All my life I’ve been self conscious about my weight. Not that I’ve ever been obese, but, like several girls I’ve known, I saw myself as fat off and on throughout my adolescent years. Mostly I never learned to love myself for who I was. I thought having a big butt was bad (even though Sir-Mix-A-Lot was singing its praises). In my early 20s, my weight would fluctuate. I didn’t let it bother me too much.
And then came the kids … three to be exact.
With my first kid I topped out at around 180 pounds and I thought I was huge. And the weight didn’t exactly come all the way off. But I wasn’t exactly trying either. Then my second pregnancy kept me so sick I actually lost a lot of the weight I had gained in the first pregnancy. After her birth, I was back into my smaller clothes again, but then over the next 3 years the weight crept back on. With my third pregnancy I gained a little, afterwards lost most of the pregnancy weight, and kept on about my life.
I decided the weight I had accumulated was here to stay and I was going to be just fine with it. In fact, I even stated over and over that food is too good and life is too short so I was just going to enjoy things and learn to love myself.
And I did … for a while.
I did, so well in fact, that in the time span of about 10 months I put on an extra 30 pounds, placing me on what many charts would say is obese or borderline obese. Now looking in the mirror I wasn’t pleased, but it wasn’t enough to motivate me to change my ways. I also didn’t want to have my daughters pick up on the thought of beautiful equates to being skinny. Nor did I want my son to focus on a girl’s weight and pass judgement.
I SWORE I was not going to become that person. That mom. You know. The health nut. The exercise queen.
But then I got a wake up call. The weight was starting to get in the way of my health and energy. I began having debilitating headaches on an almost daily basis. These headaches affected my relationship with my husband, my kids and my job performance. The extra weight caused excess pressure on my knees, ankles and feet.
And then there was my blood pressure. I was consistently staying in the 150s/90s range. Not good at all. I knew I would be put back on blood pressure medicine if I didn’t get my act together. Not to mention my lack of energy and funds it would require to move up in size in clothes yet again.
All this and I’m only in my mid-30s.
That’s when it happened. The blood pressure was the motivating factor and there was no turning back. I took the step to become that person. That mom. The one who eats healthier. The one who uses portion control. The one who exercises daily. And yes, the one posting about it on Facebook even though I swore I wasn’t going to do that either. It’s no longer about being skinny and looking a certain way for everyone else. It’s about becoming a healthier, stronger, more energetic mom and wife with fewer health issues.
And it’s WORKING! Since I began the journey at the beginning of February I have lost 10 pounds, my blood pressure is back to normal, and my headaches are mild and rare.
