Running for my life

Normal women with normal bodies gain weight when they're pregnant. Science says the "normal" weight gain range for my body was 15-20 pounds. Well, if you multiply that by 3 you'll end up with what I weighed almost exactly a year ago when I gave birth to my 6lb 14oz daughter. If you're keeping up with the math, adding in the weight of amniotic fluid, etc, I had about 40 pounds to lose. I lost 26 in the first 2 weeks but had pretty much stayed the same for much of the past year. Kathryn breastfeeds like a champ but unlike what I'd been told, the pounds did not just "melt away". Liars.

They say that it should take you about as long to lose the baby weight as it did for you to gain it. They also say that the safe range for weight loss while nursing [in order to keep your supply up] is about a pound a month.  I'm going with the latter because I'm nursing and it's important to me to continue that for hopefully another year.  I honestly am not worried about my diet because I eat whole, nutritious foods that I prepare myself most of the time and don't think I consume more calories that I should. Although, I probably do eat too many cookies.

About 3 months ago I decided too get more serious about exercise.  For several months prior, Kathryn and I had logged a lot of miles on her jogging stroller just walking. But it was time to step up my game. That's when I started running. I run 3 times per week and take an hour of really intense step aerobics 2 times per week. I'm not sure what spurred it on. One good reason is that I have an entire wardrobe of clothes that I haven't been able to wear since long before Kathryn came along.  I'm not sure what happened. I just got comfortable being a "little bit overweight".

I can't tell you how much weight I've lost because our scale is broken. But what I do know is that I can finally stop wearing my maternity jeans. My t-shirts are really loose. The buttons on my cardigans aren't screaming for dear life as they try to stay in the button holes. It's a great feeling. Yes, being sore, the good kind of sore, and physically worn out is a really great feeling.

I'm doing a program called "Run for God", which is similar to couch to 5K. In about a month I'm going to run a 5K. I can't believe I'm saying that because I was the person who always hated running. It seemed so boring and let's face it, it's hard. I thought only skinny girls with flat chests ran. Not a busty girl like me. I mean what in the world can I buy to hold these things back? [By the way, I'm still looking for a great sports bra.]

Not that I have already obained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus...I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phillipians 3: 12&14

I read those verses today--the whole passage actually--and thought a lot about my running. I don't know if I'm taking this out of context or not, but I think it applies. I was never perfect, and after childbirth that included a c-section, my tummy will never be the same, my breasts are going to be weird probably forever, and it will only get worse when I have baby #2. But I do believe that God calls us to take control of our bodies and in finding what works for me [running] I am achieving the goal of being all I can be for His glory. What good am I if I die before I can complete the calling in my life because of my laziness?

If you're reading this and you think you can't do it, think again. Don't listen to those voices in your head. You will achieve what you work for, not what you wish for or put off until tomorrow. If it's not absolutely the hardest thing you've done, you're not working hard enough.   Don't take the easy way out that will leave you in worse shape than before. Actually work for it.

One of the things that I've been afraid of since becoming a mom is that something would happen to me and cause Kathryn to have to grow up without her mommy. Maybe that's paranoid, but I feel better knowing that if something happened such as cancer I would be in the best shape to take it on. Ultimately my trust is in God but that doesn't mean that I can just sit on the couch. If you want to lose weight or improve yourself in some way, just do it.

It feels great. And you can be so proud of yourself.  I'll let you know how the 5K goes.