*beepbeepbeepbeep*
The annoying sound of my alarm echoes in my ear and I blindly reach under my pillow to turn off the small travel clock I stuffed there. I glance at the other clock across the room. 4:55am. Oh, right, it’s a gym day.
I slide out of bed silently and grab my robe. Everyone is still asleep and I’d like to keep it that way. Nothing can spoil a gym morning more than a wakeful child, so I try to gather all my gym stuff the night before. I dislike stumbling around in the dark trying to pick out my black workout shirt from the navy blue one by Braille.
Once downstairs, I throw on the clothes I laid out the night before, pull my hair back, brush my teeth and head out the door. The gym opens at 5:30, so I want to be there right as the doors open. This gives me about 30 minutes to work out. It’s not much but with work, kids, and a husband’s crazy schedule it’s better than nothing.
After my first baby, I slimmed back down to my pre-pregnancy weight quite easily. Breastfeeding, forgetting to feed myself regularly (hello mommy-brain!), and having to carry around an ever increasing weight helped burn off the extra baby weight. Plus, the only way my daughter would fall asleep at night or be calmed was by me cradling her in my arms as I bounced on my exercise ball. My thighs and abs were toned up quite nicely.
When number two came along, I hoped I could follow the same process with the added benefit of having to chase around an active 2 year old (hey, cardio!), but this little one was not calmed by the bounce-bounce-bounce of the exercise ball. Instead I had to just sit…and sit…and sit as she nursed herself to sleep. Not only was this not good for getting the blood flowing, but my toddler wasn’t impressed that Mommy could never play.
Eventually the weight came off, but my body shape wasn’t the same. I was softer around the middle and none of my pants fit the same. They fit …just not the way they should. It took about 6 months being back in a desk job for the pants to REALLY not fit since I was sitting at my desk for 7 hours a day, not exercising at all, AND succumbing to high calorie snacks in the afternoon.
So I made a pledge: I would get up early at least three days a week and go to the gym before work. So far I’m sticking to it, and while I’m not seeing major results it’s something that gets the blood flowing.
Now, if I could just stop nibbling on chocolate…
Printer-friendly version