The Great Weight Loss Battle

This post is going to be a little different. If you read my welcome post, you might remember that I mentioned something about trying to do better about caring about myself. First thing on that agenda is exercising, which I started last Thursday. Now I know what you might be thinking. “Oh, it’s the beginning of the year. Typical New Year’s resolution. You’ll be over it in a month, if not sooner.” Negatory. I actually try NOT to make New Year’s resolutions because yes, they usually are the same b.s. from everyone and I try my hardest to stay away from what’s “popular” or “trendy.” Anywho, that’s a whole different story. :D I thought I would periodically post about my work out endeavors and weight loss progress to hopefully inspire others. Maybe if I get some followers interested we can hold each other accountable too. ;)

Like most new moms, I am wanting to lose that extra “baby weight.” Well, I’ve got a little, ok, a LOT, more than baby weight to lose. I was already overweight before I got pregnant, even though I had been losing some for a year or two before. I have been struggling with weight my entire life, as I’m sure many of you can relate. The term I like to use when it comes to my lifelong weight fluctuation is I “Oprah” a lot. I know. Not necessarily very nice, but you have to admit she has had the same problem over the years. Many women do for whatever reasons: stress eating, boredom, laziness, gland problems, depression, the list goes on.

As a kid I was always a little chubby, but it’s ok when you’re younger, right? Then I got to middle school and gained quite a bit of weight in 7^th grade. The summer before I began high school I decided to roller-blade (you’re allowed to laugh, but I used to LOVE roller-blading!) and swim my booty off. Literally. I stayed in decent shape in high school due to tennis, working out at home, and, you guessed it, roller-blading and riding my bike like a fiend. My first semester of college I started gaining it back, the “freshman 15”…and then some. My hatred of cooking any “real food” and love of hard liquor did not help. (Just being honest.) So I gained, gained, gained again until I started a job at a factory a couple of years later. I didn’t even have to TRY to lose weight there. It was like getting paid to work out 4 days a week, 10 hours a day. So I got back into better shape, not high school great, but much better. Several months later I met my husband at work and you all know what happens when you get into a relationship. You’ve already got the guy, so who cares what you look like? I’ve been steadily gaining ever since then, except for the small, temporary relapse right before I got pregnant. Now I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been except for when I was pregnant and let’s face it. That doesn’t count!

With all of that said, something has to change! I am sick of being overweight! What is even more ridiculous on my part is that I’ve actually gained 15 pounds since I had my daughter 3 months ago. Yikes! I will say, as I told my husband the other day, it’s kind of cruel how easy it is to gain weight, but how hard it is to lose it! No one ever said life was easy, though. My goal is to get back to either a size 8/10 or 140 pounds. I’ll leave it at that. I’d rather not say how much weight that requires me to lose. ;)

So, as I said earlier, this is not a New Year’s resolution…I actually waited until after my birthday earlier this month to get started. hee hee But I more motivated than I have been in a long time and I hope I can keep myself motivated! That is by far my biggest problem. I am starting out slow so I don’t burn myself out too soon (or injure myself for that matter!) Like I said, I started last Thursday with my Biggest Loser Boot Camp dvd. It’s pretty good since it is tailored for “bigger folks” shall we say. It definitely gets your heart rate up, but I don’t think it over works you as long as you follow their recommendations. (i.e. Do the first segment for this many weeks, then add on the second segment, etc. etc.) The only beef I have with it is that there is not enough focus on abs, which is one of my biggest problems. So I’ve been doing crunches beforehand. Oh well. Not the end of the world. I made the mistake of trying to mix it up and give a second chance to a step workout video (Don’t laugh. It’s great cardio.) that I knew I hadn’t liked in the past. I will have to research step videos on youtube or make up my own routine because that sadistic woman can torture someone else! :D (Shouldn’t be too hard to make my own up. I used to come home from tennis practice in high school and do step workouts all the time. Ah, the good ole days of being younger and in shape!)

Sorry this ended up being so long and thanks for sticking around if you made it to this point. This is the beginning of my weight loss journey and trying to care about myself more. Working out isn’t really the difficult part, sadly, as hard a time as I have getting motivated to do it. Eating better will be a REAL challenge. ;) 

Tell me what kind of workouts you like doing in the comments section and how you try to stay motivated and find time!