Monday, May 26, 2008

Keepin' It Real: The Bottom Line

When I got married I weighed 128 pounds. The week after my wedding, I went back to my normal weight of 132. Either way...it was a splendid weight. I was 22 years old. I was 5 foot 7 inches and I wore a size 8 or 10. I really can't remember. All I know is, I was skinny.


Six years later I was no longer 132 pounds, but I bet I wasn't much over 145 when I got pregnant with Sweetheart. While pregnant, I ate like there was no tomorrow. I was ravenously hungry and I listened to my body. I topped out somewhere in the 190's. Sadly, as Barbara Bush once said, the baby did not weigh 50 or 60 pounds. I seem to remember I lost some of it. Some being the operative word.


Three and half years later I got pregnant with Little Bit. I didn't have as much time to eat and Sweetheart kept asking for bologna to eat which kept me in a constant state of nauseousness. However, I still managed to gain quite a bit of weight. Just as with my other pregnancy, I got asked several times if I was having twins. It would have been a great excuse, I'll give you that. When Little Bit was born, she was so fat and I said out loud to no one in particular, "HOW can you just be born and already have that many rolls?" My dad answered, "I believe it was all the Casa Ole' someone ate before she was born."


It was supposed to be a rhetorical question, Dad.


But I really lost weight after Little Bit was born. I was back in a size 12. It was awesome. I don't remember feeling very skinny because even though I was back in a number that I liked....things had, um, shifted a bit. No one really warned me about that.


When I quit work 6 months later I lived in blue jean shorts or blue jeans or wind pants for the next year of my life. The next time I picked up a pair of work pants I was surprised to find that they didn't zip. It seems that wind pants and jeans don't give you a very fair estimate of your weight gain. What a shock.


My bottom had decided to expand. The hips, stomach, and thighs must have thought that looked like fun and they decided to join in. I was unaware of this meeting.


My next job landed my bottom in a big cushy office chair just steps away from a snack machine. This arrangement was working really well for my newly expanded body parts. I slowly realized that I was skinnier after I had my second daughter than I was now. Very disturbing.


And that brings us to my current number of 16. It's not a number I like very much. And that brings us to our current new purchase.















This was my husband's idea, by the way. Now we all have bikes and can ride together as a family. And towing a 34 pound preschooler around on a bike when you haven't ridden a bike in upwards of 10 years has GOT to have an effect on all those body parts I was talking about, right?

I guess I'm joining you, GB...even if the numbers I'm after are not so scientific (OK, they're located on the tag of my clothes.) It's going to be a summer of fun, isn't it?

8 comments:

  1. You should do a "get in summer shape" blog carnival- kind of like the rest of your KIR posts! And count me in. I was a 12/14 before I had little Princess. Not small, but at 5'9", it looked pretty good on me. After Little Princess, 16. I can now (after Maya) wear the size 18's that I was using as maternity clothes when I carrying the Little Princess. I need to lose 65 pounds! Wow! So count me in. As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of doing bi-weekly update posts starting next month to give myself an added amount of accountability.

    Good luck to you, Brenda! You can do this!

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  2. Looks like you will be having fun while you are whittling away the pounds.

    I really need to lose weight also. I am close to weighing what I weighed when I delivered my first child. Unfortunately I am not currently preganant. Sigh.

    Good Luck and have fun!!!!

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  3. Okay, just tell me this. Why, WHY does nobody tell you that when you are the same size before two pregnancies and after that those former clothes won't fit because of "The Shift"? Tell me please. Ugh!

    Good for you! I am so proud of you, and I know your posts will motivate me very much. Just like GB's did. I was convicted then. And now. :)

    Can't wait to hear about the healthy new you!

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  4. Maybe we can be accountability buddies! Because after the first week, and the first slip...

    Let's just say that the slightest measure of success lulled me into a state of false confidence and now I am heaving myself back on the wagon.

    Because we reap what we sow.

    I wish I could ride my new bike! The child I have who is the most unsteady on the bike is 65 pounds. No way am I heaving that princess around on a rickshaw. ;)

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  5. Terry, so help me if you pass me up I'm going to get really mad! Being that I haven't had a baby in 4 years----I better lose weight before you do!!! Now I need to hurry.

    Julie--I'm right there with you. I have many times looked in the mirror and thought, "Yeah, but if I was 5 months pregnant, I would look really good right now!"

    Karly, did I say healthy? I didn't say healthy did I? I just bought a bike, that's all. (Aack! The pressure!)

    And GB, this plan for family biking involved buying new training wheels for Sweetheart b/c she just doesn't have what we call the "coordination" just yet. Not sure where she gets that from...
    And I have often thought, "I wish I could go work out like GB!" The heat alone around here will make me lose weight!

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  6. All right, I'm so glad to read this post and everyone's comments. I'm in the same boat (and pants) as you, Brenda.

    I bet we could set up a little...ahem, competition? Biggest Loser Style?

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  7. OK Rachel, I am so sorry AI didn't work out for you this season. I truly am. But you are NOT starting a bloggy reality show based on MY BUTT!!!!!

    I'm kidding! Obviously, we all have some issues to work out. I'll see what I can come up with!

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  8. Brenda,
    You know that Terry has an "unfair" advantage over you...she is currently nursing that ADORABLE daughter of hers. Maybe you could hire yourself out as a wet nurse. heehee

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I don't get to talk to a lot of actual grown-ups during the day, so your comments make me really happy! :)