I never had trouble with weight gain since I moved to the US, in 1999. I walked where I could, swam, worked out regularly and vacations focussed on physical activities rather than eating. Oh I love food but being a vegetarian, a good cook and not having any out of control desire for sweets/ fats /fried stuff etc meant that maintaining an "ideal" weight - 135 lbs (I'm 5'5") required some work, but not too much.
Then, i got pregnant.
I didn't worry too much about permanent weight gain. I did not put on too much weight --- and took a while to put it on -- really only in the third trimester. Plus, I was planning to (and did!) breastfeed. But for the past six months at least, the scales have stubbornly stuck at or around the 154 lbs mark. The baby is now 10 months old!
So a huge contributory factor was the presence of my mom and mom-in-law in my house till recently -- which meant good, plentiful food was ALWAYS available, the childcare was shared, and I did not do as much house work as I normally would. Working out was out of the question -- I could not "abandon" my family or baby to work out, and outings were generally either around shopping, or eating out.
Now though -- the family is gone, has been gone for about a month. We are eating more "reasonable" food -- in lesser quantities, less emphasis on white rice, and still the needle on the scale does not hover beyond the dreaded 154 mark.
Time to act. Ordinarily this would be about getting the motivation to step up going to the gym. But the presence of a baby in my life -- my notions of being a mommy - adds a whole new layer of complications to the weight loss enterprise. Bear with me as I think those through...
1. I work full-time, so I see her only for a few hours a day, and during the weekends. It seems very hard to further cut down on that time by going to gym.
Yes, I could put her in the stroller and take her out for a walk. I do that. need to be regular and more regimented about it.
2. Cooking takes a hit - for the same reasons. Time spent cooking is time spent away from the Trish. yes, i can do that when she sleeps, but that is also the time I could exercise. or clean up the house. Or do the bills. or do things like shower.
3. My husband has a crazy schedule -- which means even if she is sleeping i cannot leave the house and head to the gym.. and yes, I could do my exercise DVDs/ jump rope in the garage . lift weights while watching TV. But again, thats at the expense of cooking/cleaning/reading
4. In the past, the easiest way for me to stick to an exercise routine has been to hit the gym first thing in the morning. that is something I can do -- the Trisha does not wake up before 7:00 usually, and the husband can take care of her for the first half an hour or so... we can alternate!
So lets see how this goes. I'm giving myself a year. At the end of which I will
-- be fully commited to meal planning/.menu planning
-- weigh my usual 135 lbs
-- fit back into size 4/6 clothes
-- FEEL better! Not this constantly tired, sick person I've become
-- be engaged again the physical activities I used to love -- biking, hiking, swimming, yoga, running.
