The battle of the bulge

News Flash:  Parenting Makes You Fat

Okay, okay, the real headline was a little less dramatic:  Young Children May Make Parents Less Fit.  But the meaning is pretty much the same.  So this is news?  I could have told them that with my vast (9 years) of experience. 

It's frustrating but true. 

I've struggled with weight most of my life.  I was born low weight - 5 lbs - but that was the last time anyone could have ever called me skinny.  Within two weeks, my weight was up and it has pretty much stayed there.  I'm sure that I ate more than my share as a kid but they didn't actually keep the cookies and junk away from me.  Adding to that was our family's general inactivity.  We didn't even watch sports much less play them.  The only sport my family watched was NASCAR - a sport you can do while sitting down. 

Between high school and marriage, my weight went up and down - up when I wasn't "on the market" and down when I was eager to meet someone. So naturally, after I got married, the weight started creeping up again.  About a year before I had Dylan, I joined Weight Watchers and got to my goal weight. 

Whether the lost weight regulated my hormones or just put me in the mood, I don't know, but shortly after getting to that goal weight, I discovered I was pregnant.  That was definitely the last time I was at my goal weight. 

I did get close to getting back there, but then Hurricane Katrina came.  What better way to deal with the stress of 8-ft of water in your house than through food?

Although life has more or less returned to normal (or new normal), I've never been able to regulate my eating or my activity.  I do exercise - Jazzercise twice a week and walking when I can.  But it's not the regularity I had before I had Dylan and not the the level I apparently need.  And although I eat well - lots of fruits and veggies - I must eat just enough more than it's not enough.  Rather than losing weight, it has creeped up pound by pound. 

The gods must be cruel.  Really, it should somehow be easier for moms to lose weight with kids not harder!  If you have to deal with a kid with special needs and a husband who wants to be a Rock Star, the least that could happen is that you get to fit in the clothes in your closet!  I mean, come on! 

I'm trying again.  Trying to get to that ideal weight or at least something like it.  At least enough to go shopping in my own closet.  I hope to report some success here on these pages amidst my other writings.  Stay tuned.