Excuses, Excuses, Excuses - Part Four

I'm fat because I was married. This is one excuse I think many people can relate to. But first I must say, Yikes! Where has the time gone? I know I promised this final installment of my Excuses blog long ago and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to get this up on the web. As some of you may know, I recently went back to school and that has been more tiring than I originally anticipated. So, now that I'm getting in the swing of things at school and I've recovered a bit from the recent time change I've managed to scrape together sometime to blog.

OK, as I was saying. Getting married made me fat. Whoa! Before you blow me off, hear me out! When I found that special someone and said "I do", the hunt was over. As with so many people, once we're married the need to attract a "mate" is no longer an issue and we get comfortable. Slowly we replace trips to the gym for afternoons grilling steaks with our other married friends. Instead of worrying about fitting into our skinny jeans, us girls think to ourselves, "He loves me even in my ratty old sweats... isn't that sweet." Well, it's not. Now that we're feeling "unconditionally loved" we don't stress about looking "hot" all the time. Heck, we don't worry about being hot but maybe once a month! The more time we spend in our stretchy yoga pants (and less time in our skinny jeans) the wider our yoga pants stretch!

If that isn't enough, as a newlywed we become obsessed with being "domestic goddesses" and find ourselves watching the Food Network trying to "out do" our last meal. Next thing you know, you're making filet mignon with Bearnaise sauce or fettuccine with prosciutto cream sauce for the spouse, serving five different deliciously fattening appetizers for your hubby and his friends on game day and don't even get me started about cooking for the in-laws! Let's just say that we all tap into our inner Julia Child or Emeril Lagasse, neither of whom are known for their low-fat recipes. Now is just about the time those yoga pants are starting to really pull at the seams. Time to buy some new clothes but wait... what is this I see?

Oh yes! So, we've been married for a while- six months, maybe six years; either way, at some point many of us decide to expand our families. Now this one is a doozie. Do you know how many people offered me seconds, even thirds, when I was pregnant? All of them saying, "Come on now! You're eating for two!" Yeah, more like two football teams! It was insane the amount of food pushed on me by well meaning family and friends. Now as with many pregancies, the further along I got, the less active I became. I gained 60 lbs during my first pregnancy and although I was eventually able to lose about 45 of those, the damage had already been done. I gained all 45 lbs back during my second pregnancy, only losing about 25 before getting pregnant with my last child. During that third pregnancy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes at around eight weeks and was placed on a restricted diet. I only gained 18 lbs that last time around. It took me two years to lose all 18 of those. Now it doesn't take a rocket scientist to notice the my weight gain far out weighed my weight loss over the course of those nine years. Unfortunately, my story is not just mine but that of so many women. It gave, new meaning for the term "baby fat."

Now, this next part might be uncomfortable for some to read and I apologize ahead of time but this is a REAL blog about MY real life. It's not all pretty and I understand that it is not true for everyone but statistically speaking it's becoming the story for more and more people When a marriage falls apart people often turn to food (smoking, alcohol, shopping... enter your addiction here) as a means of escape and comfort. I did. Did you know some people believe that it is physically impossible to be sad while you're eating? Believe it. I lived it. I ate because I was stressed. I ate because I was lonely. I toiled in the kitchen to avoid my problems (and my spouse). You know where this is going, don't you? Someone needed to eat all those goodies I'd slaved over all day! Who better than the person desperately in need of canceling out the unhappiness. After a while, it becomes "we're fat because we're unhappy because we're fat." The vicious cycle goes round and round, snowballing until one day you wake up a miserable butterball. (Insert my picture here)

I think it's pretty obvious that I don't truly blame my weight problem on my marriage but just in case you thought I was completely serious. I don't. That being said, I do recognize the strange effects it had on my decision making process. Basically- I got married, went a bit nuts, and became a psycho Betty Crocker with a habit of overeating. Now I'm a single parent who traded in her cake pans for a veggie steamer and is on a calorie reduced diet. Oh and I guess I'm still a bit nuts... but in the fun, happy way. I hope you enjoyed my long overdue final Excuses blog. As always, I love comments from the peanut gallery and you can always reach me on Facebook and Twitter. Until Sunday's weigh in, have a wonderful week! Thanks again to all my fans!

Weighing In - Week Three

Slowly but surely, moving in the right direction. This past week was incredibly tough. Too much to do and never enough hours in the day. The results this week are mostly due to good diet, as I was horribly remiss in my workouts each day.
The trick was to limit my calorie intake to reflect the drop in exercise time. I allowed myself only 1200 - 1300 calories per day. I found that having three 250-calorie meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) with four 100-calorie snacks per day allowed me to eat often and well. Instead of purchasing my snacks from the vending machines at school, I would pack a small cooler in the trunk of my car which held pre-measured portions of yogurt, cottage cheese, and string cheese. Also important to help keep me from snacking all day was leaving my desk every chance I could. When you have one class for ten hours a day, the instructors tend to give you mini-5-minute breaks every hour and a half or so. Instead of sitting at my desk gabbing with my neighbors, I chose to walk. I would walk around the class or school if I was raining otherwise I tried to walk outside in the parking lot. This wasn't "brisk" walking by any means but it was better than doing nothing.
I'm hoping that this next week I'll be able to get into a nice routine that better allows me to schedule in workout times. If not, I'll continue with my reduced calorie diet and bits and pieces of walking.
Off the subject but worth mentioning- I've found some really great snacks that work well with my diet and I thought I'd share. This week I often snacked on Orville Redenbacher's Natural Simply Salted - 50% less fat popcorn. YUM! Compared to my kids choice of "Movie Theater Butter" popcorn, this is a much healthier snack. Best of all, there are less than ten ingredients, all of which I know and can pronounce! Secondly I've become a fan of the Skinny Cow Fudge Bars. At only 100 calories per bar, I often make this one of my afternoon snacks when I'm having those "junk" food cravings about 3pm.
Well... 4.4lbs total weight loss is not bad. Here's hoping to see 186lbs next Sunday.
Thanks again to all my supporters.