I am not a fitness queen. I hate fitness. I love being fit but I hate what it takes to get there. I always hated P.E. in school, and was so glad when I was homeschooled because I wasn't required to run laps daily. Since having a baby, though, I have become a lot more self conscious about my body and the way I look. I definitely don't weigh close to what I did at the peak of my pregnancy (thankfully!), but I don't weigh very close to what I did before, either. The pudge has settled into areas I have never had pudge before. At first I was really embarrassed by it. And then I was downright depressed about it. I whined and complained. And then I just sort of got over it. Mostly. Because then I started doing Pilates.
I always say I don't want to be skinny. But I'm going to be real with you. I'd like to get there again. Not as skinny as I used to be, aka
freakishly skinny. But let's face it. I am 21 years old. A year and 9 months ago I weighed in at 109. Yes,
109. So going from that to where I am now means a lot has changed. My arms are still puny (I used to have a big issue with my arms), but there are a few areas that could use some shaping up.
I have accepted the way I look. Don't get me wrong - I know God made me in the image of Him, and that the outward doesn't matter nearly as much as the inside. But I would like to feel a little better about myself. Am I talking my way in circles? I do care, but I am happy, too. Does that make sense?
I apologize for my rambling, I'll get to the point:
Pilates = new best friend.
That's right! The self-proclaimed exercise hater has been exercising. We started doing Pilates back in January when the exercise DVD's were on sale at Target. It has been fantastic! We have gotten from the Easy DVD to the Intermediate DVD. I haven't quite mastered that, yet. There are still some exercises that I feel like screaming during.
Pilates has been relaxing, energizing, and dare I say it, fun! I feel better, and you may not believe it, but I look trimmer already! I can't say much for the numbers dropping but at least I feel like I look better. Pilates works on your core - you know, the one that is put all out of whack when you are growing a child!
I'm not endorsing any company with this. I just wanted to share this with any of you new mothers (or any mothers) who might be struggling like I did - and sometimes on my bad days, still do.
Do any of you exercise at all? What sorts of things do you do to keep in shape? Or, if you're a mom, how'd you deal with your new body?
Photo source:
Here.
