It’s summer. (Mostly — as I write this, it is chilly and overcast.) My youngest is now 2. What do these things have to do with one another?
I want my beach body back.
Well, I’ve been wanting my beach body back pretty much since the day Teddy was born, but I’ve been on a long and winding path of emotions. First, I was patient. Then I was too tired to care. Next came a long cycle of denial (“If I just pull up my pants a little higher, voila, le muffintop disappears!”) interspersed with dejection (“My bikini days are over, waah.”)
I wanted to do something about it, I really did, but there were so many other things to do — sleep, work, make dinner for the kids, sweep, do yoga in my closet whenever 20 minutes fell in to my lap. I felt I didn’t have the bandwidth to take on slimming down. Just contemplating working out and eating salads felt so tiring.
A couple weeks ago, I had an epiphany. Exercising and making healthier food choices didn’t have to require a lot of new energy. I was already spending plenty of energy on either willing myself not to see how I truly looked (I can spend a lot of the time in the mirror poufing my shirt just so) or feeling bad about it. All I had to do was take that energy I was already spending on feeling bad and use it toward healthier pursuits.
Just that shift in how I thought about losing weight has made it feel easy to exercise for at least 45 minutes most days of the week. Or to take 2 minutes to think about something healthier to eat than just making myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because that’s what I was making for the kids. It’s been like trading in a heavy jar of pennies and getting crisp dollar bills in return — same currency, way different feel.
I’m down 2 pounds so far, but shedding those stale beliefs that my only options were to feel bad about my mummy tummy or to pretend it wasn’t there feels like I’ve gotten a pretty big monkey off my back.
And so my question to you is this: What if it were possible to enjoy something you typically dread?
Hi Kate
Yes a timely post for me. My son is now one year old and I have never felt more ‘inspired’ shall we say, to loose weight. I’ve always been ‘soft and curvy’ and never really worried about it too much. I used to walk in the mornings BC. And I have maintained some form of daily mind/body connection from prenatal days. (Amazing I know but little bits of inspiration would keep coming my way, some from you).
And then I had to stay in a small seaside town on the east coast of Australia with loads of hilly streets. And voila! Here I am back out there at 730 with my bub *loving* walking those hills!! If I can get right into the heart pumping I seem to enjoy the walk more. Alas next week we return to my home coastal village, where the closest hill is 40 mins walk away. I dread it. But I just have to learn to love that again too right? Maybe I’ll be able to learn loving to walk faster to make the flat walk quicker??
Teej
Hi Teej. First, congrats on keeping your mind and body on speaking terms. It ain’t easy, but it’s huge! That is awesome. Ooh, your cardio walks with your little one sound great. Sorry to hear you’re headed back to the flatland, but it’s a good metaphor for life. Everything changes. There’s something appealing waiting for you there that perhaps you haven’t noticed before. Your mind/body practice will help you stay open enough to see it and capitalize on it. I just know it!