How Getting Fit is Making Me a Better Mom (and Human!)
About two or three months ago, I grabbed an old pair of shorts from my closet and tried them on. I had bought them after I had lost my “baby weight” about 3 or 4 years ago. When they were new, they had served as my “go-to” shorts.
They were tight. VERY tight. So tight I could barely get them zipped and buttoned.
Ruh-roh.
Concerned, I jumped on the scale. I don’t weigh myself that often and was mortified to find that I had gained (at least) 10 pounds since I had last weighed myself, which was probably a little over a year ago at my last doctor visit.
You see, my whole life, I’ve been lucky in the fact that I’ve never had to worry about my weight. And before you get all persnickety with me for saying that, my thinness always bordered more on the Nicole-Richie-really-needs-to-eat-a-hamburger side, and less on the look-how-hot-Gisele-looks-in-that-bikini side. In fact, at my first job out of college, my boss asked me if I was anorexic. In front of the whole office. At a company meeting.
And, I’m still waiting for puberty to kick in and give me boobs. So let’s call it even.
As I moved into my twenties and thirties, I gained weight, but always managed to keep it in check. I gained about 40 pounds while pregnant, but thankfully dropped back down to my “happy weight” within a year, mostly because I went back to work full-time as a teacher and barely had time to eat my actual lunch, let alone snack on anything throughout the day.
And so, I took that happy weight for granted. I’d always been an active person, riding my bike, walking at the lake, and party rockin’ with the kiddo to “Just Dance” on the Xbox.
And then, going on three years ago now, I quit my job. I traded tailored clothes for yoga pants and T-shirts, which are much more forgiving. I had easy access to the kitchen throughout the day. I also sat on the couch after I put the tot to bed, slurping ice cream and munching on chips and a half-pound of pistachio nuts while binge-watching “Game of Thrones” or “True Detective” with the hubby.
So. I gained weight, and I started feeling like crap. I became “skinny fat” – I appeared relatively thin but was ridiculously out of shape. My jeans were getting tighter, I noticed, but not to the point where I was “that” concerned. The biggest change was in my state of mind. I was exhausted – a lot. I had trouble getting out of bed in the morning. My shoulders constantly ached, and I started getting headaches. I never get headaches.
I also found myself snapping at E and her daddy more than usual, simply because I felt miserable about myself.
And I made excuses. We’re too busy (we are). We eat healthfully enough already (we do). It’s too expensive (it often is). We might get pregnant again (it hasn’t happened).
That morning on the scale triggered something in my psyche. I realized that aside from my weekly awesome yoga class and periodic walks with the tot around the neighborhood or park, I hadn’t seriously worked out – as in, to the point of heart-racing, sweat-dripping exhaustion — in years. YEARS.
Then, I thought: If it took me just two-plus years of working from home and late-night snacking to gain 10 pounds, where would I be in five years? Or ten? I’m already an older mom – of “advanced maternal age,” as the doctors like to call new mothers over 35. E’s only four. When she’s 10 or 15, would I be too tired to keep up with her sure-to-be crazed schedule?
When my husband got home that night, I gave him the WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING speech. Unfortunately, most gym memberships were out of the question. Our budget is so tight that we can’t afford to spend $40 or $50 a month on gym fees or fitness classes. We don’t have easy access to a babysitter, so we had to tag-team babysit, and also find a way to squeeze exercise in around our crazy, time-limited, work-and-school schedules.
Lo and behold, serendipity: a Planet Fitness had just opened just minutes from our house. Although I strongly disagree with their monthly pizza-Monday-and-bagel-Tuesday philosophy, at only $10 a month, it was doable for both of us. And, it was close enough so that an hour at the gym meant only…an hour at the gym.
The first week was pitiful. My “I’m not that out of shape” ego got the best of me when realized I could barely pull off 20 minutes of cardio without feeling like I was going to pass out. My thigh and calf muscles were constantly screaming for relief. I couldn’t lift more than 15 pounds overhead without struggling. I felt P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C.
Yet, the hubster and I kept forcing each other to go, at least 3-4 times a week. We started keeping track of what we were eating in the free MyFitnessPal app, and learned that even though we were (mostly) eating healthfully, we were still overeating by hundreds of calories per day. In my case, that came mostly in the form of pistachio nuts. (Who knew that there are 700 calories in just one cup of those little shelled buggers?)
Then, things started to change.
I first started to notice that my shoulders weren’t aching as much. Sure, they were sore from lifting weights, but this was a good sore, not the all-day “oweee” feeling I had before.
As the weeks rolled on, I noticed that getting out of bed in the morning was becoming easier.
I wasn’t getting headaches anymore.
I no longer felt like I needed to take a two-hour siesta after lunch.
I was less cranky. Less depressed. More energetic.
Now, although the weight hasn’t dropped as quickly as I had hoped – I’ve only lost 3 pounds so far – the change in my mood and in my emotions makes every second of the schedule juggling worth it. Most importantly, I feel like I’m setting a good example for E by making my health and fitness a priority in my life.
With any amount of luck, I will continue to stay on this path and keep setting new goals for myself. In the meantime, I’m planning another rendezvous with those old shorts that I angrily tossed back in my closet that day – but this time, hopefully, the reunion will much sweeter.
Do you make it a priority to fit fitness into your schedule? If so, how? Sound off in the comments below – and while you’re at it, sign up for my newsletter!
photo credit: deleted.scenes via photopin cc
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