Dangerous Crayon gets fit

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I am (yet again) embarking on a health and fitness journey in these months after baby.

I am sad to report that I have actually GAINED about 10 pounds since giving birth. I am at an all-time non-pregnant weight high.  That is not a record I am please to have set.  My knees ache. I am stiff in the morning. I am tired. My husband and my mom have both expressed concern about my short term and long term health if I continue to remain overweight and continue to make poor choices.  Just looking around at my family, I see that we are a people who struggle with our weight.  In addition to having a family history of poor eyesight, deafness, and ADHD behaviors, we have high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, glycemia issues, arthritis, and who knows what else.  Many of those issues can be directly attributed to poor diet, lack of exercise and excessive weight.

Here's what I've been doing to change that in the past 2 weeks:

I have been tracking my food calories through sparkpeople. When I logged in for the first time since a year ago, I saw that my weight was about 25 pounds lower than I am currently. That was a bit of a disappointing (and yet encouraging!) sight.  My last weight in with sparkpeople was the lowest I have been in probably 8 years.  I got there before, I can again.

Anyway, back to the food tracking.  I cheat and sneak food. A lot.  I think I've got some power and control issues going on there, so clearly I need to work on resolving the inner issues that are surfacing as food consumption.  I told myself that I could eat whatever I wanted, as long as I was honest about tracking it.  That in itself has helped me be more aware of what I am eating, and some of the mental work going on behind deciding to eat the 3rd or 4th (or more!) cookies.

I have been exercising (almost) daily. I'm aiming for 5 days a week, 30 minutes each day.  I'm alternating between exercise videos that incorporate strength training (usually Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred) and walking on the treadmill. The past few days, I have been getting up when Jude gets up (around 5:30 or 6) to pack him a lunch (gives me time to get my brain warmed up and my body moving a bit), and then get some exercise in before the children are up and moving.  Gives me some peace and quiet in the morning.

I had been planning to repeat the 5K race I did last year in April, but by the time I got around to registering, registration was close. No good. I will find another race local to me.  There's one in mid-June that I'm looking at, in addition to trying to find one to do in the next few weeks. I know I won't be run ready in a few weeks, but I can manage to walk 5k.

And that's where I am.  My long term goal is to loose about 30 pounds between now and Adelle's first birthday. When I succeed at doing that I will be at my lightest weight in probably 10 years. When I succeed in doing that, I will be at the top side of the "normal" BMI for my body, and I will evaluate and adjust to perhaps drop another 10-15 pounds. Right now, 55 pounds seems like forever away. Even 30 pounds seems nearly unattainable, but if I can average about 1 pound a week, I will make it by Adelle's birthday.

I can do it.  Who else is working at changing their life for Good?