I’m Wearing Real Clothes Today!

sorry for the blurry photo!

I’m wearing a skirt with a regular waist band (no elastic) from my pre-pregnancy wardrobe! And a bra with an underwire, no shapeless mommy bra today! And cute flats, also from pre-pregnancy! No, this is not an April Fool's joke. :)

This is a huge deal. Losing the weight from pregnancy was easy – I went down to my pre-pregnancy weight within three months of giving birth with no effort on my part. However, I’m now a totally different shape with lots of extra belly. Making my clothes not fit. Ugh. I bought a few pairs of “transition” pants (read: elastic waist) to get me through, but I’m still wearing them 9 months later. Which sucks. I’ve been eating healthy (per my normal), but I think I need to get a little extreme here. I think I need to exercise. <cue music> dum dum dummmm

I don’t go to the gym. I hate that exercising for exercising sake accomplishes nothing. Yeah, yeah, you’re doing it for self improvement, health, some people even find it meditative, etc etc. Good for you. Not for me. When I’m on the elliptical I’m envisioning all of the chores that I could be taking care of, or the projects that I could do, or everything else that is way more interesting and has a result. (and if I try to get into a meditative rhythm I fall off)

I blame my New England farmer genes. There’s this whole work ethic thing that was ingrained into us – if you have free time then you should put it to good use and accomplish something. Hobbies should be fruitful (like quilting, knitting, renovating your home). And exercise should be part of daily life, like tossing hay bales onto the back of the wagon. That was the most physically exhausting day of my life (besides childbirth, of course), and I loved it. I exercised my entire body and had a wagon full of hay bales to show for it. Unfortunately I don’t have a farm, just an ambitious garden. (My parents were the first generation to not be farmers.)

I had my son in summer, so by the time I was ready to start getting back into some semblance of a shape (you know, besides fluffy) it was cold out. My main form of exercise is walking, and I’m so not walking when it’s freezing outside. So I tried other ways to fit movement into my desk-job, mother-of-an-infant-soon-to-be-toddler, home-loving life. I tried Zumba. I loved it – but I hated the inconvenience of having to go to the gym, change, do the class, go home, give the baby his dinner, and his bath, and put him to bed, then eat my dinner and fall into bed. It just really didn’t work with my routine or Max’s.

I love the idea of workout videos, but I’m really really bad at follow-through. I totally slack off after one or two times. I can walk a bit more now that it’s warming up out, but I’d like to do something else besides walking a couple days a week. And I have a few villains to overcome…

Exercise Nemesis #1: Self motivation. I have plenty of discipline, but I’m not motivated. Mostly resulting from Nemesis #3.

Exercise Nemesis #2: Distractions. Chores, and projects, and baby, and husband, and all of the other things that I could be doing that are more interesting.

Exercise Nemesis #3: Prior failure. Not failure to stick to an exercise routine, in fact I was really good at it. To the point that I over did it in high school and lost too much weight. And had a small eating disorder. The strain on my body led to a hormonal imbalance which led to PCOS flaring up big time. As in gaining 80lbs in three months while on a diet and exercise plan big time. All of my efforts to lose weight since the PCOS reared its ugly head have been failures. My body refuses to lose weight past a certain plateau point (a common symptom of PCOS). So I essentially gave up. Why bother, especially since when I didn’t exercise I still stayed the same weight? But, I might be able to lose weight now. Sometimes the female body will reset itself after having a child and the PCOS can go away. I’m crossing my fingers.

To help with motivation I’m trying to focus on my goals:

Actively play with my son. Crawling around on the floor: check. Racing around the backyard when he starts walking and running: I’m working on that.

Wear my old wardrobe. I like my clothes. I’d edited my wardrobe to a really great point and I want to fit into it again. I’d also like to not have to resize my rings. The shoes are going to have to be stretched though, I don’t think my feet are shrinking.

Be ready. If the apocalypse hits and there are zombies roaming around, I need to be ready to run away. Or, you know, be ready to lend a helping hand if someone needs help lugging boxes around or walking the neighbor’s dog or something.

If I can incorporate some of my distractions into the workout, even better. Like taking Max for walks, or dancing while doing the laundry.

Now I just need to figure out some sort of exercise plan that I can do that fits in with Max’s routine, my routine and hubby’s routine, that isn’t boring, that is effective, and that I can do at home. Thoughts? Suggestions? I’d appreciate feedback.