I weighed 215 pounds in 2009 after I had my oldest son. (I weighed 249 lbs the day he was born!) I took the concept of weight gain during pregnancy to a whole new level. I ate EVERYTHING in site and gained 80 lbs during my pregnancy.
And being the naive woman I was then, I thought that everything would melt off of me the second the baby was born. “It’s ALL baby weight, right?” Wrong. Oh, I was so wrong!
So, after I’d been nursing my son over 6 months and I still couldn’t get any of my clothes to fit (and I was totally embarrassed to go shopping for new ones), I decided I HAD to do something.
I threw on some shorts and a tank top, grabbed my running shoes (though I’m pretty sure those shoes never saw a speed-walking pace), and stepped outside.
My inner dialogue started before I even shut the front door. “This is a piece of cake. You used to be in great shape. You can do this. This’ll be so easy. Like riding a bicycle. Well, except for that horrible time you crashed and blood went everywhere and you had gravel stuck in your elbow. Just, don’t fall down today, okay?”
And so, I went on my first walk.
Walking is man’s best medicine. – Hippocrates
Now I wish I could sit here and tell you that after that one day where I walked maybe 20 minutes followed by lots of boob sweat and a pain in my side, I was running 5 miles every other day. But that’s not what happened. Nowhere near that.
It took me months before I could consistently run further than a mile without feeling like I was going to die. And that was hard for me to even work up to that.
I’ve been an athlete all my life. Played basketball since I was 4. Played volleyball through middle school and high school. Cheered all 4 years of high school. But seeing myself in the mirror overweight, stressed out with this whole “New Mom” gig, and completely exhausted really brought me down.
“I don’t want to be this person. I swore I’d never be the mom who lets herself go and doesn’t pay attention to her own body. I want to feel good about myself again. I want to have the energy to play with my son. I want to look in the mirror and be proud of the woman I am.”
So I started. I walked every day. And slowly but surely, that walk turned into a walk-jog. Then that walk-jog turned into the slowest jog you’ve ever seen in your life. Then that slow jog turned into a quicker jog. Then almost a run. Then a longer distance. Then an even longer distance.
Months later, I looked in the mirror to see a woman who loved herself again – her stretch marked, beautiful self.
But it all circles back to that one day. That one walk. That one moment of self-doubt where I pushed past the negative and took a few steps into the unknown.
Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you’re there today. Maybe you don’t love yourself right now.
Friends, this isn’t okay. I want you to be in love with your body and feel healthy in your skin! I know it’s hard to try something new or to step out of your comfort zone. But I don’t want you to live another single second of your life not happy with who you are.
You are beautiful and you’re awesome and you have everything you need to be the best you already with you. It’s just waiting for you to tell the dumb voices in your head, “Shut up! I’m in control now. And I’m going to start today!”
Keep it up Rookies! We all have to start somewhere!
– Krystal
