June 12, 2014 is a day that I will not soon forget. I was going in for my regular 25 week prenatal check up. I explained to the doctor that I hadn’t felt well that week just more tired than usual, but let’s be honest I had a toddler and was 25 weeks pregnant I thought it was pretty normal. I saw the sense of urgency in her eyes as she told me that I needed to be examined. She explained to me that I was in preterm labor and would need to be on bed rest starting immediately until I was able to stabilize.
I was a relatively fit person, more so in the last couple of years. And to be sentenced to my home until the baby was born was… come on, a true relief. Nothing like getting to sleep in and actually watch my favorite TV shows instead of Nickelodeon. After a few weeks I noticed the weight of bed rest, literally, and the toll it was taking on my body. The only time I got up off the couch was to use the bathroom or get some food. My muscles were losing their strength and my joints ached and there was nothing I could do about it. I gained A LOT of weight during the next 10 weeks. When I entered the delivery room I was a whopping 208 lbs, my precious little baby boy was 5 lbs 4 oz so the weight thing was all me.
Wanting my body back, I immediately started walking more and trying to be active. I had not returned to work yet, but my baby was still eating every few hours even in the middle of the night. I lost about half the weight from just not needing to eat as much as I was when I was pregnant. But that didn’t put me back in my pre-pregnancy clothes. But now I had a 6 month old and was still not out of maternity clothes. It was time!
I wanted to lose weight and be in shape again, but I had so many things standing in my way. Just like you, right?
These are the 3 biggest barriers standing in our way of getting in shape:
“But I don’t have time”
Who has said this? I said it for about 8 years and my body showed it. I used my child as an excuse most times too. My husband worked late and I already got up at the crack of dawn for work and getting ready for the day. I am that person that would sleep until the absolute last minute I could without being late for work. So I got a hand me down jogging stroller (those things are expensive by the way) and decided I was going to run in the evenings when I got home. My son, who was 3 at the time, was nestled in with his tablet and off we went. I am pretty sure a kid learning how to ride a tricycle was faster than me, but I was doing something and that made me happy.
“But my body hurts”
Amen sister! I was in a car accident about 3 months before finding out I was pregnant. After the accident, I wasn’t able to exercise due to the tenderness of my hip. I decided to see a chiropractor while I was starting to run again because I didn’t want my bones to shift too much with all of this new movement I was doing. My body did hurt for w while after starting to be active again, longer than I wanted it to. I decided to tone down my activity to let my body adjust.
“But I don’t feel skinny yet”
I am the queen of wanting instant gratification. If it doesn’t work in about 10 minutes I am on to the next thing. If there was a pill that would suck all of the excess fat out of my body and I literally didn’t have to move at all I would have done it. Oh and it would have to be about $10 too, on a budget here. So what to do when you have little spare money and need to lose weight and get fit? I had to run/walk. It was free and I could do it on my time. Definitely not instant gratification, but it did pay off over time. Also a great stress reliever, don’t always have money for a therapist either.
Bottom Line: You have to find what works for you. What works for me may not work for everyone else and vice versa. Every person and body is different and there will probably be a lot of trial and error to find the best fit. I was in a specific situation that allowed me to find the best fit for me.
I hope all of you find a way to overcome your barriers to achieve your goal and get to where you need to be. Unfortunately sometimes we have to be at the bottom to find our strength and determination.
Brought to you by Sara Gooden Plenty!
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