Hello, lovely ladies and gents from the Urban Moms community! My name is Angella (with two L’s) and I’ve been hanging around these parts for a few years now, ever since I became friends with Ali and she clued me in that there was a fabulous Canadian community for Moms. I’ve guest posted twice before on the topics of bedtime routines and family fun in the evenings and had a lot of fun writing them, so when Ali asked me if I was willing to be a regular contributor for Colgate’s Life With A Smile section I didn’t hesitate to say yes.
Before I tell you what I’m going to be writing about, why don’t I tell you a little bit about myself? I have been married to my husband Matthew for over ten years now and we have three of the coolest kids that this world ever did see. Graham is eight, Nathan is six and Emily is four. The five of us have a lot of fun together now that we’ve all survived the baby stage.
I am a Chartered Accountant who returned back to full-time employment in an office last year after spending a number of years on the education side of things. In those early years of having babies and working from home, I discovered the world of blogs. My personal site, Dutch Blitz was started nearly six years ago as a means for me to share stories and photos of our family with friends and it’s led to writing opportunities elsewhere.
I write about marriage and relationships over at Work It! Mom, as well as for a number of other areas in the Work It! Mom community. That job has led me to be a regular contributor over at The Daily Grommet, but on their blog and writing product copy. I also have a photography site that has seen me guest posting at a number of sites over the years and then led to me having a weekly photography column at The Bad Moms Club.
And now, I’m here writing at Urban Moms. I’m not going to be writing about marriage or products or photography – I’ll be talking about health and fitness and the psychology of feeling better when you look better. What does an office-dwelling accountant have to say about health and fitness, you might be wondering? Quite a bit, actually, for it’s a big part of my life.
I grew up as a “big girl”. Not obese, no, but definitely overweight. My family wasn’t very athletic and while we didn’t eat fast food every day, we ate enough of it and tended to eat “hearty” meals almost every day. I am not one of those lucky girls with a rock star metabolism, so I carried around extra weight and generally felt uncomfortable in my own skin.
In my early twenties I met with a dietitian and learned about cutting back on starchy foods and eating more protein and vegetables. I also started participating in fitness classes and before I knew it I was at a healthy BMI and didn’t have to wear clothing sizes in the double digits. I’ve had three babies and managed to get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight every time.
I slip up sometimes (See: I ate my way through Christmas) but I then get back up again and back at it (See: I’m attending a Boot Camp class four days a week). I have my “fat days” just like most other women (See: Every 28-35 days) but for the most part, I’m comfortable in my skin. I’m strong, I have muscle tone and I generally like what I see when I look in the mirror. When I’m eating well and exercising I’m also more confident and feel, dare I say, sexy. My husband definitely reaps the benefits of that attitude.
So, here, I’m going to share with you things that I’ve learned along the way, things that I’m trying, things that didn’t work for me – pretty much anything health, fitness and weight related. I’m looking forward to what this little corner of the internet will bring in the way of encouraging women to feel the best about themselves as they can. If there’s anything you’d love me to cover or any questions you’d like to ask, fire away.