I normally just talk about home and family, but I'm going to depart a bit from that. Swimsuit season is almost upon us. No, not here in the NW, but in Texas, where we'll be in about a month, visiting friends and family we haven't seen in 3 years. Gulp. Oh, and did I mention that I've had 2 babies, nearly back to back in that time?! Double Gulp! Here's Baby #1, aka Ms. Toddler:
And Mr. Baby:
I'm not that much heavier than normal, but I'm definitely not as toned. I gain about 40 lbs with each pregnancy: half of it goes away in l&d, and about 3/5 of the rest of it is gone by the time my kiddos turn 6 months. But the last 5ish pounds is sticking stubbornly to my hips, thighs, and butt. I have a muffin top and I hate it. Fortunately or unfortunately, my husband likes me a bit heavier. The no-judgement part is wonderful, but when I do try to diet, he sabotages me as much as he can. He maintains that when I lose weight, my head looks too big for my body. Isn't he sweet? Don't get me wrong, I don't hate myself or anything like that. And if I'm never any other size, it certainly won't mean the death of my self esteem. It is just that the way I think of myself doesn't match what I see in the mirror and it's...unsettling. Does that make sense?
To complicate matters, I breastfeed so "dieting" isn't really much of an option and while exercise is ok, it does have it's limits. Which is fine, because I hate exercising. So, I figured the best thing to do was to just cut out as many empty calories as possible, which means dessert and alcohol. Alcohol was a piece of cake, pun very much intended. If you figure about 80 calories per glass of red wine (my particular poison) 3 times per week, I'm saving myself 960 calories per month, or keeping about a third of a pound of my derriere, whichever you prefer. Dessert is harder for me. I've cut back but haven't given it up fully. But hey, every little bit helps, right? We also do not own a scale and probably never will. It makes it harder to measure progress, but I want to measure that by how I feel and how my clothes feel on me, rather than by a number. Or, I'm just scared of the scale. You decide. ;)
We're also kind of doing a modified Slim Fast thing: we're replacing 1 meal of our choosing per day with a shake. But it isn't a slim fast shake- those things have a crazy amount of sugar and they're expensive. I toss a banana, a cup of low fat yogurt, and 3 cups of almond milk into our Ninja and we split that. I get a reduced calorie meal, baby gets his nutrition. It's a win-win. And yes, the husband is on board, though he usually tops his shake off with a cookie or 3. And yup, he is maddeningly thin. Side note on our Ninja if you're thinking of getting one: in the words of Kung Fu Panda, "Said to be so sharp you can cut yourself just by looking at it." Just ask my index finger. The thing is amazing and probably the best 50 bucks we've ever spent on a kitchen appliance. This is the set we own, and it unequivocally ROCKS!
When
I already have my swimsuit and LOVE it. It fits, but it could look better. Actually, I have an embarrassing confession to make. I can't pick out my own clothes or dress myself. I can put together a stunning outfit, complete with accessories for someone else, but I simply cannot dress myself. I actually have to tell my husband what I need, i.e. 2 pairs of jeans, a long.sleeve top, and some sweaters, please! and he picks it out and I try it on and he tells me if I look ridiculous. Of course, I feel plenty ridiculous. SO yeah, where this all ties in is that when I went swimsuit shopping, I picked out a few, husband picked out a few and them I tried everything on. Mine were disasters. I am the world's oldest Barbie Doll. Except for the actual World's Oldest Barbie Doll.
Speaking of swimsuits, I found this little number on Pinterest and think it is just the coolest. Yes, I'm weird:
So, am I just strange, or do any of you struggle with this? Any good, healthy & safe weight loss tips?
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