Go away baby weight! – Part 1

Not all that happy about the way I look.

I’ve never been a skinny person. Let’s get that straight. I’ve always have had some muscle and yes, some fat on my bones. That’s just my make-up and I can’t change it. I’ve learned to accept the curves, for the most part, and have always just tried to be happy with the way I look. However, now my body has a whole bunch of extra baby weight on it and quite frankly, I’m fed up it.

Yes, this tomboy is insecure at the moment and it’s killing me. I want the baby weight off and I’m trying to do everything I can to lose the weight sooner rather than later. When I was pregnant I did work out and that helped me avoid gaining a whole bunch of weight, around 35 lbs in total, but after I had Ryan, I wasn’t allowed to work out or do pretty much anything for six weeks in order for my body to recover. And believe me, it’s not like I wanted to work out at that point anyway. I mean, it was painful to even sit down and stand back up after I had Ryan so needless to say, I wasn’t going to try to do squats or run five miles! Like, super OUCH! So, for those six weeks, I did basically nothing in terms of exercise and I ate and drank whatever I wanted. I mean, I had pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, cookies, cake, brats, cheese (mm, I love cheese) and yes, I did indulge and had some beers. Well, more then some. Honey Weiss is my favorite and boy did they taste good going down! Especially with a lemon, yum! Okay, I digress, but I figured I deserved to treat myself and go a little nuts  since I did push a watermelon out my va-jay-jay! :)

Peter as a blob!

Well, all of the inactivity and treating myself has pretty much left my body in shambles. Sure, I did lose about 20 or so pounds of the baby weight, yet the problem is all of the muscle I had before has pretty much turned into fat and my body is a big pile of dough. I feel like Peter Griffin on Family Guy when he made a wish and his bones disappeared. (That was a funny episode by the way, especially when he flushed himself down the shower drain) He slushed around and that's how I feel I am at the moment. I know, it’s not a pretty picture as you can see to the left.

Basically, now I have to start from scratch when it comes to getting my body back into shape. For the last three or so weeks I’ve been working my butt off to make it happen and I must say, it’s been extremely difficult. There are all these obstacles standing in my way when it comes to working out and overcoming them hasn't been all that easy. One, it’s hard to put Ryan down. When he's awake, all I want to do is lay on the floor next to him and keep him happy and occupied. His little smile is the best. Then when he's sleeping, I know that I should l lay him in his crib and go on the exercise bike or do some yoga or something. Yet, I find it hard to do since now that I’m back at work, I don’t get to spend as much time with him as before and I want to make the time I have with him count. Being able to hold him and keep him comfortable is the best feeling in the world as a mom. And, he’s so darn cute when he sleeps too and makes funny little sucking noises. His cuteness makes it that much harder to put him down due to the fact that I just want to watch him and smile. :)

I think I have to realize that my health is important along with his well-being. Therefore, I’m just going to have to force myself to put him in his crib when he’s napping so I can work out. I did that two days ago. It killed me to lay him down, but I did it anyway. When I was done working out, I scooped him up and we cuddled. So I managed to get through it (Yeye me) and still was able to get in some cuddle time with him!

Another obstacle standing in my way of working out is finding time to do it. There’s always so much to get done and not enough time for it all. When I think of working out and then all the laundry that needs to be washed or the cleaning that has to get done, I get overwhelmed and end up doing the housework before the work out. I need to balance things out better and I’m getting close thanks to the art of multi-tasking! I will sometimes throw in a load of laundry and then head outside with Ryan and the baby jogger for a run/walk. Then when I get back, I switch the laundry and do some weights or something while Ryan is content and sleeping in his car seat that can be removed from the jogger. It all gets done and I feel accomplished!

There are other obstacles that have stood in my way when it comes to working out too like the weather given that sometimes Ryan doesn’t want to sleep and we can’t go outside to run/walk because it’s raining. Or, sometimes it’s hard to find someone to watch Ryan when I want to work out if kid’s corner is booked up at the Y. Plus, I’m really good at finding excuses to keep me from working out like if I’m sore or something or don’t feel like driving to the Y. Stupid, I know, but I’ve done it before. And finally, sometimes I’m just tired. There are times when I just want to sleep instead of working out and it can be soooooooooo hard to not fall into bed and nap! Oh, the thought of the pillow beneath my head and being able to shut my eyes. It's glorious! I can’t give in to sleeping all the time though when the opportunity arises and I keep telling myself that I have to press on given that these pounds won’t magically leave my body. 

Along with it being difficult to get back into a work out routine to get my body back in shape, I have found it to be a challenge to change my eating habits. Since this post is getting pretty long, I’ll save talking about that for next time. I do have a game plan that I want to follow and will write about it soon. Until then, this is Carla the new mom, and tomboy, signing off!

"Perfect"

My doctor said the word “Perfect” today when he described our baby’s heartbeat during our weekly check-up and I must say, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I have actually never heard a doctor, or anyone in the medical profession for that matter, use the word perfect before in any medical setting. So, when he said it, I was a bit taken aback by the comment and was speechless. Throughout my life, I’ve learned that nothing can ever really be perfect and that even practicing doesn’t result in perfection. (Side note, not going to say who taught me that one since it will bring back bad memories of playing high school basketball). Anyway, that’s why hearing our doctor say the word perfect to describe our son’s heartbeat was so shocking to me because I don’t really think it’s attainable. It’s an ideal that people strive for and are never, ever quite able to reach. Believe me, I've tried to be perfect, mostly in sports, and it's never happened. However, in this instance I’ve decided that I'm just not going to read too much into it, even though I have already, set my realistic nature aside, and enjoy the moment since it is pretty awesome! I mean, my son has a kick-ass, strong heartbeat, who could ask for anything more! 

The only other news that I have from our check-up this week is that our doctor thinks we’ll be having an averaged sized baby. We asked him the question after he did his routine measurement of my belly and said that from what he can see and feel, that Ryan will be between seven and eight pounds.  It’s just a guess mind you and personally, he feels way bigger than that since my back aches all the time from having to carry him around. Yes, I realize being in pain is just one of those fun things that goes along with being pregnant, the thing is, it’s still annoying and not much fun to deal with. One thing that both Dave and I have noticed is how hard my belly is because Ryan is pretty much taking up my entire abdomen. There really isn’t much more room for him to grow and the other night, we actually saw the entire outline of his body on my left side. It was quite random! I should have thought to take a picture of the event, but didn't because one, Dave and I were finally comfortable on our sitting room chair and two, taking a picture of it would have been a tad on the creepy side. Well, really creepy so it's pretty much best that we didn't. :)

With it being as hot as it is, I'm done with writing or doing anything productive for the day. Seriously, I'm sweating just sitting here and writing this blog is actually making me tired. Gotta love being preggo! So until next time, I'm going to do my best to stay cool and I hope you can do the same. Thank God for air conditioning, fans, and ice cream!