Weighing in

Why is it that working out makes you feel SO good after you've done it, and yet it is SO hard to get up and do it?

It's been one of my goals here in the early life-with-baby months to try and do a modest handful of things for myself every day. My list, not in any order, includes these things:

1. shower
2. get dressed
3. extra bonus points for hair and make-up
4. work out
5. leave the house at least once (taking the dog out does not count)
6. draw, or do some sort of creative activity

It is amazing how such a simple list can become very difficult to complete. I am a list maker and planner by nature. I think I do it more out of comfort nowadays than necessity. There was a time where my schedule was so packed that if I didn't write everything down, I would surely forget something. These days we're much more "relaxed," but I still have the urge to plan. I am trying very hard to resist this urge nowadays, because the result is usually a complete joke. The minute I think we've found a pattern or dependable routine, and thus plan some activity accordingly, it's as if Evelyn KNOWS and behaves differently just to get my goat. Because I cannot plan, I'm left to fly by the seat of my pants. I have my mental list, always at the ready, and must be ready to jump when Evie provides an opportunity to complete a task. Sounds like it would work, right? (We're ignoring the part where Evie is setting all the rules. At this point, it is easier this way. Believe me.)

The only trouble with this brilliant system is sometimes I don't feel like doing whatever it is I need to do at that golden moment of opportunity. It is much more appealing, say, to eat candy than it is to exercise, and when the weather is as it is in Baumholder much of the time, it is much more appealing to do ANYTHING rather than go outside. And then some things just become a vicious cycle; there is little motivation to get dressed when your only fitting options are still of the maternity variety, and feeling like a cow in your zipper-less pants does not particularly encourage you to workout, which of course, is the only way to get to the magical land of Zippered Pants. Most days, however, I somehow find a way to get all, or nearly all of those 6 "to-dos" done.

I am making progress. (I need to keep telling myself that.) I have lost 23 pounds since giving birth have about 40 to go. Hmmmm....maybe I should just leave it at "I have lost 23 pounds" and not mention the other 40. I am starting to feel more fit and I'm trying to remember that I need to be patient (and kind) with myself in this process. I didn't gain the weight overnight, and it won't go away that quickly either. In the meantime, I think I seriously need to look into some clothes that require more than one step to put on. Convenience is one thing, but somehow zippers, buttons and laces can make you feel a little bit more human when you're covered in spit-up.