Marriage....Ah, wedded bliss. You pick out the perfect dress, or tux, you have a final fitting some weeks before the big day, and then you spend the next few weeks eating little to nothing to make sure you can still fit into your dress, or tux. You hold your breath when you get dressed on your wedding day and pray it still fits. And when it does, you are so happy. The day goes off without a hitch (well for some) and you change from your wedding outfit into a going away outfit, relieved because you know you will never have to try and fit into that dress again.
So what is it about marriage that instantly makes you gain weight. It's like the second I put on that ring and said I do, my waist line started to expand. I used to have a theory that the ring cut off the circulation just enough that the rest of your body began to swell. No, I didn't really think that, but I couldn't find any other explanation for why it happens. I distinctly remember the day, about a month after getting married, I stepped on the scale and saw a number that sent me into shock. I couldn't believe I had gained that much weight in the short time since the wedding. I swore right then I would do something about it, and well, here we are 14 years and one kid later. But now, I'm finally taking back control over my body, my health and my fitness.
Look, I've never been "they skinny girl." I've always been big, mostly in stature, but I've also always had extra pounds. And it's not because I wasn't an active kid. I mean, we really didn't have a choice but to be active. Am I right? We didn't have gaming systems like they have today. The Atari 2600 could just can't compare to the Xbox or Play Stations the kids have available today. We didn't have social media either to keep in touch with our friends. If we wanted to know what our friends were doing, we got on our bikes and rode to their house. We didn't have to worry about child predators like we do today. We left our house at sun up and didn't get home until sun down. I rode my bike all over town. My best friend lived across town, so I rode many miles between her house and mine. Another friend lived down the block and she and I wore out a path between our houses from walking back and forth. I played baseball in the yard with my brothers, and every time the ball would go under the house, they would make me crawl under and get it since I was the smallest. I even played football, yes tackle football, with boys in my neighborhood. My brother actually put together this small team (I was the only girl) and we would put on full pads and play hard core football. Once I reached a certain age, my dad put a stop to that. But my point is, I was active. I was an athlete. I played t-ball at 5 and moved straight into softball. I played all through high school. I was always on the move. But I still always had a few extra pounds on me. It's not until just recently that I have realized why that is. It's because I ate poorly. And I have continued to eat poorly as an adult. But that is finally beginning to change.
I have to give my husband credit. About 9 months or so ago, he decided enough is enough and started making changes. He started exercising regularly. He began just by going for walks in the evenings after dinner. Well those walks have turned into running. He is up to a little over 4 miles at least 5 nights a week. But he also took control of his food. Because he's a man (grrrr) he can just reduce his portion sizes and the weight starts to disappear. For me, I have to eat carrots and celery and exercise an hour a day to see any pounds drop. To his credit, he has currently lost 30 lbs! That is A LOT. I am so impressed with how well he has stuck to it and made this happen. He looks pretty hot too, so that doesn't hurt. But seeing him take control and make changes, motivated me to do something for myself as well.
You are all fully aware by now of the stresses that I go through having a child with special needs. It can be down right exhausting carting him around to therapies, and just tending to his every need. And now that we don't have nursing at night, I am getting up at least once a night to change his diaper. Sleep has been a commodity around here for the last 10 years. I've always used that as an excuse to not exercise. I'd say things like "well I get a pretty good workout just lifting and carrying him around" or "I'm so exhausted after taking care of him that I don't have the energy to exercise.". While all of those things were true, it was really no excuse. And I still ate terribly, so it didn't really matter how much of a workout I got while taking care of him. Did you know that 80% of your body make up is due to your nutrition? You can run 10 miles a day, but if you are eating donuts and Big Macs all of the time, it won't matter.
So what am I doing? About a month ago, I was contacted by a childhood friend, who I haven't seen or talked to in years. I see her on Facebook once in a while, but we haven't really talked. She told me that she is a health and wellness coach with Team Beach Body and she sets up these "challenge" groups through Facebook every once in a while to help people clean up their plates and get more active. Of course I was skeptical, and my first response was, "I don't think I can do it this time around, but maybe next time," when I knew full well I wasn't really planning to do it at all. But then I stepped on a scale and saw a number that disgusted me. It's the heaviest I've ever been, and almost the same as my highest pregnancy weight. So I knew I needed to do something. I can't let my sexy husband walk around with a chubby wife. ;)
I looked into Teach Beach Body and with Amber's guidance, I chose a program that we both thought would be good for me. Remember, I also have my own heart problems, so I have to be careful with the types of workouts I do. We both decided that their program called PIYO would probably be the best. PIYO combines Pilates and Yoga to help increase your flexibility and build strength at the same time. It's also good for burning fat and calories. It's low impact and best of all, it's all on DVD, so I can do these exercises from the comfort of my own home. I'm not really big on attending exercise classes where I'm likely to be the biggest girl there. The program comes with a calendar that tells you which exercises to do on which days to get optimal results. It's like having your own personal trainer in a box. It also comes with a meal guide. It tells you which foods fall into which categories and how much of each category you should have per day. And then there is the best part. If you buy the challenge pack, it comes with a one month supply of their meal replacement shake called Shakeology. Each shake is packed with nutrients and it will likely be your healthiest meal of the day. And it comes with lots of different recipes you can try with it so you can get a variety of flavors. My favorite so far is chocolate with all natural peanut butter. Tastes just like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I drink one shake a day, usually for either breakfast or lunch. Not only does it taste great, but it fills me up and helps curb the mid afternoon cravings. It has helped give me more energy too. Because I have more energy, I drink less coffee than I used to. In addition to the shakes, I have cut back on crabs and sugars, and I am eating much more lean protein and veggies. Of course there are some foods that have natural sugars in them, but I try to stay away from too much added sugar. The fewer ingredients a food has in it, the better it is for you. And dinner hasn't been so bad. I will say that Pinterest is my very best friend. I have found lots of good, clean recipes on Pinterest. And I only cook one meal for my family. If I'm eating healthy, so is everyone else. And it really makes such a big difference when the whole family is on board. Most of what I have tried has been good. There have been a couple of things that the hubs hasn't been so thrilled about, but he eats it anyway. He's such a good husband! Last night we had these Greek Chicken Pita pockets. I thought he wouldn't be so thrilled with them, but he actually liked it enough, he had a second one. So that is going into the regular rotation. It was so easy to make too.
So we have exercise and nutrition. The third element to this magic formula is WATER! Oh my goodness, water is sooooo important to our health. We all know that most of our body is made up of water. And we all know that water is the best thing we can drink. But most of us prefer to have something with flavor. I haven't had a soda in a month. A MONTH!!!! I drink water all day long. We are truly supposed to be drinking about half of our body weight in ounces per day. That's a lot, right? Yes, it's going to have you running to the bathroom every 10 minutes in the beginning, but as you get used to it, your body starts to crave water. Oddly enough, drinking more water doesn't make you retain water, it helps you get rid of the water in your body. Hydration is such an important factor. And on the occasion when I'm craving a little more flavor, I squeeze a lemon in my water, drop the slice in there and it gives me the little extra kick that I need. These days, when I wake up, I'm reaching for water instead of coffee. Amazing isn't it.
But have I seen any results. Well mostly there are some non scale victories. I have more energy. I feel stronger. I feel more confident. And I'm happier. The measurable differences are that in 3 weeks, I lost 7.2 pounds and 8 total inches off of my body. I can even see the difference in side by side pictures. I feel so much better about myself and I'm completely motivated to keep going. I have more weight and inches I'd like to lose. So one way I am motivating myself (besides my hot husband) is by signing up to be a Team Beach Body Coach. Initially I signed up because I wanted a discount on the products. But I have come to realize that by helping others get healthy, I'm helping myself. By motivating and encouraging them, I'm encouraging myself. I don't want to be the one helping them clean up their plates and get more exercise when I'm not putting the work in myself. So by helping other people, I am continuing to strive to reach my goals.
If you want to know more about what I'm doing, or if you want to join in with me, let me know. I'll be glad to talk to you. And if I can't answer your questions (I am new to this) then I have a great coach who can answer them for me. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change. And the benefits are greater than the changes you will see in your body. Let's take back control of our bodies together!
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