Breaking Point

Everyone has their breaking point. That one thing that pushes them into action. It can be when that favorite pair of jeans stops fitting right. Or when you notice you're out of breath from doing something like walking up a flight of stairs. Sometimes it's when someone makes a comment. And once in awhile it happens when you finally look in the mirror. Like really look. Clothes off, lights on, so this is what the world sees when they look at me, looking.
I've always been curvy... ok curvy is putting a nice spin on my bumps and lumps... but for the sake of conversation, I've always been curvy. Sometimes my hips bulge out of my jeans. Sometimes my thighs are too big for the shorts I want to wear. Sometimes my tummy jiggles. Ok, a lot of the time, my tummy jiggles. But never have I been large enough to have a fold.
So let me do some Jiggley Mommy definitions for ya:

• Jiggley: parts of the body that may move on their own. Or that keep moving after intentional movement has stopped. It can also be when your have a crazy dance party and you shake all the parts of your body at the same time.
• Curves: Nice, rounded lines of the body.
• Bumps and Lumps: When curves have babies - when the flowing rounded lines of the body become a little less fluid and well... lumpy.
• Fold: When two Bumps and/or Lumps expand and start to hang out...or when one Bump and/or Lump expands and hangs OVER another...

Back to me being curvy. Ok, so in recent years I've been more bumpy and lumpy than curvy, but it is what it is. The other day I was stressing about getting my picture taken - like most mum's I'm behind the camera about 98% of the time. I undressed and stood in the middle of my room and looked at all the clothes that are no longer in season or fashion, all the clothes that don't fit properly, all the cheap 'this will do until I lose the weight' clothes, all the maternity clothes or clothes I could wear when I was pregnant... none of it made me feel good. None of it was even remotely close to pulling on a pair of special jeans that just make you feel HOT. No shirt or tunic or sweater that sufficiently camouflaged my plus sized figure. And then I noticed it. An almost fold. Not a 'sitting down so my body has extra rolls and bulges and what-have-yous'. Nope. A fold on my hip, where the bump of my stretched out belly meets the lump of my [oh so favorite part of my body] hip. Not quite an overhang, but... a fold.
It was like a slap. Sharp. Fast. To the point. It's time to make my health more of a priority. It's time to stop making excuses and getting down about no results. It's time to reach out for support, to ask for help and accountability. It's time to show myself that I CAN do it, if I just TRY. Breaking point, reached.

First Steps

So now that I am post pregnancy, I know it's time to step up my game and get rid of the jiggle. Having an infant definitely puts a little bit of a speed bump on my path to skinny; he wants to eat anywhere between every hour to every 3 hours. And you never really know which it'll be until he starts eying up my boobs and making his ever so cute little grunt/fuss/screech. Add to that, with my hubby working away, it's just me and the boys ALL.THE.TIME. Sawyer is a little bit young for a teenage babysitter (in my opinion) and my mum isn't available often.
Excuse. Excuse. Excuse. Excuse. Excuse.
I can come up with a dozen more, if you'd like. But I won't. Because really, these excuses don't really matter to anyone else. They only matter to me, and only then they matter because I let them hold me back. I know I'm not alone here - there are thousands of women who let their kids or lack of time for themselves hold them back. So how can we move past it?
First things first; WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, IN GETTING HEALTHY?
Is it losing weight? Or getting stronger? Do you want to start eating better, cleaner? Do you want to be able to run or even walk without getting winded? Or do you want to show your kids that being active is important? Do you want to do something alone or with a group? With your kids or without? What about your partner? This is the first step.
What's important to me? I want to lose weight. I want to be stronger. I want to eat better; I want my family to eat better. I want to do something FOR ME, without having a child hanging off my leg or my arm or my boob. First step complete - onto the second; Translating what's important to me, into an action plan.

To Binge or Not To Binge

I binge. I binge without even thinking about it. When there is a 'treat' or something calling my name, I usually can't just have one, I usually can't just have one handful...this is a problem. It's partly a matter of self control, it's also partly a matter of not allowing myself to have 'treats' - so when I fall off the wagon, so to speak, I fall hard (and eat everything I shouldn't on the way down). I binge when I'm frustrated. I binge when I'm sad or lonely. Binging makes me feel out of control, which ultimately ends up making me binge some more. Vicious. Cycle.
So how can I do better? To start I can really truly get rid of the crap in our house. The 'treats', the temptations, the junk that whispers my name every time I walk into the kitchen. I can also try other things before I go to the junky snack; like drinking a whole bottle of water before to see if maybe I was just thirsty; or eating an apple if I need a sweet fix.
My biggest hurdle to overcome will be getting my hubby on board. He SAYS he'd like to start eating better and getting rid of the junk... but the junk keeps sneaking it's way back into the cart, into the cupboard. Both of us don't like to waste, so the idea of throwing out perfectly good (junk) food, is a little hard to swallow. Slowly, but surely, the bad stuff is disappearing - but now we need to find good alternatives so that we don't feel like we're missing out, thus leading to the crap coming back in.
What are your healthy alternatives when you need a salty fix? A sweet treat? A crunchie snack?

Weigh-in and Measurements

Well I guess I need someone (somewhere) to be accountable to. I am halfway through MW 6 week challenge. It's still an enjoyable workout, but this last week I haven't had it in me to go over and above the workout. Maybe next week.
Soooo, here it goes. I started trying to get healthier when I stopped nursing, 9 months ago. My very first weigh-in was painful. I weighed in at 170.1lbs, chest 37.25", waist 32.75", hips 46.75", thighs 29.75". I knew I was big, but the numbers still surprised me.
Today I am 161lbs, chest 34.5", waist 30.5", hips 43", thighs 25". That is an loss of 13.5 inches and 9lbs. That is only a pound a month, but this has been very VERY stubborn baby weight.

I am trying so hard to look at the inch loss, instead of the pounds lost. Thirteen and a half inches is an accomplishment. I am down 2-3 pant sizes. This means that I can go into almost any store to buy clothes now. This loss also means that I don't get winded running after my busy toddler or going up a flight of stairs. I think I've done a good job. I haven't joined a gym (although for awhile I was a part of a club that challenged each other physically and nutritionally) and I haven't 'dieted'. I have just been more conscious of what I put in my mouth and when. I am trying to be more active. I'm trying to be a better role model for my son. And above all else, I'm trying to love myself, no matter what size I am or what I think I see in the mirror.

Week One

I started EA Active: More Workouts (the 6 week challenge), this week. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday's are workout days. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday's for for rest. I think working out at least 4 times a week is a pretty good improvement over... sitting at the computer. I got all the workouts done this week (yay me!) and even threw in some extra cardio step sessions (using the Everlast Step to raise the board an additional 3"). Gotta say, I'm a big fan of the step stuff in More Workouts (MW)! It's really fast paced and gets me sweating - although I'd love to see some alternating with the starting foot. I was supposed to do workout #4 yesterday, but I just couldn't find the time or the energy or the motivation to do it. I made up for it tonight, but I didn't go as hard as I feel like I should have. Note to self: eating a big pasta dinner and working out is not such a great idea! Don't lose motivation Mommy - Let's lose that Jiggle!
Tomorrow going to weigh myself (insert horror movie "bah bahbahhhh" here). Do I have the guts to post that gruesome number on the interweb? We'll see.