I am over it...

Very.  Over.  It.

"It" being wearing my maternity clothes.  

  

So the time has come to get serious about getting out of them.  And back into my regular clothes.  

Settle in.  Grab some coffee or a DDP.  This is a long one.

Let's be real.  The first baby does a number on your body.  But it's nothing compared to the second one.  Straight up, I have the same amount of weight to lose at this point as I did after Aubrey Kate.  And yet I look like I've got at least ten extra pounds jiggling around my belly.

Talking with some friends about it, I said, "My regular jeans fit but I look like I have this muffin top sticking out."

One friend said, "Well, that just means you look like everyone else walking around."  It's true.  Muffin tops are an epidemic it seems.  But not one I'd like to participate in.  At least not willingly.

Another friend said, "You look like you have a muffin top because you do have a muffin top."

Awesome.

You might think I would be upset by such honesty but not at all.  I appreciated the realness and the fact someone could be that real with me.  Just proves we know each other well.  

Then there was some nice stuff about only being 8 weeks post baby and how no one expects me to bounce back like a celebrity, yadda, yadda, yadda.  

But, let's face it.  The muffin top had been exposed.   

And there's no putting the lid back on the muffin tin, so to speak.

At six weeks post-baby, I started walking and doing a little running.  Not every day.  Because let's face it, the newborn is really in charge here and if he says No run today then there's, in fact, no run today.  But I kept eating my treats of snickers and ice cream.  

Until I stepped on the scale last week and realized I'd gained three pounds. 

I did that after AK too.  Once the breast feeding came to an absolute end, my ability to eat willy nilly also ended.  But my craving for snickers did not.  

Would so love to say seeing that number cured me of my sugar cravings.  Not the case though.  However, it did give me the desire to overcome the cravings.  And apart from a slip up on Saturday (when Mom and I had chocolate milkshakes for dinner), I've managed to give up sweets in all forms entirely.  

So with that hurdle...semi-managed...it's time to get serious about getting OUT of these darn maternity clothes.  And that means, I need to MOVE.  

To help, I've set little goals to keep me on track and I've decided to use this ole blog to document because:

1)  I need some form of accountability  

2)  I really like naming stuff

3)  It's my blog and I can pretty much do what I want

4)  And because whether I fail or succeed, it will be a real and truthful journey

If you would like to join along, come on!  We can share playlists, exercises, recipes and some motivation.  If you just simply want to attempt to get healthy by reading all this from the comfort of your chair, good luck.  But welcome aboard!

Just a few simple rules:

1)  No actual sizes and numbers:  Lots of reasons for that but mainly because my size Whatever is just that.  Mine.  Your size Whatever might be two sizes smaller or two sizes bigger.  The actual number doesn't really matter.  All that matters is that's your size Healthy.  Or Comfortable.  Or Blissful.  

2)  Not the Biggest Loser:  I adore TBL.  Seriously.  (BTW, Jillian returns this season.  Oh happy day!)  But I don't have eight hours a day to exercise nor am I morbidly obese.  The contestants go from eating 5,000 or even 10,000 calories a day to eating 2,000.  Maybe 2,500.  Add the exercise and calorie change together and yes, they can lose 15 pounds a week.  I'm simply not capable of that.  This will be slow, healthy, more reasonable weight loss.  Like the usual 1-2 pounds a week.  I hope.

3)  To Gym or Not to Gym:  Currently, we don't have a gym membership so my exercise will be either outside, at home in front of the TV/computer or on my six year old elliptical (currently upstairs and serving as my mom's closet).  I do have an exercise ball and light weights somewhere but I suspect the two month old and two year old will be functioning as most of my weights for a while.  All that to say, I'm not hiring a trainer and going to a fancy gym.  There's no room in the budget for that.  This will be me doing what I can each day with what I have available.  If you have a gym and a trainer, more power to you!  Share the tips you learn!

Okay.  Wow.  Is anyone still reading this?  Time to wrap it up.

So here are my goals:

1)  Size Praise Be:  September 30th - Out of the maternity jeans and into my post-baby jeans.  They are two sizes bigger than my regular jeans but they are super cute and make me feel normal.

2)  Size Sassy:  October 28th - From post-baby to my fat jeans.  Stop it.  Everyone has "fat jeans."  I wore these into my second trimester since they fit so low on my belly.  But that means the muffin top is serious in these.  That gives me seven weeks to lose some of that.  Yes, there will be crunches involved. 

3)  Size Stacy London:  December 15th - From fat jeans to my trouser/wide legs jeans in my regular size.  I find the weight on my thighs to be the hardest to lose.  These jeans give me just a little bit of extra room (and time) to work that off.  I'd like to wear these for our 12th anniversary date!  

4)  Size All Me:  These are my regular sized jeans.  I.  Love.  Them.  To get into these, I'll need to lose the extra weight and also be in good shape.  Or to put it another way, no jiggly bits.  This is also when I know I am healthiest.  My cardio health is strong enough to give me some extra calories for things I love, like snickers and ice cream.  Think "I run for chocolate cake."  My goal for these is April.  There's a family event then and I have an outfit already picked out to wear.  

Yes, this is a long-range plan but I feel confident there will be some set-backs and restarts.  Two kids, rain/cold/snow, holidays and just plain laziness will happen.  Better to plan for it ahead of time than expect myself to be perfect every step of the way.

Don't worry.  There will still be lots of pictures of cute babies and discussions of challenges and ah-ha moments in my spiritual life.  

And gratefulness.  Lots of that.  No muffin top could ever make me lose site of how blessed we are.  Aubrey Kate and Rhys are worth every extra pound.  

First, here's a little cuteness for you:

And a picture of me, 8 weeks post-baby (and yes, those are my maternity jeans):

And a photo of my Size Sassy jeans hanging on the back of my bathroom door as daily motivation:

Let's do this!