The Dreaded Fifteen

First of all-an update on Teeny. Teeny ended up having croup this past week, not just a cold. My only image of croup was from Terms of Endearment when Debra Winger is sitting in an extremely steamed up bathroom with a screaming kid and a cheatin' husband. Needless to say, after a week of little to no sleep, a cranky toddler and now being sick myself, we have all-Teeny included, come through croup relatively unscathed. We did sit in a steamy bathroom for numerous mornings but no cheating went on-who has the energy to cheat when you've got a croupy toddler?!?!? Only in the movies I guess.

I'm sure everyone has heard of the freshman 15. You know, go away to school, eat bad dorm food, gain weight fight to lose it in time for spring break, only to gain it back in beer weight once on said break. I think this theory applies to motherhood as well. My weight has always been an "issue" for me. I have never been extremely overweight and I am told that I don't need to lose weight, but I know my body and I NEED to. Prior to my wedding almost 6 years ago, I did the South Beach Diet and got really skinny-I loved it! Then gained some back, lost it again and then....GOT PREGNANT! My top weight during my pregnancy was...hold your breath...178 lbs. After Teeny was born I lost alot of the weight, only to put some of it back on again.

I blame my weight gain on being home, and of course, lack of self control. I have been a generally healthy eater, with occasional binges. Except being home has sent these binges into overdrive! I started to eat things I would never have before-Cheerios Snack mix-a whole bag and explain it to myself that Teeny and I had shared it. Shared meaning she picked out some Cheerios and maybe a pretzel or two and I finished the rest for her. My dinner meals had also become more elaborate than when I was working. More time to grocery shop and cook meant more food to me. It also meant trying out recipes from cookbooks I haven't had time to use before. Cookbooks like my fat filled, but oh so delicious French Cooking book or Southern cookbooks filled with buttery biscuits and gravy. I have now been home since June and realized that I have gained my own freshman 15, give or take a few pounds.

So now its time to fight back. I hate New Years resolutions. I usually don't make them because by Jan 2nd, I have most likely over served myself wine or said a medley of curse words to the slow driver in front of me. So this is not a resolution, it just so happens that its easier for me to start a diet once the holidays have passed and we are no longer having wine filled, hors d'oeuvres laden family meals. I began South Beach Diet (again) on January 5. I am not sure of my exact start weight-only got the new scale on Saturday, but since I weighed myself at Teeny's pediatrician on Thursday, I've lost 4 pounds! The first week was pure torture. Leftover Christmas cookies and chocolates taunted me, but I stuck to my diet. Unfortunately for Murph, he is stuck eating the same food I cook for myself for dinner, only he eats double or triple portions. He's been a good sport. The biggest challenge so far has been sitting beside him after dinner watching him eat a huge bowl of chocolate ice cream and pretending to enjoy my cup of sugar free jello. I did overcome a big temptation today though-I baked fudge brownies for Murph and wasn't even tempted to try one! Progress my friends, progress! I even started to do yoga again. I also had a brief encounter with Carmen Electra's striptease aerobics at midnight the other day, but that is something for a later blog-trust me!

What I want is to get to my wedding weight again. Realistically I would be happy to be 10 pounds more than that. Ten years plus one child make me realize that I need to be reasonable. So here's to cutting out caffeine (headache), alcohol for a few weeks (boring) and sugar (life seems a little less sweet). I'll keep you posted on how its going and if Murph continues to enjoy his turkey bacon and butter-less veggies.