Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Kiss my ass, BMI!

I could be projecting, but I have yet to meet a woman who doesn't have some sort of issue with her body. It's sad, really, but it's reality. This post is me taking an opportunity to pat myself on the back and provide a bit more self-motivation.

Prior to getting pregnant with our second child, I had joined Weight Watchers (WW) for the same reason every woman does. I had lost all the baby weight from our first child within the first few months of giving birth, but as that year of mat leave went on, so did the pounds. I believe by the time I returned to work, I was almost as heavy as when I was fully pregnant! Yah.

Not to worry, right? Going back to work was going to be a positive change. I thrive on routine, which I desparately missed when I was off work. A routine is what was going to get me back on track. Here was my plan:

1. I would walk from Union to the office in the morning and vice versa in the afternoon. It's a good 20-minute brisk walk each way. That quickly changed to doing the walk at least once a day, then once a week, and then it all fell apart as things got busier and busier. I remember talking to someone at the office who was equally as stressed and I believe our consensus was that we barely had the will-to-live in the mornings let alone the energy to make the walk from Union. (This sentiment was hilarious at the time, trust me.)

2. Our subsidized cafeteria was going to force me into eating better. They have a great make-your-own salad bar and they're committed to ensuring all meals are nutritionally balanced. What I forgot about was (a) their chocolate chip cookies and my afternoon cravings, (b) the Timmies at the foot of our building with their 9865-calorie hot chocolates, and (c) I would be bored of salad after a week and head out to all the yummy fast-food places within a stones' throw of the office. Oh, and the fact that things were so busy meant getting home at 8pm, which would include a trek through a drive-thru for dinner.

I stress-ate at an Olympic level those first couple months back at work, and by the time August rolled around (three months back) I was up to my highest weight ever.

Enter WW.

Six-weeks into the program I was down twelve pounds. Man, did I feel great! And, frankly, it was dead easy. Then, I got pregnant with baby #2 and the program was put on hold. 

I re-joined WW approximately five weeks after baby #2 was born and my weight was just under where it was when I put the program on hold. As of today (3 months later), I'm down almost 20lbs from that weight! Credit breasfeeding for the faster-than-usual weight loss as I haven't even started truly exercising yet.

I'm lighter than I was when I got married four years ago, and my energy level is getting back to where it was. Additionally, I've conquered a couple of my triggers: I can easily hit a drive-thru and NOT order some sort of burger/fry combo. I can go to Timmies and NOT grab a 10-pack of Timbits (which I'm embarassed to admit would take me about 5-minutes to polish off in it's entirety).

So I say to those Body Mass Index (BMI) tables... GFY. I am no longer obese in your estimation.

And, now that I've (more publicly) talked about my journey, I'm more determined than ever.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing! I definitely have body issues and after having brianna four plus years ago, i am still fighting an upward battle with my weight. Gone are the days where a few days of starvation would get me back to my "fighting" weight. The realization that I could no longer put on skinny jeans at GAP and actually look presentable were gone and my thighs began to develop an affinity for each other. Very very scary. Thank you for sharing! *raising a zero calorie diet coke* -- groan...

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  2. You've done great!

    "I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight!" - Emily, The Devil Wears Prada

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  3. @ chubbalubba... Mmm... zero-calorie DC... nice. :) It's a war we'll be waging forever, I'm sure. I'm just finding as long as I win more battles than I lose, I'm doing OK. :)

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  4. Like I said the other day...you look fantastic!!!

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  5. Just for the record, I never thought of you as overweight - ever! This is a strange post to read from you. Just goes to show you that everyone is battling the bulge. Hence the morning gym routine I have just started. Gone 4 days in a row now. That's a record! LOVE your blog.

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