The "E" word

Exercise, that is.

Last week, I was forced to confront my need to get back to some sort of exercise and healthy eating plan. I went to buy petrol one evening and as I was paying for it, the two women behind the till started chatting to me about how awful it was to be pregnant in the summer heat. One of them was pregnant, although not obviously so (she showed me her little bump). I've been pregnant over summer previously, so I expressed some sort of agreement with what they were saying. Then the other woman asked me when I was due.

I now know that it is only nice being asked when you're due when you are actually pregnant.

I then had to confess that what (apparently) looked like a pregnant tummy was actually just what was left over from when Rowan was born. It was kind of funny seeing them back pedal. I tried to be civil rather than look too offended. As I was walking out, I heard them start talking to each other about how embarrassing that was.

Yes, indeed it was. And not just for you two. The only good thing was that no one else was in the petrol station paying at the time so at least there wasn't anyone else around to hear that little exchange.

So, having just finished breastfeeding (a time when historically my weight has tended to balloon out a bit) I have now decided that it's about time to lose those four or five kilos that need to go. I tend to carry weight around my tummy, which is bad from a health perspective. With my history of gestational diabetes I am going to need to start eating properly to minimise my risk of developing full blown diabetes later on.

In the five days since that sad evening, I have been out for an early morning walk four times. Each time I've walked I've included at least one steep hill climb. I am trying to work out when I can fit in a swim as well. I don't think the swim will be too helpful for weight loss since I'm a pretty lazy swimmer, but I enjoy the coolness of the water and the fact that I can shut just about everything else out when I am swimming. And it makes me feel like I am doing something.

It's also time to rediscover all the low GI foods I learned to embrace when I was pregnant. Yesterday I bought a calorie counter book (this one) and a guide to low GI food shopping (this one).

And a set of scales. We've never had one in our house until now. But it's time to get serious. I needed to know what I was dealing with. My starting weight wasn't as bad as I expected. I said to myself I'd be happy with anything under 70kg. I was 69.5kg. Just within the healthy weight range. But only just. It's the waist circumference that's the big problem though. I'm sitting at around 95cm with that one. Anything over 88cm indicates a greatly increased risk of health problems.

Time to get moving. And to reduce portion sizes and yummy desserts.

I am also going to master planking to work on those tummy muscles (if you're unfamiliar with the exercise version of planking, check out the above image). I think I managed to hold it for about three seconds today.

Sorry to subject you all to this kind of detail. This won't be turning into Karen's Weight Loss Blog or anything like that. But I thought it might help me to be accountable....