A few days ago I was changing my son Ben’s diaper and caught a glimpse of something scary on the baby monitor screen – something BIG and terrifying.
My butt.
Ugh, baby mama got back. SERIOUS back.
Exiting Denial
I shouldn’t have been surprised by how plump my posterior had gotten. It did feel pretty cushy back there. I knew I was fat. The signs were pretty hard to miss. After all, I still wear some maternity clothes over a year after giving birth. I have more chins than feet. And my four-year-old niece recently proclaimed “Aunt Marie has the biggest belly in the world!” (Ah, there is nothing like the brutal honesty of a toddler.)
Despite knowing how much weight I had gained, when I looked in the mirror I just saw myself – a much chubbier version of myself, but myself nonetheless. The rear end taunting me from the baby monitor was that of a stranger. And not one I wanted hanging out behind me for too long.
The Long List of Excuses
Here’s a little background on me: in December 2012, I moved back to my beloved hometown of New Orleans after living in New York City
With those pounds came excuses. “As soon as I have the baby I’ll get back into shape.” “I was up all night with Ben, I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.” “After changing that diaper, I deserve a doughnut. And a glass bottle of wine. I’ll start my diet tomorrow.” Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. I was living in a world where my theoretical “tomorrow” never came. The pounds, however, were annoyingly punctual, and I am now seventy pounds overweight.
Time to Do Something About It
So, maybe I shouldn’t look at this weight loss journey as something that I want to do for myself, but rather I should view it as something that I need to do for my son. I need to get healthier for him. I need to get stronger for him.
I always say that I would do anything for Ben.
It’s time for me to prove it.
Oh Marie! You are singing my song! I too derive inspiration from my little girl to get back to healthy. I’m just starting the process and I have a two-part approach:
1) Accept the body I have today andake great efforts not to shame it, especially in front of my daughter. Now I don’t go wearing a fatkini or anything, but I dress for the weather (shorts, tanks, etc.) so that I stop blaming the heat for not going out and playing with my daughter, but that I accept my body image issues and move on.
2) That rather than join some fad diet, I do what I know works for me. I stick to a 1200 calorie cleaning eating diet and always burn more than I eat. Which right now is done mainly by cardio because my joints aren’t very forvgoving of the weight I’ve packed on.
Best of luck to you! You got this! I hope you share updates soon!
I am down 41 lbs because of my two boys (5 and 2). You got this!
My 12 year old has become my trainer. He is a competitive swimmer, so we spend at minimum 2 hours a day, 4-6 days a week, at our local Y. Me sitting and visiting with other moms is not acceptable. They have an indoor walking track, so I walk while he runs for half an hour…I Try and make it 45 minutes. Then he’s in the pool for 90 minutes, and I do therapy exercises and water aerobics in the pool. Only difference is, I finish my workout with a soak in the hot tub!