Pink Panther | Susan B
Hi ladies, my name is Susan. I am fortunate to be a stay-at-home mum of three fantastic children who are growing up too fast for my liking and I’m married to a wonderful husband who loves to pamper me. Sounds like paradise, right? Well, yes! …and no. As always, the devil is in the details… Over the years, since I was a teenager, I have struggled with my weight. As the number of children I had grew, so did my weight but I was too tired and busy to really take care of myself. I didn’t realize how much weight I had gained until I saw a photo of myself at my third child’s first birthday party. I was devastated. And that’s when I decided to take action; if I didn’t do something at that point, when would I? It was now or never.
On the hunt for the purr-fect diet
I’ve tried many diets over the years, always looking for the best one. And guess what? I’ve learned that there is no one “perfect” diet. Each diet has its own pros and cons and the best diet is the one that works for you. As for me, I’ll still keep experimenting, but so far I’ve always come back to Atkins as it is just a good fit for me. I don’t feel like I’m hungry all the time and I get to enjoy a lot of the foods I love.
Pounce like a panther, run like a girl!
In addition to dieting, I also began exercising. It was around that time that I met Sian and Melanie, my girlgetstrong girlfriends, who at the time were kindergarten moms like me. They were starting to train for the Sun Run and I wanted to try running too. I knew I needed a goal to keep me motivated. Running was really hard, but being with friends made the load lighter! When I thought I might not be able to keep going, the support of the other runners really helped. On the days I wouldn’t have gone out the door, the fact that friends were waiting for me always made it worth the effort. I didn’t see much difference in my body or how I felt at first, it seemed to take a while for my metabolism to realize I was serious. But after about six weeks, when our runs got a bit longer, I started to feel more energized and noticed a difference in my body. That was really exciting and made all the hard work of running worth the effort. After a bit, I also started riding my stationary bike and slowly the weight came off. Running had its ups and downs, but overall it was mostly up: I remember coming home on a real high and absolutely talking my husband’s ear off about every little detail of the run. I was so pumped! And then after three and a half months of training, I was able to run 10k. That was amazing, it felt so good. After that I kept running with the other girls and trained for a half marathon, which I also completed some months later. It was one of my proudest moments!
Sometimes it feels like I’d need 9 lives to lose the last 15 pounds…
Between the diet and exercising, I had worked very hard and was so close to my ideal weight. Unfortunately, I injured myself while running and because I was no longer exercising, the extra weight came back. It just seemed to slip back on. I am at the point now that I need to lose the last 15 pounds. I have started running again and riding my stationary bike. I read an article about a new low-carb diet, which I have written about in my blog, and I am now adapting it to my lifestyle. I’ll let you know how I get on.
I’m not cat napping, I’m having an out of body experience
I have also recently added yoga to my fitness routine, which I love. I find that it helps with the aches and pains that I have developed over the years! I’m going with my mom and it is great spending time with her. Even my daughter is interested in yoga and I love being a positive role model for her. I will be writing many posts on my experiences with yoga – the good, the challenges and of course, the bloopers!
Let the cat out of the bag – we can do it!
- To eat better
- To drop at least 15 pounds
- To tone my body
- To climb the Grouse Grind
- To finish another half marathon
It is so true that maintaining a healthy weight is a combination of diet (eating correctly) and exercise. There is no getting away from this winning combination. But as we all know, it is easier said than done! I hope that one thing I can accomplish with my blog is to help others who are in a similar situation. Ladies, together we can get stronger, fitter and happier! I would love to hear from you ladies: what type of exercises do you do to keep fit? What are your fitness goals? Your fitness friend,
