After giving it a lot of thought, I have decided that it is time for me to start taking serious steps towards losing my post-baby belly. I can give you three very good reasons why.
- I just turned 30, and I feel that it’s a good time to reboot myself, so to speak. Time to live a healthier, more active lifestyle.
- I saw the orthopedic doctor yesterday by chance, and he said that the joints in my knees are grinding against each other because of the excess weight. That’s bad news because that means my cartilage is either very thin or no longer there. So while my blood test results all show normal numbers, my body is slowly but surely telling me that it’s time to lose weight.
- My son is turning seven in a few days, and as far as post-baby weight loss is concerned, well, there hasn’t really been any. What exactly do I mean by “there hasn’t been any?” Well, just think of it this way, today I weigh the same today as I did on my last day as a pregnant woman.
Of course, there were times over the years when I did lose some weight. On the day I gave birth for instance, I lost somewhere between seven to ten pounds when the baby, the placenta and everything else that comes with it were pulled out of my body. I also lost a rather impressive 20+ pounds after my appendectomy a few years back. As far as I believe, I also slimmed down a bit in time for our wedding, but just enough for my tummy to be significantly smaller than my boobs. Haha. Vanity first.
So what happened then, you might ask? Well, junk food happened. Fast food and carbs, ice cream and cake, and a sad moment where I ate a whole pizza by myself. Yes, I actually did that, but not all at once. There’s no denying it, I love to eat. I am an emotional eater. I turn to food to keep me awake during late nights when I have to write. I celebrate with food. I drown my sorrows in food. I just love to eat, plain and simple. And that isn’t a bad thing at all. I just have to train myself to eat better.
So yeah, it’s time to take action. Don’t get me wrong, I have thought about trying to lose weight many times in the past. Thing is, I’ve thought about it, but never really did anything major. I’d join a gym then after a month, then when I’d see progress I’d stop going. I’d do yoga for a few days then take long breaks. And I mean long breaks, like a week long, or even more. Why haven’t I ever taken this weight loss thing seriously? Because I’ve always been chunky. And honestly, I like myself just as I am. But in the interest of being able to run after my kid while he still wants me to chase him, and so I’m not confined in a wheelchair when I get old because of my non-functioning knees, I think it’s time to make some changes. I like myself the way I am, and I will prove that by loving myself more and making the necessary adjustments to make myself even better.
So where do I start? My plan of action consists of three very simple things that I already know but I just don’t do:
- Make better food choices. No, I will not crash diet. I will not remove carbs from my life. I will not go vegetarian. I will just eat more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff. And by good I mean healthy, not yummy but deadly.
- Move more. The biggest challenge I have ever had to face. Haha! I hate exercising. I hate getting sweaty. And no, swimming is not an option, kthanksbye. But I have to find a way to move more. For free. Without signing up for zumba, spinning, pilates, or any other classes, and without a gym membership. The way I see it, maybe a combination of yoga at home plus walking the dog every day might work.
- Share the experience with others. Encouragement and positive reinforcement is the key. I have the perfect diet buddy in mind, and I just have to talk to him about it. Keeping my fingers crossed that he will go for it. In any case, I commit to post a progress report here on the blog at least once a month. Eeek! At least just so I’m sure I stick to the program this time.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot, this is the target:
Got any tips for me on how I can finally lose this overstaying post-pregnancy belly? I’m lazy and I love to eat, so it will be quite a challenge, but, hey, I want to do this, and that’s a good start. Right? Comments and suggestions are more than welcome!
You can do it Chumsy!!
One tip I read on someone’s blog was “If you don’t buy it, you won’t eat it”. I thought that was very good advice. It works both ways – if you don’t buy the healthy stuff, you won’t eat the healthy stuff. If you don’t buy junk food, it won’t be there for you to eat it! I was worried about becoming pre-diabetic so I tossed out all my excess junk food (including the giant bag of leftover Halloween candy from my students) and started buying carrot sticks, hummus, whole grain pita chips, and fruit while avoiding the junk aisle altogether. At first I was cranky because my usual fixes weren’t available (since I didn’t buy them!) but my desire to snack made me eat the healthy stuff that I DID buy and after a few weeks I was much happier with my diet and the occasional bag of cheetos or cupcake didn’t seem so evil. Hope that helps!
Thanks Chris, that is really good advice. We tend to go nuts in the grocery store sometimes with cookies, chips and chocolate. I supposed if we buy more fruit and yogurt and the other things that are good for us, then we WILL be healthier all around. 🙂 Thanks for cheering me on!