OK, everyone. It’s time for me to revive my ‘Kez Gets Physical’ series. It’s an ongoing, kind of sporadic, bunch of blog posts about my efforts to live a healthy lifestyle and keep myself accountable!
It’s been 3 months since the Little Miss was evicted from my uterus and I think it’s time for me to get myself back on track! I am not suggesting that every mum has to do this so soon and there’s absolutely no pressure to get my ‘post baby body’ bangin’ and sexy and ready for a bikini photo shoot. Fuck that! I am just doing this for my health and my energy levels and my emotional stability (yep haha).
As soon as I was deemed fully recovered from my C-section, I was raring to go. It had been a long time since I was able to don some active-wear and get moving. The weather was warm, the Little Miss’ routine wasn’t really established and I would just get the pram out and off we’d go. I was still quite slim thanks to breastfeeding and my gestational diabetes diet and I thought, this is cool. I got this!
Now, the Little Miss is getting into a nap routine which needs to be adhered to more often than not, for everyones’ sanity. I find myself carrying her everywhere around the house or pushing her in her stroller (it’s a nice safe place for her to be and allows me to not feel too worn out and use two hands for things and move her about with me easily). I’ll go hours and hours without food and then when she sleeps, I’ll pig out on something because by then I’m ravenous. And I am not talking about salads or clean foods. I am so not. Oops.
I realise that if I keep going like this, I will end up feeling like a big, tired (well more tired than I need be), stodgy blob. I know from experience that my mood will dip and I will start to feel bad about myself (both physically and emotionally) and then it can be a dangerous slippery slope into anxiety and lack of motivation. I want to feel energetic and have the capacity to be kind to myself and keep myself resilient when negative thoughts attack (looking after a little baby, a school kid and a household is exhausting and full on after all). I’d like to feel agile and strong and lean. I admit I have a fear of being complacent and letting myself go until it’s so much harder to lose weight etc too. I’m only human – a part of this is about looks too.
Last night, I went to the movies with some of my girlfriends from my mums’ group. We saw I Feel Pretty. I absolutely loved it. It was obviously funny (hello – Amy Schumer) but it was also really feel good and inspiring. I’d been thinking about what it means to love yourself and your body and a quote I’d seen in passing (not sure who to attribute it to) about how you can be both a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. It rings really true to me. If we could all feel the confidence that Amy’s character Renee felt when she fell off a bike at spin class and hit her head (you might need to see the movie to get the reference haha), we’d love ourselves now because we’re already awesome and beautiful (inside and out). We’d know it’s OK to be happy in ourselves BEFORE we reach our fitness/weight goals too. We don’t have to work on improving our lifestyles because we loathe ourselves, but because we love ourselves.
Right now I feel pretty confident, generally. I think I’m riding that wave of “damn straight this body survived the growing of a beautiful baby – I’m a fucking super hero” pride in my body, for all its scars and bloopy bits. I want to hold onto that feeling!
I am writing this post to keep myself accountable and to make my commitment to my health more solid.
Talk is fine, but what am I going to do? Here are my resolutions…
Avoid Feast or Famine mode
When I am very pushed for time (and free hands) to eat, I will prepare myself a quick meal replacement shake (brand deliberately not mentioned because I am not trying to promote or sell anything). While there is often criticism about these methods, I have found a type that makes me feel full and energetic and it works for me. I am not trying to starve myself. Far from it. I am figuring that a meal replacement shake in my current circumstances is fast and it’s better than nothing. It will tide me over so I’m not in feast or famine mode.
I will keep quick, healthy snack options in the fridge and freezer so I am not constantly tempted to go with unhealthy ‘fast’ foods.
I’d like to stick to a low sugar/carb diet as closely as I can, but I won’t be beating myself up to do anything drastic at this point. I’ll treat myself when I see fit. I’ll just try to do the right thing more than I do the not so healthy things!
Get walking – no matter what
Now that the Little Miss has moved out of our room, the treadmill has been put back and is ready to go! When she is having really long naps that eat into the day, I will be able to get on the treadmill and have a stroll while she sleeps, if it’s not possible to go walking with her in the outdoors. That way I will have no excuses.
Socialise!
I will stay socially active. It will benefit both myself and the Little Miss. Saying yes to play dates and grown up catch ups, even if I’m a bit tired (within reason). I always regret staying cooped up at home for too long at a time. I recently had a preview run of the winter colds and coughs in my household and it was a good reminder to look after myself as well as my kids (I stayed sickest the longest because I was so much more run down and mentally burnt out too).
I’m sure that further down the track, I will ramp up my intensity in exercise and nutritional/fitness goals etc but right now, with my 3 month old baby and the ever changing landscape of parenting a baby/toddler that is ahead of me for another few years, I feel pleased with my realistic plans.
Now it’s OK if I finish the bag of Malteasers I bought at the cinemas last night first, right? 😂
Geez, ONJ, no need to be judgey!
