New Year Goal

This isn't really a New Year Goal, but what do you call a post when you haven't written in weeks, and you just want to write again, but don't  really know where to begin?  I picked New Year Goal, even though I've been working on this particular goal since October.  Anyway....

So what I was thinking about is the fact that I have entered a new and terrible phase of my life: a weight struggle.  I spent the first thirty-two years of my life--with the exception of a couple of really awkward years in middle school (but I don't like thinking about those), ahem--being able to eat literally Anything I Wanted without gaining an ounce.  Don't throw things at me!  That is no longer the case.

I breezed through Noah's pregnancy, and all the extra weight I gained just fell off after the first 6 weeks.  Then I had Seth, and, well, I'm still hanging on to extra pounds from him.  Or actually, what I realized in early October was that I was just telling myself it was baby weight.  There, I said it.  I mean, how can you blame the baby when "the baby" is now two years old?!?  My weight gain was not Seth's fault!  Epiphany!

So, early in October, I decided to get serious and actually exercise again.  I went after it with dogged determination, getting up at the crack of dawn to squeeze in my workouts 5 days a week.  I naively thought that I could lose 10 lbs in 10 weeks just by adding some exercise to my routine. Only I wasn't losing any weight, not even one pound.  My jeans were stubbornly not loosening up.  "What's wrong?" I thought to myself?  "Surely I can still eat my weight in ice cream as long as I'm exercising, right?" Ha.  Not anymore.  By the end of December, I sat down and did the math to figure out exactly how many calories I needed to maintain, and then lose the baby weight chocolate weight that was hanging on for dear life.  I bought a workout system on dvd with the word Insanity as its title (and let me assure you, it is Insane!), and began attacking that.  I buckled down and made salads for lunch.  And ate them.  I cut out junk food and started eating Old Fashioned Oatmeal for breakfast every morning, among other changes.  After talking with Jen about the fact that we can't even lose weight without God's help, I began praying that God would help me say no to temptation and to quit eating when I was full.

And finally, finally, after a few Very Hard weeks, I have dropped 4 pounds.  Praise the Lord!  I have a few more to go, and I hope that by the end of February these last 6 will vamoose and I can wear my old pre-Seth clothes again.  By that time, it'll feel like a whole new wardrobe!

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep off the excess weight. I will say it's MUCH easier to gain weight than it is to lose it!  I guess I just have to remember that I cannot eat whatever I want anymore.  Somebody remind me of that next time you see me scarfing down my dessert and reaching for more, 'kay?

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