OR LACK THERE OF…
A couple of years ago, my cousin explained to me that he is going to be a smoker forever. At this point, him and his wife had been smokers for three decades. He said the issue is that both of them smoke, so whenever one would choose to quit, the other wouldn’t be ready. Then, in moments of weakness, they would give in, because the other was still smoking. Anyway, I was so thankful when I heard that story, because I realized if it wasn’t for Aaron being a non-smoker, I would probably still be smoking. But alas, the story now applies to Aaron and I.
Aaron and I have been talking about ‘getting healthy’ for the past couple of years. When we met, I weighed about fifty pounds less than I do now. How horrible is that? And I need to make something clear. I do not need to be ‘skinny’. I don’t strive for that ideal. My ideal weight is about 160, a nice comfortable size 12. BUT, alas, I am VERY far away from a size 12 right now. And, for the first time in my life, I feel fat. I feel unhealthy. For the first time in my life, I am embarrassed when I leave the house because I am trying to squeeze into clothes that no longer fit (though, thankfully, dave ramesy just allowed me to get a few items that fit).
There are a lot or reasons for my weight gain. Some of it is right after I had the baby I was SO HUNGRY, all the time (I think the nine months of not being able to eat without puking added to that). In addition, I know I will probably be pregnant again soon, so sometimes it makes it hard to want to get my ‘banging body back’ (I always refer to my old ‘banging body’ when Aaron and I talk about healthy living, which is hilarious, because most wouldn’t consider a size 12 to be banging! Ha- it is all relative). But one of the hardest reasons is that Aaron and I enable each other.
We talk about healthy living, we make promises to each other, we acknowledge that we need to be healthy for our kids…and then, one of us is weak. Last night it was Aaron, saying ‘hey, how about an asiago cheese fry snack at 9:00 pm?’. And even though we KNOW we shouldn’t, the idea is in our heads and we have no hope. So, at 9:00 at night we are eating asiago fries and watching the Real Housewives of HOTlanta. ARGH. It is so problematic.
At some point it has to stop- but I fear with our mutual enabling, it will be so hard to live this healthy life we are striving for. The plan right now is to get me the XBOX Kinect (I HATE exercise for the sake of exercise, and my schedule just sucks for having the energy to work out) and for me to buy healthier things to eat for our household (our grocery bill is up by quite a bit because of it).
Any tips as we shoot for healthy living? Or, to get us past this rut of unhealthy living?
Mary, Gary and I bought an XBOX Kinect (do it!) and the Biggest Loser game, and it is an awesome workout. You don't need any equipment but you get a killer workout (I am currently sore from a workout I did Saturday afternoon). It has good healthy living tips and challenges, too. XBOX Kinect has some super good workouts that even come with its fun games (the one that came with ours made me embarassingly out of breath. Anyway, I think even just a post-wedding life has come with a few lbs...so you are not alone in your quest! :)
ReplyDeletePS the fact that you watch RH of Atlanta makes me smile. I (and therefore Gary) watch RHONJ and he came to call it "that wretched show"...but I think he was secretly sucked in.
Mary, When I was in college I started doing Weight Watchers, since then I have kept off about 30 pounds. When I stick to the program and follow it, I loose weight (Ihave been slacking a lot lately)...the nice thing about WW is you just eat normal foods and don't have to buy specific foods from some company. Maybe give it a try :-)
ReplyDeleteTrue fact: Scott and I are the worst enablers, and the best enablers. We find time for family walks, hikes and free stuff to do with the kids on the weekends that entail outside time.
ReplyDeleteOther true fact: I do all our grocery shopping, but Scott and I plan together for the week. I eat the same thing every day except dinner. Sometimes I get irritable about it, but I *try* to use it as a form of redemptive suffering and "offer it up". Any grocery money I don't spend for the month goes into a personal stash that I hide for surprising Scott. Sometimes it's date nights and other times it's something just for him. I don't count calories, points or anything else, I just find protein and produce to be a good rule of thumb.
Um, I sound like an idiot up there. My main point was about finding a cool motive, like saving money, offering it up, etc. to distract you from the "Must lose weight" mentality.
ReplyDeleteSomebody get this girl some sleep!