The ABCs of Mommyhood: E

Exercise.

I should do more exercise. This thought is not really unique to mommyhood. I thought this often before I became a mom. However, now the need to exercise is more imperative. I really need to lose the baby weight.

Believe it or not, I had actually lost all my baby weight. If you had asked me at the end of July, I would have happily told you that I was back to pre-baby weight. Yay! Go me! I had done nothing to deserve this. I was breastfeeding and avoiding exercise like the plague. Rumor has it that you burn 600 calories per day breastfeeding. I have not been able to verify that with any reliable source material, but it's a great story I tell myself each time I reach for another Oreo. Regardless of my terrible eating habits, I really had lost the baby weight. All 43 pounds of it.

Then, I went to Missouri. My dad was receiving hospice care at home. Since I don't have a job, I went back to spend time with my dad and mom. It was a rather difficult and trying time. That's a story for another day. I was home for almost four weeks. Four weeks in Missouri could wreck anybody's diet--and I mean diet in the loosest sense of the word. From February until July, I ate my fair share of sweets, but I also ate a ton of fruits and vegetables.

Then, there was August in Missouri. My parents are both well-liked in my small hometown. When people in small towns are suffering, their friends bring food and lots of it. There's nothing like homemade chicken and dumplings to help you through your grief, unless it's beef lasagna, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, brisket, pork loin, or ham. There was also any number of desserts to choose from: german chocolate cake, chocolate pie, homemade coconut creme pie, brownies with nuts, brownies without nuts, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies, etc, etc. The fruits and veggies were sort of lacking, with the exception of fresh tomatoes out of the garden. Plus, there was more soda and sweet tea than we could drink. I gained 10 pounds in less than a month. Yay! Go me!

So, now I need to exercise. But, it's nearly impossible with an infant. My kid hardly ever naps, so I've decided I have to wake up early to get my work out in. Jillian Michaels and I had words this morning. Most of my words were not very nice ones. But, I have used my 30-Day Shred video twice in the last four days, so that's saying something. I'll keep the interwebs updated on whether or not I actually make any progress with exercising on a semi-regular basis.

I feel like this post was really about food, but that's way better than exercising anyway.

This is me about a week before Alex joined us.
Luckily, most of those 43 pounds really were
concentrated in my belly!