Nothing inspires weight loss like seeing a really bad photo of yourself. The latest was a picture from the church picnic taken of my profile when I was busy trying to get two Squirrels to eat more than just their cookies before running off to play (and coming back five minutes later declaring they were STARVING and needing a SNACK). I discovered that I had developed a WATTLE! YIKES! What is a wattle? The clinical definition is "a fleshy growth hanging from the neck of certain animals". Well, this "certain animal" is mortified to have what amounts to a double chin (I am the one in the aqua long-sleeved shirt...it doesn't help that I am sitting by Mister Buff Man of the Universe named Josh and his delightfully cute Down-to-Her-Pre-Pregnancy-Weight wife named Jill).
Granted, I knew I was no longer my high school size 6 self. I finally gave up that illusion when I moved down south (to the land of fried foods and sweet tea) and the pair of Levi 501 jeans I had kept from high school no longer made it up past my thighs (despite my efforts to unhinge my hips and wiggle in...much to the amusement of Husband). I slowly crept up into double digit dress sizes and told myself that I would begin exercising tomorrow...
But truth be told, I absolutely hate all forms of exercise. I lose hearing in one ear and start feeling asthmatic when I run, I biked across Iowa and only lost three pounds (See "Post Traumatic Butt Disorder" post), and yoga and belly dancing, while fun, aren't real calorie burners.
But seeing the wattle in the picture has put me on the war path! Between that and knowing that there will be vacation pictures posted of me with the F family out at the Outer Banks (think brain scarring pictures of me in swim wear), I am motivated to at least walk a few miles each day.
And maybe...just maybe...someday I may even be motivated to actually change the weight on my driver's license to match somewhere closer than the 30 lbs off my current weight (which is what is currently recorded on my driver's license). Unless I have soaring success and get down to that weight again. FAT CHANCE!
3 comments:
i hate to exercise too, and especially walking. Lucky for me a friend suggested putting books on tape ontomy MP3 or iPod and it has made all the difference. When concentrating on a story, you don't notice how boring walking is.
Totally understand the feeling of dread upon viewing your wattle in an unfortunate photo. So I'm going to nerd-out on working out for a minute and throw something out there (sorry in advance) - My uncle's a physical therapist and says that the best exercises to do are strengthening ones. And if you work hard the entire time w/o breaks then you'll burn more calories during the workout than you would in a typical (longer!) cardio-only workout; plus you're building muscle to burn more calories later. And (since you mentioned that it was fun) I can't brag on yoga enough. I try to do power yoga (lots of push ups and sun salutations and sweating) every other day; and when I do, I can def see myself slimming down and toning up - much more than when I just run instead. Plus my posture is so much better. I really like Bryan Kest (he's from the 90's, has awful hair, wears jean cut-offs, and his yoga vids resemble soft core porn.. but if you can get past all that, its a great workout). And his set of 3 power yoga dvds is only $10 on amazon. They're pretty tough tho, so I always have to be patient w/ myself when getting back into it after a bit of a hiatus. OK, sorry for nerding out, I'll stop now!
So...after 2 half-marathons and 2 triathlons, I am still not to my pre-pregancy weight. Exercise is important, but true weight loss (at least for me) comes with reduced portion sizes. Since my "baby" is almost 5, I can no longer legally call this "baby" weight (which somehow made it seem cuter).
Post a Comment