Before my daughter came along my wife and I used to exercise pretty frequently. We ran a lot, running some decent distances in some pretty good times. My wife is a personal trainer & fitness instructor and was great at motivating me to get out and keep active and eat the right things.
When she got pregnant, the running stopped. Of course I could have carried on but it was easier not to get up at silly o’ clock on a cold dark December morning and stay in bed for another 45 minutes.
I also enjoyed rather too many of my wife’s craving, I remember the hot sausage roll phase with great fondness…
The upshot of all of this was that I put on rather a lot of weight. I knew it was happening, but couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it yet perversely hated myself for it.
Jessica was born and life got turned upside down. We normally try to eat healthily, cooking a fresh balanced diet but as any new parent will probably agree, during the first few weeks any sort of normal routine goes out of the window (cheese sandwiches at 3am anyone?).
We ended up eating our fair share of ready meals, something we both hated but needs must…
For me the turning point came just over a year ago, I saw myself in a full length mirror while out shopping. I hated what I saw.
At that moment, I knew I had to make a change, not just for me but for my daughter.
Why the sudden need to make a change?
At 25 I lost my mum to cancer, she was in her mid 40′s. We started our family a little later in life, I was 38 when Jessica was born.
I knew I needed to make a change, I had to be around for my baby girl.
There was of course no reason what happened to my mum would happen to me, but being over weight can lead to a host of health problems and I didn’t want my daughter to have to go through what I did but at a much younger age.
I decided things had to change, in the new year I joined the local gym, going in my lunch break so that I could maximise my time at home.
It’s been hard work but a year down the line I have shifted most of what I’d put on, probably more, I’ve dropped two jean sizes and can now wear a medium size t-shirt instead of an extra large.
I’ve set myself some new goals for 2013 which I am going to hit.
I’ll be adding some of the workouts, menus and other things I think people might find useful in future blog posts.
