For the past 10 years, I have been at war with myself. I hate it and I TRY and TRY not to do this to myself, yet it’s a constant battle.
For the past 10 years I have not been very happy with myself, about one thing.
My weight.
I bet many aren’t surprised. I know I’m not alone. There’s many a woman, a mother, who’s unhappy with their weight, with their health ultimately. And this is why I’m sharing.
I was always a skinny kid.
And a skinny teen.
Then a skinny newlywed.
A thin mother of one. Mainly because I went back to work when she was just 2 weeks old, as a long term care aide. Lots of running around in that job. I only worked weekends, but it kept me busy enough that I’m sure it kept my metabolism up.
Then, I even became a trim & healthy mother of two. By this time I was no longer working as a care aide since we had moved away from my original job. Instead I went back to being a waitress, the very first job I had when I was 15 years old. I knew the pay could be good and It gave me the ability to be home all day with the kids, and not go to work until after dear hubby came home. It also kept me in shape. I worked right until I was 7.5 months pregnant with our son, and went back to work while he was still a baby.
However, during my pregnancy with our third child we decided it was time for me to stop working outside the home and I began a home daycare. This would work much better since we had now been homeschooling for a while and the lifestyle of me heading out to work when hubby came home was starting to get a little ‘old’.
However, it seems at this time, during my pregnancy with our third, that my metabolism must of taken a bit of a dive because after her, I didn’t really loose all my pre-pregnancy weight.
Then, I became pregnant again when Elsa was just a year old. During this time we were making a cross country, 3000 mile move. We didn’t even know we were not just expecting #4, but #5 as well!
We found out at 5.5 months during a routine ultrasound. I was in the ultrasound room by myself with the tech because they wanted to check things out first, before my husband came in.
When we were all done, I walked into the waiting room and asked dear hubby if he’d like to come and see the bay-BIES.
His response?
“Yeah… right…”
Hee hee.
Anywho… that’s a whole other story for another time. 😉
When I realized I was carrying not just one baby, but TWO, I guess I went a little overly cautious on my body and stopped doing pretty much anything too physical.
I experienced a bit of spotting during this pregnancy and now that kind of frightened me.
I had been through two miscarriages before, and certainly did not want to risk going through another, especially so late in a pregnancy with TWO babies.
I think my metabolism decided right then and there to hate me, for a very very long time.
I think at that time it also decided to become very good friends with my ‘excess’ body. 😉
SOMETHING was liking the excess body because it sure wasn’t wanting to go anywhere!
And it sure wasn’t ME liking the excess body.
No matter what I did, how little I ate, it just didn’t seem to want to change. Actually, I lie, it did, over the past 10 years it’s gotten worse!
It makes sense of course. I’m pushing FOURTY! The last time my body was truly fit, I was in my late TWENTIES!
*shudder*
Yes, I’m 39 years old. And yes, this is my first time being 39, not a repeat of several years. Ha!
I’m realizing the closer my 40th birthday gets, the harder I better try to get rid of this ‘excess’, or it may just never come off!
So, the first thing I did most recently, was cut down on my coffee intake. If you know me, you know I love my coffee. My regular routine was 2 cups in the morning, 2 cups in the afternoon during my ‘break’ and then 2 cups of decaf in the evening while doing my computer work.
Recently I cut it down to 4 cups.
Wow. I wish I had done it sooner! I’ve been loosing weight steadily, without changing anything else, for about 2 months now. Almost 9 pounds lost. That may not seem like much over 2 months, but considering that’s the ONLY thing I changed, and considering it took me 10 years to gain all this ‘excess’, I’m feeling pretty darn good about it!
I’m hoping to add some exercise into my routine soon. REGULAR exercise.
Being behind a sewing machine, or a computer, or at the table teaching the kids, doesn’t allow for a whole lot of ‘movement’.
Things have been so crazy busy that anytime I do have a free minute, quite honestly, I just ‘veg’ pretty much, either on facebook or watching a bit of late night tv before I fall asleep.
I hope to change this some how, some way, and soon!
How about you? Are you struggling with the same issue? Have you found anything that works for you? What are YOU doing within your lifestyle, or what would you like to do to change it?
I too had been struggling with my weight. I don’t have the time to join a gym because we live too far away from the city to drive that far three times a week. I have always watched what I eat and have walked 3 – 5 km at least four times a week. As menopause approached I just started gaining weight without increasing my food intake. I got up to 190lb which was more than my full term pregnancy weight. A coworker of mine started a weight loss program and the weight just fell off of her without going to a gym. So last January I started on her program and I have lost 35lbs and 40 inches and feel the best I have felt in many, many years! The only thing that I changed was my eating habits. Yes, it cost me $ but a person’s health is so important and being overweight takes years off of your life. So losing weight is like putting money into a savings account. The program is Isagenix. It is all natural, no accelerators or dangerous additives. It consists of two Isagenix shakes a day and a healthy 400 – 600 cal supper. Once a week you do a cleanse day and it is amazing what comes out of you. It takes the sludge that is in your bowels and increases your metabolism. I used to need at least 10hr of sleep a night and now I can function with eight no problem. If any one is interested in this program talk to me. I would be happy to get you started and help you get back to your ‘happy’ weight. Anna Marie
You’re such a good storyteller. Even though I’ve never met you, I’m drawn into your stories.
I lost my “college 15” by accident on the diet presented in “Patient Heal Thyself”. Actually, I wasn’t trying to loose weight so much as heal my stomach issues. It didn’t help with that (they went away on their own), but then I just ended up loosing a bunch of weight. I’ve pretty much kept it off…
I do struggle with the movement issue. I have two short walks a day; they’re neatly fit into the routine of my day so I don’t have trouble with that part. However, most of the day, I sit at a computer. I really find it taking a toll on my health, and I am in pain a lot. I’ve been trying to take little steps during my breaks to alleviate this. Massage my trigger points, stretch a little, etc.
What an honest post. Thank you! So many of us struggle, and usually silently. I used to work at losing weight on my own, but recently, I have become more open about – talking with my mom, or my husband, those close to me. The bonus is – you get encouragement!
I follow a weight watchers idea (without attending meetings or anything). One of the most important things to me is writing down what I eat. It keeps me accountable. If I start slipping and not writing it down, it is so easy to just keep munching and not realize what you are really eating.
I found the weight came off so much faster when I was exercising (pre-babies), and slower now that I am breastfeeding, but around a pound a week is still pretty good.
Many places say to weigh yourself weekly, any more often and your weight fluctuates too much. Personally – I like to weight myself more like every second day. I see progress and it helps keep me motivated to keep going.
Hang in there – 9 lbs is fantastic!! Good for you, I didn’t realize coffee had so much of an effect… I suppose it depends what a person puts in it as well.
Take care Pietra, thanks for your honesty.
Wendy
~ 14 lbs over my pre-baby weight…
I trust your judgement to listen to anything you want to share about this product Anna Marie, feel free to share here, or shoot me an email through facebook! There’s no way I can do anything now (financially) but if things get back in order around here, I’d certainly consider ‘investing’ in my health. I agree it’s worth it!
Sorry to hear it didn’t help for your stomach issues, but glad you did get rid of them. I have stomach issues too which I think are probably aggravated by my health being the way it is. I’m hoping if I loose some weight, the other issues will lessen as well.
Sounds like you’re doing great though Wendy, especially to be doing it without meetings etc.. I ‘try’ to keep on top of what I eat and drink by using the free app on my phone called Lose It!
It was by tracking my cals etc. that I realized my 6 cups of coffee with cream and sugar were sabotaging the little I do eat. When I realized my coffee cal intake was as high as my daily healthy food cal intake, well, I realized I had better start cutting back. lol
Coffee and computer work go hand in hand for me though so it’s been a real change!
I was “always” thin too. I always gained a lot during my pregnancies but always took it off w/o any effort. It seemed though that not “having” to exercise or watch what I ate ended when I turned 30. I have put on about 10# in the last 3 1/2 years. Not a huge gain but I don’t feel nearly as good as I once did. I limit coffee to only before 2pm but some days I drink 3 cups. I have cut back on the sugar I add but just can’t quite go to black. Exercising has been very infrequent with the many sinus headaches/balance issues and my foot needing surgery.
Anyway, Have you replaced the coffee with something else? I am wondering if green tea would give me enough of the kick I need and I could use honey instead of sugar. I tried honey in coffee-yuck! And congrats on losing 9#. That is great! Thanks for bringing this up because I am sure many ladies are going through this.
~Jessie
Way to go on the 9 pounds.
I am a few years younger than you, but noticed over the last year – I had put on 10-15 pounds I really did not want.
So in August – I join up with a few on-line buddies and have been loosing weight. (We work for prizes on diaper bags.)
So far I have lost 19 pounds and weight what I did when I finished college.
How did I do it? I journal my food, push my self to exercise 5-6 days a week. I use a Wii – because it was here. I drink 64 oz of water a day and east 5 fruits and vegetables a day.