*From a different journal... repeat of some of the stuff below, but more info too*
In high school I was a dancer and cheerleader. I had a 90 minute dance class 4 days a week (we probably only really did 45-60 min of actual dancing though). I has cheer practice every day from 2:45-4:30 or 5pm where we'd learn/practice dance routines, stunting, etc. My senior year I had a half day and would go to the gym from 12-2 before cheer practice, and at least 30min to an hour was spent flirting, but I was there doing stuff. I was 5'1" and a very muscular 98lbs. When I started college I ate way unhealthy. I stayed up late, got little sleep. I still tried to workout but nothing regular. Maybe 2-3 days a week for 2 hours each time. Slowly climbed up to 103lbs. My sophomore year I went to school at Marshall. They had a meal plan and a cafeteria. I felt guilty if I didn't go to eat since we had already paid for it. And when I was there I had to get more than just a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and since the turkey wrap came with french fries, I couldn't say no. It was cold and snowy when I was there. The gym I didn't even bother to find. My roommate and I tried to justify tae bo videos 3x a week as a work out, but that was never consistent. got up to 112lbs when I came back. Stayed around 112lbs until I graduated college. It didn't look BAD on me, but I wasn't happy with it knowing I could do better. I started grad school, and became super unhealthy. I was trying to balance full time intense grad school (class every day til 4, exams 2 times a week) with 15-30 hours as a waitress to pay for my car and gas. There was no time for working out. I think in 9 months I worked out at the gym maybe twice. I tried running in the winter around my neighborhood, but that was just justification for eating a bunch of holiday *yummy* crap. When i went out on rotations for grad school, I was getting home by noon or 1pm every day. So I actually got proactive and started going to the gym at my apartment complex. It wasn't much, but it was all I needed (treadmill, stair stepper, free weights and a bench) and it was never busy (ironically this is where I met my husband). I was actually toned again. I could run on the treadmill for 20 minutes without dying. But I kept around 110lbs. When I moved to Denver in the winter, I kept it up. This apartment complex had a much better gym, and I had motivation, I was getting married. When i moved back to Phoenix to finish school, I fell back into the same routine. Occasionally running, the occasional step class, nothing routine. When I moved to LA to work at UCLA I was 115lbs. The long stressful hours took a toll on my body. I got up to 120lbs. I tried to work out and actually did when I wasn't on call. Again nothing super regular, but at least it was something once or twice a week. I also tried to get out on walks. By the time I switched jobs a year later I was up to 125lbs. I was happy at this weight. It didn't look bad. I could still fit in size 4 pants. I had abs, not quite the 6 pack I used to have, and I had a little pouch, but I was ok with it. I actually made it back to aerobics class and could work out on call at Cedars. I was actually on my way to being in shape when i got pregnant with Ryleigh. I was 128lbs.
My job's crazy hours plus pregnancy didn't exactly lend towards continuing my workout trend. When I'd get home at 3 instead of going straight to the gym, I'd take a nap because my body was craving it. Now I know, working out makes you less tired, but that darn lil bug zapping all your energy as it grows. I tried a few times to convince myself that working out was better than napping, but when you nap for 3-4 hours your body obviously needs it. I tried to walk while pregnant, and did okay at that, but not great. Then things slowly got crazier and busier at work. Then my body started to swell by about 25 weeks. Walking for long periods of time hurt my legs, my knees, my feet. I didn't really gain much weight until the late 2nd trimester. By about 5 months I had only gained maybe 8lbs. But by the end of my pregnancy and all that swelling and water I was retaining, I got up to 165lbs. Now, Ryleigh was 7lbs 13oz, and I peed out about 4+ liters of extra water I was holding onto and came home weighing 135lbs. Not too bad. 7lbs from my pre baby weight, I can handle that. But now tack on learning baby schedule, crazy sleep schedule, oh yeah and the c-section. There was no way I could even contemplate going back to working out. Took me about 6 weeks just to be able to drive a car without pain. Even going back to work at 12 weeks, I was still very sore in the incision region. We tried to take walks, but they were short. My muscles had atrophied so much due to all the swelling and lack of muscle usage. So instead of losing weight while breastfeeding, i was gaining weight. Gaining back all that muscle weight I'd lost in those 9 months. I crept up to 140, then 142. I hung there for a while. I was by all means not happy there. At 5 months post partum, I gave up breastfeeding, and cemented my weight at 142.
Then I got the Bodybugg last year for Christmas. I really liked the Bodybugg. It's a armband you wear. It tracks your calorie useage based on your perspiration, skin temperatures, accelerometer, pedometer. It does lots of cool things. Then you enter your calorie consumption online. That takes a little setup to enter in all the nutrition information for all the foods you eat and portion sizes. Now the Bodybugg is great... if you're doing something!!! It was really cool to see how many calories I was burning, but that meant nothing if it equaled or was less than the calories I was consuming. So basically all the Bodybugg did for me was tell me to eat less, since by this point there was no way I could work out. I got back down to 139, but slowly put it back on.
Fastforward 9 months - I have a new job. It has set hours (for the most part). I have multiple gym options (LA fitness 2 miles away, LA fitness 6 miles away, the gym at my apartment complex, the wellness center on campus). The 2 LA fitnesses both have a kids club (which the ones by me in LA didn't have). And I have parents and a husband out of work who can watch bugger in a pinch. I go home for lunch, so I can save money by not eating out and control what I can eat. Breakfast I don't have to gorge myself in anticipation of a 6 hour pump run, so I can eat more sensibly.
I decided to work out before work. To get up early, get the working out out of the way. I'm ready for bed anyways by 9pm, so this way it kinda forces me to do so. On Monday, Thursday and Friday classes don't normally (unless we have something special) until 9am. I have to be at work around 8am-ish. So I figured those are good days to work out because I can get up and leave by 5am, work out from 5:10ish to 6ish doing cardio, then get home by 6:30, shower, dress, makeup, pack breakfast and leave in time to make it a little before the 8am traffic rush. On days I do late labs, I can go on Tuesdays as well.
I started on September 30. Went on Oct 1 as well. Had all intentions of working out 4 days last week, but got sick. Did Monday and Tuesday then got sick. Decided sleep was more important to ward off the sinus infection I think I got. And worked out Friday instead. We did a 5K walk (Race for the cure) on Sunday. I worked out this week on Monday, and today.
Here are my current stats - totally not proud of:
Weight : 147.2
Arm (largest part of bicep/tricep) : 13 in
Breasts (straight around nipple line) : 37in
Ribs (right under breasts, where bra lays) : 32in
Belly button (straight around right above level of belly button) : 32in
Hip (widest point) : 41in
Thigh (right thigh, largest point) : 23in
Calf (widest point) : 15in
I am in size 8P ann taylor pants. I can't fit in ann taylor loft pants. My jeans are size 10. My dresses are Mediums (when they used to be smalls). I wear medium scrubs now (where I used to wear extra small). I realize due to having a kid I will never be back to teeny sizes, it's not anatomically possible due to the spread of my hips, but I know I can get close again... I hope.
