I cannot procrastinate anymore. It is time to grab life by the balls (WTF – why have I opened with that visual??) and just make shit happen. Make what happen? My health. I need to work on my health. My physical and mental wellbeing.
I wasn’t originally sure whether I wanted to blog about my efforts to live healthier again. I felt like I did my dash in my second last post on the topic, where I had all these grand plans and then didn’t follow through. I then posted some realistic goals when I was about 3 months post partum after having the Little Miss, but I still went on to eat a whole lot of junk and forget to exercise and what not. I felt like maybe I would ‘fail’ again and just look like an idiot. Or maybe it would bore everyone. Or maybe it’s wanky or sends the wrong message to be so focused on weight loss and exercise etc.
BUT…
Now the Little Miss is almost 18 months old and I am starting to get a handle on what it is I want for myself. I have come to the realisation that I won’t suddenly get amazing motivation or loads of energy out of nowhere when I am tired AF and it’s easier to just put the kids first. I have to force the issue with myself and be really disciplined.
I need to be kind to myself and realise that I had a lot of ups and downs before the Little Miss started growing in my belly. Secondary infertility was no joke! It really kicked my arse and affected me emotionally, physically and spiritually on every level. I think it’s time to forgive myself for what I couldn’t do consistently back then and enjoy what I can achieve now.
I have also got to do something because I am a two times gestational diabetes survivor and I do not want to have type 2 diabetes when I’m older. Right now I weigh the same as I did when I was almost 9 months pregnant with the Little Miss and I was not exactly a lean machine before I got pregnant with her! I am starting to feel discomfort in my feet when I walk a long way or do certain exercises in a gym class and while I originally blamed my shoes (OK so I still think they’re a part of the problem), I am realising that I think it’s because I’m much heavier on my little, flat feet now. Oops.
I don’t want to have niggling health issues that could just be fixed with a bit of weight loss and better fitness/strength. I deserve better than that. I am worth more than that. Life’s too short to procrastinate with improving my health and the way I can move in this world.
I want to consume better fuel for my body. I am quite addicted to sugar and carbs right now. I know that sometimes when I overindulge my gut is NOT a happy camper! I don’t want to feel sluggish or sickly. I want to squeeze as much energy/productivity out of my day as possible – I’m a busy mum!
I want to exercise more because it helps me sleep better, helps my mental health, and makes me physically stronger – this helps my confidence (I am quite uncoordinated by nature so I like the feeling of accomplishment)! It will obviously also help me get my body fat percentage under control.
I want to be really clear: I am not doing this because I loathe myself or my body. I am doing it because I love myself and my body. It’s really important to me that I do everything for the right reasons.
Make no mistake: I love myself RIGHT NOW. I love my body RIGHT NOW. I know I’m WORTHY of good things RIGHT NOW. I am not going to put my life/happiness etc on hold until I weigh a certain number on the scales or fit into a certain dress size.
I am actually in a really body positive space right now. I don’t let my weight decide whether I’m happy each day or not. I don’t let my looks define who I am or how my day will play out. I still feel relatively attractive for an exhausted stay at home mum of a toddler and a 7 year old! I also don’t put so much value on my looks anymore, generally. I’ve come a really long way and I’m proud of myself. I think my journey through pregnancy with the Little Miss finally, completely and utterly, got this message through to me. My self esteem should not be connected to my body image and while I’ve known this intellectually for a long time, it only really clicked for real about 18 months ago.
I will be honest and say that I am sure if I became a lot leaner and fit into my clothes better, I’d be pretty proud of myself and excited about it. I am not totally immune to what we’ve been conditioned to believe about weight loss and our looks! I just think it will be more of a happy side effect than the purpose of my attempt at re-gaining healthier habits and a better lifestyle.
So what is the point of this post, you ask?
I want to declare my goals, set some ground rules and hold myself accountable moving forward in achieving a healthier lifestyle.
You can’t accuse me of being too much fun LOL.
Ground rules…
- I won’t be naming specific numbers or sizes on the blog. I will let you know how many kilos I lose, update you on my body fat % and I will let you know if I drop a clothing size, but I don’t think it’s responsible to share my actual weight or dress size because I think there are so many variables and everyone is so different. I don’t think comparing ourselves to a chick on the internet based solely on numbers is a good idea.
- I won’t be posting “influencer” style before and after full body pics. Firstly, that shit is really hard to do and secondly, I think those pics often put too much emphasis on how we look. I’d rather show you the size of my smile after a work out or what I’m doing to achieve my goals or what celebrating progress looks like.
- I will post weekly on this blog and if I mention my efforts anywhere else, I’ll use the hashtag #kezgetsphysical
- I will be working really hard for the school term with the hopes that after that, I can relax a little on the holidays but also maintain my progress before the next term begins and I hope to dive back into being super disciplined.
- I will find ways to reward myself with things other than food for each kg lost (and maintained).
- I will celebrate both off scale and on scale victories.
Goals…
- I want to lose 11kg. I know I may not reach this goal in a 10 week period but as long as I am making consistent progress in achieving this, I will be happy.
- I want to achieve 25% body fat. I am currently at 36.7%
- I want to do 10,000 steps a day (at least so it averages out that way over a 7 day period).
- I want to do a decent, active, trackable work out 3-4 times a week. Whether it’s at the gym or at home on weekends/my husband’s days off.
- I will reduce my carb intake and eat cleaner (a big reduction in processed foods).
I am mostly sharing this so that I feel like I’m holding myself accountable (to my 5 readers LOL), but I also hope that it’s a good, realistic look at a positive lifestyle change. Maybe someone will read this and think, oh, that small change might be good for me too. Or maybe think that if I can do it, anyone can! I will try hard to not be a wanker about all of this. I think there’s enough of that out there!
Feel free to cheer me on – I might need all the encouragement I can get haha.
Do you have any term 3/second half of the year fitness/health resolutions?
