healthy. I feel healthy. I am healthy. And thus, my family will be healthy. And my students will have a more pleasant teacher. Everyone wins!
I’m so desperately jealous of you right now. I’m trying to get my boss to invest in a treadmill for the office that I can use because other than taking a walk with J after school and taking the stairs to the office… I GETS NO EXERCISE. And I KNOW I’m much less bitchy when I’m getting my daily dose of exercise, so something has got to give.
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That would be great if you had the availability of exercise equipment at the office! The weather is beastly hot here, but on weekend mornings or during the few nice weather months, I’ll go to a lake nearby and do four laps quickly with the baby in the stroller because it’s a 1/4 mile each lap. Every little bit helps!
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I totally agree that working out makes me a better mom. I lost 15 lbs from working out and felt lighter, had more energy and came up with better solutions to spend time with my family. Now I have gained the weight, feeling tired, not feeling sexy, and finding reasons why I don’t have enough time.
I made a decision this week that I’m going to get back into exersizing and I instantly feel better.
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Glad you are feeling better! It’s VERY hard to fight the mind battle sometimes. I’ll get off work and be SO hungry and SO tired… but if I force myself, just like you, I end up getting my energy back!
Shannon recently posted..Mysterious, Unfair, and Sad
Good for you! I find that I have way more energy if I get in a workout, which in turn makes me more active at night instead of sitting on the couch falling asleep before E is even tired.
I have a Y membership and take E to the daycare after work three days a week and try to go during nap time on Saturday or Sunday. It’s a win-win for all: I get a workout, she gets new kids/toys to play with, and hubs has an hour to himself to do whatever. We’ll have to figure something out once baby #2 arrives, but because I am dependent on that workout – aggression is out, weight loss, energy boost – I will make it work!
The Y is usually great because you can use the pool, too!!
Shannon recently posted..Mysterious, Unfair, and Sad
I completely understand this. I have a closet full of beautiful work clothes (I am a lawyer and have to wear suits to work) that don’t fit after I had my babies. I was always putting everyone’s needs in front of my own and feeling guilty when I did something for myself. I kept getting heavier and heavier and justifying what I was eating. I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin and tired and defeated. I was running on my lunch break but it didn’t seem to make any difference. Finally, a friend convinced me to do Weight Watchers. I started losing weight and I upped my workout by only 10 minutes and started running faster. I feel great! I have more engery when I come home to my kids. I feel better about myself. I am going down sizes. Taking that little time for myself has really made me a happier, healthier mom.
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I love this post! I agree with you, exercise makes me a better, healthier Mom too and it’s important to set a good example for our kids. I also struggle with finding the time and can completely relate to the guilt! I pass my gym on the way to pick up my son from school and some days, even when I am dressed for the gym I cannot make myself stop there for 30 minutes because I feel too guilty and want to be with my son. Those days I do try to toss him in his bike seat, strap on our helmets and at least ride around the neighborhood though – it’s not as much exercise as I would do on my own but it does help with both kinds of guilt – the guilt felt for not exercising and that felt from not being with my son. Great post, thanks for sharing your struggles and suggestions.
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