Q&A with Mary
Mary is a mother of four who blogs about her life at The Fish Pond .
How much weight have you lost so far?
I’m down a total of 33 pounds from being at my heaviest, when the number on the scale scared me, but only about 28 pounds of that is since I started actively trying to lose weight.
When did you start on your journey and what is your goal?
I started officially the very end of April 2010; my goal is to lose 50 pounds by the end of April 2011. I’ve hit a bit of a plateau these last couple of months; I haven’t gained any, but I haven’t been losing, either. My plan is to hit it hard again after the kids go back to school after the holidays.
I’ve noticed that you have been working toward your goals for many months and I feel that this is a very relatable and realistic situation for many mothers trying to reclaim their fitness. What helps you stay motivated and goal-oriented?
My mother died of a heart attack at 37, when I was 15. I want to be here for my kids, and I want to set a good example of a healthy lifestyle for them, which my mother didn’t do for me. I also think it’s important to model working hard for a long time to achieve a goal that’s important to me, and to deal with the challenges that entails – they need to see the value in working hard for something you want. I surround myself with friends who are fit and fitness oriented – on facebook, on sparkpeople, and on dailymile, and they inspire me with their efforts. I want to be healthier and strong, and as I’ve had success and those loads of laundry have seemingly gotten lighter, going up those stairs from my basement up three floors to my loft has become easier, it’s easier for me to stay focused and keep at it. I like being strong enough to carry my 11 year old up the stairs to her room when she’s being obstinate. Keeps them on their toes.
You have lost a lot of weight this past year, what are some of the exercises and dieting methods you used to lose the weight?
For exercise, I walk. Sometimes I’ll ride a stationary bike or swim, and I try to add in strength and toning exercises and light weight work. I really want to be a runner, but my knees and ankles really, really don’t want me to be a runner. Every so often I forget and run a little, but then my knees and ankles remind me of why that wasn’t such a good idea. So then I walk. And walk. And sometimes hike for variety. I like to do 4-5 miles at a time.
For diet I joined sparkpeople.com, a free healthy lifestyle site. I more or less knew how I should eat, but I really had no idea about portion control. But I can follow directions. I can eat a half a cup of yogurt and half a banana when it tells me to. I also like that I can customize the menus to incorporate my food allergies and preferences (I will NEVER eat lima beans). I also track my exercise on there, and it’s motivating to see how far I’ve come and how well I’m doing.
What’s your fitness background like — have you always led a healthy lifestyle?
Actually, the opposite, and that’s how I got into this situation in the first place! Up until I graduated from college I weighed 85 pounds, which isn’t as alarming as it sounds, because I’m only 4’10”. I could eat anything I wanted without gaining anything, and while I walked a lot, it was walking to get somewhere, rather than for exercise. I hated any type of exercise for the sake of exercise, and did the bare minimum I needed to do to get my phys ed credits in college. Once I graduated and got a “real” job, I stopped walking so much, and the pounds slowly but steadily crept on, more rapidly after I had four c-sections in 7 years. I had wanted to do something about it for a long time, but really it wasn’t until months after I weaned my last child that I felt I had the energy to deal with the challenge – it took 9 months until my body got the message that it didn’t have to keep anyone but me alive and stopped producing milk. I didn’t stop eating like I was trying to keep someone else alive, though.
You write for your own blog, and you stay home full time with your four kids. How do you make the time to exercise?
I just try to cut myself some slack and do what I can when I can. I make sure to get dressed in my workout gear first thing, so that I’m ready to go if I get a spare moment. I tried getting up early to exercise, but I’m really not a morning person and it takes me far too long to get going – I’d finally get warmed up about the time I needed to get my kids off to school. I would like to do 3 or 4 workouts a week, and some weeks I do that, but more often it’s only two, on the two days that my younger son is in preschool for four hours at a time. We do try to do something active as a family on the weekends, so I’m at least moving and burning a few calories then, even if it’s not the pace or intensity that I can do during my own workouts.
What have been your biggest hurdles and challenges in incorporating exercise and healthy eating into your daily life?
Simply the time factor. I don’t have a lot of time in my schedule, and my kids are young enough that I can’t leave them by themselves, so going out for a walk usually isn’t an option. We go together sometimes, but they can’t handle the distances I need to cover for the length of time that I need for it to do me some good. And my 4 year old wants to be attached to me when he’s around – I’m not ready for pushups with a 37 pound preschooler on my back. As far as the food, it’s a bit challenging because my kids are so picky, and due to some food allergies, I end up making several meals for one dinner. Mostly I try to eat really healthy breakfasts and lunches, so that I can be more flexible come dinner time.
Do you have any guidelines that you follow when it comes to food?
The only hard and fast rule is to cut myself some slack. I eat healthy most of the time, so I’m not going to beat myself up over the occasional chips and salsa binge. I take one day per week where I pretty much eat anything I want, in whatever quantity I like, and that way I don’t feel deprived and it’s easier to stay on track the rest of the week. What I have found as I have changed my diet overall is that I am naturally eating more healthily than I ever have. I don’t crave sweets like I used to, and actually a lot of sweet foods just don’t taste good me – they’re too sweet. I can even make banana bread and brownies for my family without eating them myself.
What unanticipated positive benefits have you reaped from your new healthy lifestyle?
Energy! I have so much more energy than I had for really all of my 30s, which was pretty much filled with having babies and nursing them. I am doing better at keeping on top of my housework than I ever have, and I can play with my kids now and keep up with them. They know they can’t take Mom right now – they can run faster for a while, but I can go a LOT longer than they can. I also got the best cholesterol report of my life – the first time it was checked I was 19, I weighed 85 lbs, I did ballet, aerobics, and swimming every day, didn’t have an ounce of fat on me, and it was 290. It’s bad genes. But I’m doing the best I can to combat those bad genes, and the last check was 185. Still not great, but fan-freakin’-tastic for me. I’ve always had bad joints, but they haven’t been bothering me as much, and I can see body parts that I haven’t seen in …. a long time, and they aren’t neglected anymore. Ahem.
What are your fitness goals for the next year?
First and foremost I want to lose the 22 pounds I have left to hit my goal weight. Second, I want to try to get myself on a more regular schedule, hopefully working out 5 days a week. I want to find and walk/jog a 5K or two besides the Komen Race for the Cure, which I did this past June and plan to be a team captain in 2011, walking in memory of my grandmother. My friend DJ, who is a mother of 3 and a real badass fitness wise, just posted that she is now doing 100 “man” pushups a day – so I’m doing my own version and currently working up to 100 girl pushups a day, at which point I’ll start working on the man pushups. After that? Who knows – maybe a sprint triathlon, as long as I can walk the run part!
January 4th, 2011 at 6:21 am
When i visit a blog, chances are that I see that the construction is poor and the writting bad. On the contrary,I have to say that you have done a good job here.
May 20th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
hi this is a nice blog i wonder how you find the time to keep updating it. anyway, keep up the good work.thanks