Let’s face the facts. I’m 26-years-old. I have 3 fantastic (but wild) children. I love to spend time on my computer. And the point of this post, I am overweight. Admit it, pregnancy is not always kind to a woman’s body; neither is sitting at a computer… I don’t look at myself as overweight but I’ve had to come to terms with it this year.
Last winter I got way out of control. I ate when I was bored, hungry, tired, depressed, just because it was there, and I’d even finish up my kids’ food so it wasn’t wasted.
In July we received a gift card to Wal-Mart so I bought Zumba for our Xbox 360 Kinect. I weighed and measured myself. Talk about shock. I had been in denial and thought I was 10 pounds lighter than I really was. To be completely honest (with out telling my weight, because I’m not quite ready to share that yet) I was heavier than I had ever been with any of my pregnancies. With all the weight calculators out there I discovered I was 36 pounds overweight.
Now, I’ve been at this exercise regimen off and on for 2 months. I feel a million times better on the days I exercise, even though it is a sacrifice. I have to eat before I can workout or I get sick, weak and just don’t have a very productive session. And I have to take some medicine before I can eat—an hour before I can eat. So, I wake up at 5 am, take my pill. Go back to bed (but rarely fall back asleep) until 6 am when I get up, eat, and workout. Then I shower, get ready and take care of the kiddos.
I haven’t been consistent, but so far I’ve managed to lose 10 pounds, an inch around my waist and 2 inches around my hips.
I’ve been more careful about what I eat, but it wasn’t until this week when I actually wrote down what I was eating that I realized how many calories I’d been consuming. I’m not a fan of going cold turkey and not eating anything sweet any more. That just makes me crave the sweet things more and I cave in quickly. So I’d snack on my kids’ candy here and there. No big deal right? I made sure not to overdo it. It would just be a salt water taffy here, a tootsie roll there… whatever was leftover from parades… I learned this week that in just 2 salt water taffies there is 80 calories. That’s a lot when you’re trying to keep your calories between 1200 and 1400 and your meals are generally around 350 calories. It was an eye opener and if you’re serious about losing weight here’s what I recommend:
1. Find something you LOVE to do. (For me it’s zumba. I love to dance, always have. I’m not an amazing dancer but it’s fun plus I’m at home…)
2. Do it.
3. Write down what you’re actually eating. Be honest with yourself. Counting calories stinks. But it’s worth it. It’ll help you reach your goal much faster.
4. If you’re like me, don’t try to change everything at once. Allow yourself a treat once in a while. Just adjust your calories accordingly. Otherwise you may relapse.
Many may be wondering what a post like this is doing on a creative blog. If you read the quotes I have on my sidebar you’ll see that creativity includes many things. “Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before.” For me, for now, this means a healthier me; it’s the creative project I’ve been working on lately. Anyone have any tips they use to help with exercising or eating right?
