Body Beautiful?

When I met Cliff I was a dedicated runner.  I would run 10km every morning with my running group and I had completed my first 21km race with a good time and was pushing myself hard to train for a marathon.  I was trim and toned.  I ended up getting really bad ITB.  It was excruciating to walk and I was not able to climb stairs.

I went for phuysio, acupuncture and sports massage.  Eventually I was told to rest for at least 6 months – no training at all.  So I took a 6 month break, when I started training again, I soon started feeling the pain of ITB flaring up and was told to take another few months to rest up the injury.  Long story short I got caught up in laziness, good times, a wedding and ultimately infertility took its hold on my life.

My sole driver was finding a way to get pregnant and create a family with my husband.  Everything else took a back seat and exercise and running was THE last thing on my mind.

Throughout our 7 year journey with infertility, I realised that I was gaining weight.  I realised that the hormone treatments were not helping my waistline and I knew that I needed to “lose some weight”.  But if I’m truly honest with myself I think I was in denial about how much weight I needed to lose.

Fast forward to my pregnancy where I took the eating for two to heart and gained a hefty 23kgs.  I lost those 23kgs very quickly after having Kade thanks to breast feeding but was still overweight for my height and according to my BMI I was considered “morbidly obese”.

I lived in denial.  Until 10 weeks ago.  My mother and sister had being following an eating plan and both had lost a huge amount of weight.  They were looking amazing and I was jealous as all hell.  So I made an appointment at the same dietician they were seeing and got the shock of my life.  I was told that to be at my optimum weight I would need to lose 21kgs.  I could not believe that I needed to lose THAT much weight.  We finally settled on a weight that I was happy with and I started eating healthy again.

I measured my body holistically and was shocked to see that my measurements came out at a whopping 818 cm!  Every week I measured myself and was pleased to see that I was consistently losing inches every week.  Over the past 10 weeks, I’ve been measuring and have had two weigh ins.  I’ve lost a total of 116 cm and at my last weigh in had lost 11kgs.  Now that I can be truly honest with myself I can acknowledge that the 21kgs they suggested I lose was not such a stretch after all…

I am super chuffed with my results so far.  I went to see a friend of mine who is drawing up a training plan for me to get me back into my running (I have commited to #RunSoweto10km after all!) and to tone up and she measured my BMI on Saturday.  When I started this process as far as I knew I had a BMI of 33.  Normal for a woman is between 18 and 22.  On Saturday my BMI came out at 20!  My confidence has soared.  I’m feeling more energetic and sexier than I’ve felt in a long, long time!

I’m stoked!  I will never allow myself to get back to where I was.

I’m loving my new body beautiful and cannot wait to reach my goal weight and maintain this new positive me!

I took these photo’s about 4 weeks back when I had to clear out my cupboards cos none of my clothes fitted me anymore – they were TOO BIG!

These white pants used to be tight on me! Now look 🙂

From the side…

They’re not supposed to be hipsters 😉

My waist is BACK!

 

I don’t want to forget…

… your cheeky smile and the way your nose scrunches when you laugh.

… the way you love to be tipped backwards and if I don’t do it quick enough how you literally throw yourself back, completely trusting me to keep you 100% safe.

… the way your hair curls around your ears (Daddy is pressuring me to cut your hair but I.just.am.not.ready.for.that.now)

… how you love to play it cool with either Daddy or my sunglasses.  You always put them on the upside down but you are SURE you look great.

… how you get down the stairs at home.  For jonks you wouldn’t go near the edge of the steps and used to just cry/scream until either Dad or I would come fetch you.  Now you spin and crawl backwards until you can climb down them with immense speed.  Nothing in our home is safe anymore.

… the look on your face as I get home from work each day.  You literally run up to my car door and the look on your face is PRICELESS!

… how you love to wind down with me or Daddy reading books just before bath time.  You go and pick your book from the bookshelf and come and plonk yourself between my or Dad’s legs and we “read” together.  If the book isn’t going well you close it and get another until you’re happy.  I love this!

… that you won’t let us hold you as you go down the slide anymore.  You want to push off yourself and you want to fly into our waiting arms at the bottom.

… how you know what you want and are not afraid to let us know it.  I see a very headstrong person in you and I hope that Daddy and I are able to channel this part of you correctly.

… how you LOVE to pat the doggies.  You love to let them know you love them.  Sometimes a bit too exuberantly – we’re trying to teach you GENTLE.  Even when  Saffy doesnt’ want you to…  Altho you don’t have that problem with Jazz whose kisses you allow at all times.

… your sense of adventure and fearlessness.  Even though at times those self same qualities make my heart leap in my throat.

… your laugh.  Oh how that laugh makes my heart smile.

You are absolutely everything I imagined you to be and more my boy.  I am so honored and privileged to be your Mommy.

I love you – to the moon and back times a million.

Amazing Women

I am supremely blessed to be surrounded by incredible women.

I have a wonderful example of the kind of woman and mother I want to be in my Mom.  She’s a pillar of strength in tough times, strong enough to tell you how it is (even if what she says is not what you wanted to hear) yet gentle enough to hold you close when you need it.  Growing up, I always knew that I was loved but I also knew where the lines were drawn in terms of acceptable behavior, manners and the like.

My sister is very much like my mom, yet so very different as well.  As a single mother she’s shown me how to mother under immense pressure.  She’s always there for me in crunch time and we stick up for each other through thick and thin.  She more than anyone in this world drives me stir crazy (cos we are SO totally different) but she more than anyone is my biggest champion and defender.

I have many more wonderful women that surround me in my life.  I have good solid friendships that help to keep me grounded and grow me as a person.  I’m incredibly lucky.

As tomorrow is National Women’s Day in South Africa, I tip my hat to all you wonderful women out there who have touched my life and helped me become the woman, wife and mother I am today.

Happy Women’s Day!

Fun in the Snow

Living in South Africa, snow is not something that we see very often.  We do have certain regions in our country where it snows, but these are few and far between and are generally in far flung places.

It’s really out of the norm for us “Johannesburgers” to see snow, so yesterday when many parts of our city got snow it caused much pandemonium,  fun and joy.  If I’m not mistaken the last time JHB had snow like this was in 1981 or thereabouts.  I’m sure that productivity was at an all time low in many companies in JHB yesterday!

We had quite a bit of snow at our offices and we all were like kids running outside in it, dancing and having snowball fights with each other.  I really loved every minute of it.  It reminded me to not always be so serious.  To live in the moment and to take every opportunity I’m given to celebrate this life that I have.

I’ve made a mental note for myself to try and seize moments like yesterday more often.

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