I have been struggling with weight since adolescents and tried more diets than I can count. Losing weight and keeping it off with diet alone has been impossible. I love food too much! I live to eat!
It wasn’t until I had children that I had a weight break though. Before kids I was a complete couch potato! My life consisted of work, eating, and lying on the couch. Everything changed after having my first child. My first baby was extremely colicky! She honestly never stopped crying. There were only two things that would console her, 1) breastfeeding or 2) pushing her in a stroller. Needless to say I lost an enormous amount of weight feeding and walking my daughter (I can’t tell you how many miles I put on that stroller), and she gained an enormous amount of weight. My daughter weighed 26 pounds at 6 months, and no, I’m not exaggerating. After the colicky days ended, I came to realize that I could eat more of what I wanted when I exercised. I know that it sounds so simple, and you may be wondering why I didn’t already know this. Well, I thought that I would hate exercising, but it really wasn’t so horrible after all.
Today exercise has become a key part of my daily life. I workout on my elliptical and treadmill six days a week. I am really lucky to have these two pieces of equipment in my basement along with a television that has PVR. My workout has become me time, time that I can enjoy watching my favourite shows, the Good Wife, Oprah, True Blood, Brothers and Sisters, and the Mentalist. Now that the weather has improved I have also started to walk and run outside. I do this with friends. I have tried to make working out fun and enjoyable.
So try to incorporate exercise into your daily life and you may surprise yourself by losing weight and having fun too!