Motherhood and Fitness

I was self-flagellating in MrM's presence, going on about how people who started running at the same time as I have gone so much further and become serious athletes while I am sitting here nursing a few extra inches. I was gently reminded that I spent the last 2 years either being pregnant or raising an infant. Good reason, but every time I tell myself "Look what YOU made in this time", it is quickly followed by "OMG Look at that gut!". It is very hard to justify how you are if you can't be happy with it.

Weight was not the problem for me. I probably shed all my baby weight in the first two months. But the battle of the gut has been raging since then. I can't conquer the fat. I yo-yo a couple of pounds every so often, no big deal. The hardest thing to conquer though (or a close second to the gut) is real fitness. I can't run the way I used to. I can't bike the way I used to. It is apparent to me that even if I have the size and shape of the person I was in 2007, I don't have the strength.

So, I have a new motto. It goes "Mommy on the inside, athlete on the outside". I may never look like a true athlete, but nothing prevents me from looking firmer. Like what Katherine Heigl's boss says in Knocked Up, "Tighten up"! This motto won over "Soft on the inside, firm on the outside" in my own mental contest, though the use of the word "athlete" scares me.

Over the last month and a half, I have kept up a fairly good regimen of 2 weekdays of hill walk, 2 weekdays of trail run and one weekend day of a long walk or another trail run. Recently, I added "bricks" to my plan and intend to replace one of my trail run days with a brick day. I will be adding a day of yoga and I'll keep at it if I manage the rest of my schedule. Prenatal yoga was so good for me, so I think the real-deal has to be better, right? What else... I keep thinking of swimming but I hate swimming in the sun, driving far to the nearest indoor pool or waking up early enough for the morning hours at our neighborhood pool. Water time may not be in my future.

That's the new thing happening in my non-existent free time. I know it is crazy to run around in 100 deg weather, but you can't choose to live in Texas, choose not to be a gym member and then complain about heat, right? The only alternative is for me to have a Wii+Fit so I can air box and ghost-tennis from the comfort of my house (hint, hint, MrM). I thank my friends for getting me hooked in one evening!