Pursuing Life as a Virtuous Wife: The Weight Cycle (8-28-13)

I don’t know if anyone told you, but gaining weight is SUPER easy for us women! – with the exception of you few out there that somehow eat and eat but still stay the same in your cute little frame and never change a bit!) Good for you guys. Really. But one thing you will never truly understand is the frustration that comes with massive weight gain (and by massive, I mean roughly 10 pounds in a couple months; 30 pounds in 6 months etc.)

It’s a painful cycle, one that can completely flourish under the right circumstances. Sadly, one of the HAPPIEST things that can happen to a woman can cause this cycle to begin, at full force. Can anyone guess what that happy thing is? You probably have it right… Getting married.

For me though, the cycle unfortunately began in high school. I was skipping along, minding my own business when out of the blue, one day, my jeans wouldn’t fit right, so I bought one size up… no big deal. It creeps up on you so slyly that you almost don’t even notice it happens. Then a day comes that usually looks different for each woman, but almost always has the same end result. You look in the mirror and you see something. Whether it be your hips, your belly, or your developing double-chin, it’s as though all of the sudden you can see clearly what has happened to you. You’ve gained weight. Not just 5-pounds-I-can-still-squeeze-in-to-my-favorite-jeans type of weight, but the kind that has truly altered the way you thought you looked. (nothing CRAZY here — just enough to really make a difference)

For me it was my arms. Usually thin and small, my upper arms were spreading when I held them down at my sides. What was this?! It was like an epiphany moment. Dramatic life changes tend to do this to me. I find comfort in food, even in good times. I thought for sure this would happen only when rough situations arose. In high school, it was because I transitioned to homeschooling for a year because of a really bad case of mono. But getting married?! It’s been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Why now?!

In high school I was able to drop that weight in three months and keep it off until college. My weight fluctuated a little bit while in college, but not much… so almost a year after my wedding, I am sad by the weight gain that once again so creepily and maliciously invited it’s way in to my life.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty confident and happy with who I am

I have a loving husband and amazing family and friends and I’m in no way ever going to strive to have a body or look a way that is unhealthy or unrealistic. But what has become increasingly obvious is how EASY it is to be UNhealthy! Going out to dinner, cooking comfort food (because it’s delicious AND what I cook best) are all culprits in this silly game.

I’ve said all of this to say that once I had my “realization day” and truly noticed that I had gotten a little too comfy with the routine of life, and paying no attention to what I ate, I had a commitment to make. I got a gym membership a couple months ago, I attempted portion control and cooking lighter, and would slowly find myself creeping back into the old routine.

WHY is it so hard? Because I’m comfy.

Alex suggested that we come up with a reward of some type. Some kind of motivation for me to push myself (other than being healthier, obviously). After days of thinking about it, I decided that getting Disneyland Annual Passes would be the BEST reward! So I pushed myself more, then slowly crept back again…

Suddenly, something crossed my mind… and that something was…

Babies.

No, this isn’t some sort of clever announcement, but just a general thought that I believe deserves meditation. I learned in health class in college that it is really important to be healthy and active PRIOR to getting pregnant if you want your body to bounce back more quickly and have an easier pregnancy over all. Not only that, but all kinds of other benefits as well. Also, after having babies, I want to be able to keep up with them, have energy and feel GOOD. All of this plus I think it’s so important to pursue a healthy lifestyle for my husband as well! We all want a spouse that takes care of themselves.

I think All of this is serious motivation, so what’s holding me back? I conquered this in high school in 3 months. boom. back to normal. Now? It’s like I can never make it more than about 4 days in commitment mode.

Something happened though, I feel like it’s for real this time!

My goals do not include having a certain body or even achieving a certain weight (although, there is a certain weight involved in getting those Disneyland passes!!), but it’s really about getting healthy. I don’t have a ton (just a moderate, realistic amount) of weight to lose, I just have a body and lifestyle to change, and in many ways I think that can be more difficult.

Being completely candid here, I would need to lose 30 pounds to get BACK to where I was the DAY I met my husband almost 5 years ago

So I ask for support! I read in an article just today about how important it is to PUT IT OUT THERE what your commitments are because it’s when people KNOW and encourage you, that it makes you move toward those goals even harder.

I want to do this for my husband and my future babies

I think that taking care of myself is part of being a good wife to my husband and a good future mama for sure!

I may even take a “before” pic

(just for me).