Okay, it’s not an actual camp. It’s pretty much just me and a water bottle at the ymca in the senior citizen yoga class.
Over the weekend we were looking at some old pictures and when we got to these my husband said something along the lines of “Wow, no one would even recognize you.” He didn’t mean to be hurtful and when he saw my face he immediately tried to backtrack and explain that he meant we both looked really young etc, etc. Still. Ouch dude.
It’s not a secret to me that I need to lose weight, but let’s all pause for a minute and remember my body has had two children in the past three years.
I have no desire to look like the above photos again. Well, ok, that’s just a big fat lie. I would love to look like that again, but it was a ridiculous amount of work and I know it is totally unrealistic for me to maintain that as a mom of three very young kids.
My senior year of high school in the fall semester I played tennis and did competitive cheerleading, I took dance and tumbling twice a week at one dance studio, conditioning and hip hop classes at another dance studio, paid for private lessons with a professional cheerleader (That is the hardest workout you will ever have in your life. I threw up every time.) came home every night and did an additional workout dvd (I liked to alternate between Tae Bo, Pilates, and Richard Simons) and because I had read an article that said Britney Spears did 500 sit ups a day, I also made sure to do between 500 and 1,000 crunches every. single. day. And sometimes my dad would take me to his racquetball club to lift weights or play racquetball. Plus I had a Tae Bo/yoga class built in to my schedule during the school day. The only thing I did not do was run. I’ve always hated running. I was easily working out in some form or another at least 6 hours a day.
I ate whatever I wanted and it didn’t matter one little bit because I was burning a crazy amount of calories, as you can probably imagine.
One of my friend’s mother’s even nicknamed me “The Body.”
I guarantee you that no one is calling me “the body” behind my back these days, unless it is for entirely different reasons. I cannot work out like that as a mom. I’ve got better stuff to do and it takes four times as long to do anything. For perspective, it literally took over 2 hours for me to get in a 30 minute workout today by the time we packed the bags, drove over there, signed in to the childcare room, I worked out, took a shower, went to get the kids and had to nurse the baby, pack up to leave, drove home, etc.
Still, he kind of has a point. The woman in this picture
doesn’t look a whole lot like the woman in this one. It’s pretty bad when you have to have this conversation with your kids while they look at your wedding pictures: “There’s daddy! Who’s that lady?” “That’s mommy.” “No, you don’t look like that.” “That’s because Mommy used to be skinny.”
This picture is from our rehearsal dinner. I was about 135 pounds and a size 4/6. I would love to get back there (to a post-freshman fifteen place much more maintainable than my high school self) although I’m not sure how realistic that is either after having two c-sections in the last 3 years. Let’s remember, C-sections= when you lie there wide awake while they cut open your abdominal wall and remove an entire human being. More than once.
That’s going to mean losing about 50 pounds. I decided 40 is probably a more realistic goal, so I’ve decided to try to lose 40 pounds and/or get to a size 8 by Christmas, which is about 6 and a half pounds per month. Seems perfectly doable, right?
To paraphrase my grandmother, the months are going to pass by anyway, you might as well work toward having what you want at the end of them.
I’ve been going to the gym pretty regularly for the past two weeks, started Zumba and yoga classes. (and I’m trying to convince Eddie to do Body Combat with me) I’ve been eating protein bars in the morning and having salads for quite a few lunches. I’ve actually gained 3 pounds. I’m going to tell myself it’s muscle and not the cookouts from Memorial Day weekend.
I’ve decided I’m not doing any special diet, I’m just going to try to eat healthier and exercise more and hope the scale starts going in the opposite direction.
I will keep you posted on my weight loss journey. Anybody want to join me?
Best of luck, Steph! I have so much respect for what you want to achieve – I’m trying to do it too, but without having two babies first and it’s a very tough road! My problem is inactivity, being so darn busy all the time, and turning to “easy” fattening foods(from office work and constant travel). I made the commitment to Medifast and the Take Shape for Life Program 5 weeks ago. Since then I’ve lost almost 18 pounds. I’m not going to say it’s easy – eating 800-900 calories and 80-85 carbs a day is so incredibly difficult. But the results are quick and once I meet my goal (53 pounds) the program will help me transition into every day foods again. This program is not for everyone, but if you’re interested in learning more please get in touch with me. Either way, I’ll be thinking about you as I continue my weight-loss journey as well!
Thanks Laura. Congratulations! 18 pounds is great! I’m still nursing Penny, so I don’t want to be trying to cut out too many calories right now. I’m just trying to eat mostly healthy stuff, drink a ton of water, etc. My problem is mostly snacking at night and being a social eater. On days when I am home with just my kids I usually have pretty good eating habits, but when we have people over or if we go out I eat too much junk food. I think joining the y will really help me because I have been really motivated to work out because the kids love the childcare program and I get to have a little break from them and shower in peace. 🙂
Just so you know, Medifast/Take Shape for Life does have a specific program for nursing mothers to make sure you get enough nutrients and calories for you and baby.
Yes, that’s our problem too – social eating (and drinking). I’m trying to focus more on the social aspect of it and having fun with friends, than having to eat a lot of bad for you food. But it’s really hard…so right now I’ve been isolating myself from a lot of it, which is also very difficult and not meant to be long term.
Hang in there!
Steph,
This is great and I wish you much success. I put on 40 pounds when I started working and was able to lose it through healthy eating and exercise. Just a tip – watch those protein bars. Unless you are doing heavy weightlifting you probably do not need them and they are high in calories and sugar. Sugar is the tricky one. 🙂
I am trying to get healthier as well and thing it will be a lifelong journey for me to lose those few pounds that creep up! If you want to chat, let me know!
Thanks, Kristen!
I’ve been eating the Nature Valley bars, they only have 190 calories, but I probably do need to be more careful about sugar.
Back when I was insane and obsessed with being in amazing shape I also went to a nutritionist to try to lose weight. (What weight, I don’t know after looking back at those pictures) She set up a plan for me that included a ton of protein and said that if you only do one thing, try to avoid foods with over 250mg of salt. I didn’t lose any weight, probably because I didn’t have it to spare, but I did lose several inches in just 4 weeks.
I usually try to follow most of her rules when I diet. Of course, she created that plan when I was in a totally different body, so it’s probably not appropriate for me any more now that I think about it. Our y membership includes a personal trainer, so I’m interested to see what she says.