Monday, August 6, 2012

Get In Shape, Girl!


Please, tell me you remember, "Get In Shape, Girl!". I had the ballet bar, the leg warmers, the sweat band, the wrist bands, the weights and who can forget the ribbon?! Yeah, I was a regular rhythmic gymnast. I had a nice round of nostalgia watching these commercials and looking at the print ads for GISG, but now I see why I hated my body. All of these girls are tall and thin! They're in shape. They should've shot a commercial with chunky little Abby doing leg kicks in her ill-fitting tutu with a roll of belly fat hanging over.

Looking back, I wonder if this was my parents' subtle way of telling me I needed to lose weight. I've never been thin. I've always been on the upper side of my healthy weight range or just above it. As we know, kids will tease other kids for having split ends, so being a little heavy was never fun. Now I have another inner battle going on: being fit vs being a good mom. A year ago I would've said, "What do those two things have to do with each other? Why can't you be both?" My head is telling me I CAN be both, but my heart and my guilty conscience say I'm being selfish.

I bought a new workout/meal plan thingy. It's a suggested diet and DVDs for the exercise portion. I would love to just take Liam outside and run with the stroller, and I was doing that, until the temps started reading in the 90s and I was risking heat stroke. I figured a living mommy is the best kind of mommy.  So this plan I'm on is pretty restrictive on the calories and even warns that breastfeeding women should consult a doctor first. So this is what I wrestle with. Do I wait another month when Liam is a year old and I've met my breastfeeding goal and all the while be miserable that I can't fit into 90% of the clothes in my closet & my undies are tight? Or do I say, "Well done good and faithful mommy. You've earned your stripes. Now make yourself a priority and Get in Shape, Girl!"?

Does your own health and fitness get put on the back burner for your kids? How do you balance it?

Update: 4 hours after the posting of this blog I did one of my workout DVDs. It's short, but Liam woke from his nap & started crying about midway through. So I sat him by me for the abs part at the end. I can do this! I got this!  Then I kicked him in the head. Way to go, Mom! 

He's fine, btw.

5 comments:

  1. A happy mommy is the best kind of mommy. You've met your goal. And once you stopped sucking your thumb and started moving, you were always slimmer than me. :)

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    1. Do you remember that stupid program? With my ballet bar strapped to the closet door? And the lyrical ribbon! Yeah. Shaking that thing will get you in shape. OR you can limit yourself to two bowls of lucky charms instead of four on Saturday morning.

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  2. Don't beat yourself up. I started dieting and exercising as soon as I could post-partum, and I still breastfed both of my boys. My understanding is that, if you add 500 calories to a diet otherwise designed to lose weight (including at least one extra calcium source), you'll be able to still breastfeed and lose weight (breastfeeding is supposed to burn about 500 calories per day). I did Weight Watchers, and I know they had some equivalent number of "POINTS" to add to your diet for breastfeeding women. The way I see it, a fit/healthy mom is a better mom because she is in better shape to chase her kiddos around and is modelling good diet/exercise patterns for her children. And huge props to you for breastfeeding for a year!!! That's so tough when you're also working and is a HUGE accomplishment!!!!!!!

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  3. Thanks, Stephanie! I never felt hungry from breastfeeding & I don't feel like I shed any weight from it either. I did get extra points when I was doing weight watchers, but I just wasn't ready to commit. I'm ready now, but feeling a little selfish. I know I'll be a better mom if I'm healthier. And I know since I've been eating better Liam has too!

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  4. Abby, you are YEARS ahead of me in getting fit/healthy!!! Two months ago, my doctor told me I had high blood pressure and considered putting me on meds...I told her I felt like I walked into her office as a 42 year old woman and was leaving feeling like an 82 year old woman!! That news hit me like a ton of bricks...I KNOW what's good for me (proper diet/exercise), yet for years and years all my bloodwork has come back 'perfectly normal'...so seriously, why would I do things differently if I didn't need to?? ;) Since then, I've been eating more balanced meals (which is hard for a picky eater like me!) and hittin' the YMCA 5 days a week...my follow up proved the ol' adage to be true...diet and exercise really do work!!
    So.....what's better?? I think a Mommy who does what she can when she can! We HAVE to find balance somehow in our lives, and it's not easy...just keep trying different things to see what works for you...will keep Liam safe!! (just kidding!! I remember trying to do a pilates DVD in front of Sadie and I became 'Jungle Mommy' as she would climb all over me! As if the pilates wasn't hard enough!!) Just remember, in a few short months, the weather will be cooler and you can be outside with the stroller again...until then, hang in there..."for everything there is a season"!

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