I used to be a skinny girl. I loved being a skinny girl. When I got pregnant with my first, I weighed 126 pounds. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a buffet that could keep me down. I was a power eater. I just didn’t get full. I’d only stop eating when I was sick of chewing the food.
My Life BK (Before Kids)
So I ended that pregnancy at 178 pounds and was furious with myself. I just assumed I could eat all I want and it’d just fall right off when I had the baby. I even nursed him a full year and was excited because I heard nursing is a workout in itself. Well, not for me. I was starving. Those extra calories I burned producing milk led me back to the buffet. I was weak with hunger and because of this, my weight stayed up.
Shoot forward three years and I’m gearing up for my second child. I start this pregnancy at 160 pounds. I wasn’t too intent on losing the weight since I knew I was planning this pregnancy. I told myself I’d watch what I ate and exercise daily. Then I’d deliver and—POOF—I’d be skinny.
Seven Months Pregnant with Jake
So I start off great; I’m really paying attention to my body. I got my husband to get me a treadmill, swearing I’d walk daily and get in shape. Wrong. I was so sick my first trimester I could barely get out of bed. I lost touch with my friends and neglected my poor toddler. It was all I could do to get out of bed and drag myself to the couch. My husband called in to work to take care of Jake when he just couldn’t sit around watching TV anymore.
Once the second trimester came around and I started feeling better, the hunger from the first pregnancy revisited itself. I won’t go into detail, but I came out of it at a whopping 205 pounds. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror. This time, the motivation was for real.
The Only Picture I Ever Allowed Taken (205 Pounds)
I started the South Beach Diet and really got to working out. I did. I had a great workout video I loved and had worked for me in the past. I did this all religiously for a few weeks and didn’t lose a pound. My knees hurt from the high impact aerobics and I started to lose hope. Then came the Wii Fit
I hadn’t ever heard of Nintendo’s Wii Fit. We already had a Wii and I loved the interaction it provided my family. Our team bowling was a blast. One day, my husband emailed me the link to the Wii Fit and tells me he thinks it would work for me. I’m not competitive, but with my husband, I have to win. We decide to get it and see who can achieve their goals first. His to gain and mine to lose.
Let me tell you, the first five minutes I stepped on the Wii Fit balance board, I was motivated. If any of you are familiar with the Wii, you know that you have the ability to create a likeness of yourself, known as a “Mii.” I loved my little Mii. She was tall, blonde, and skinny. Imagine my surprise when I boldly step on the balance board my first day to get my weight and BMI assessment and my skinny little me starts swelling as the scale charts my weight. Suddenly I have a chunky Mii and my BMI was way above where it should be.
My husband went straight to the strength training but that all bored me. I wanted to play games. I tried out every single game and played them all until I unlocked them in the advanced levels. Each day I’d log in and get weighed and that scale started to move. All I was doing was playing games. I was floored. Soon, I was so good at these games I thought I’d try the yoga and strength sections.
