Pandemic Weight Gain, the Covid 15

I Gained the “COVID 15″…..or 30? Maybe more…I don’t even know

Remember when you were in your college years, whether you went to college or not, and there was talk of the Freshman 15? You know, where your first year of college life changed and you ate whenever, wherever and whatever. Then the next thing you knew you gained 15 extra pounds! Well there have been jokes going around about people gaining the “COVID 15” during this pandemic. Y’all I didn’t gain the COVID 15…I gained the Covid, uh…30, maybe more. I don’t even know anymore! (I’m really putting myself out there by adding a before picture. Whew, this is scary!)

It’s been a battle for years

I’m gonna get a little serious here and give a quick backstory. I’ve been battling my weight most of my life. I like to eat and I can out eat most teenage boys. Not that I do that a lot or anything, haha. (Now, if my 16 year son challenges me…I would most definitely win.) I digress, in my 20s I was in pretty good shape and I felt great. Then I got into a very comfortable relationship and the next thing I know I was about 50 pounds overweight. Yikes! Well, when someone mentioned it and I hopped on a scale I was mortified and nipped that in the bud. I never did get back to the weight and health of my early 20s but I was mostly happy with it. That relationship ended so I began to take care of my self again like I did before I was caught up in “love” (gag). Jump forward a few years and I met my now husband. I was doing great til I got pregnant 3 months after we married. The crazy thing is I never really did gain extra weight with any pregnancy. It was after the babies were born and I was just surviving each day, haha. That first 6 months from each baby is a blur. I also realized that my body simply will not release fat while nursing. Listen, I just kept giving up. It seemed so unattainable. What’s crazy is, twice, TWICE, I’ve started a program, and it’s a great tool, to help you get healthy and lose extra weight. I’ve yet to reach my goal doing it though. Can you guess why? One guess….I ended up pregnant both times and well, I went through that crazy cycle all over again. I gave up. I had baby number 6 two years ago and no matter what I have done the weight will not come off, not while I was nursing. Then I was afraid to because, child, I do not want another baby at this time in my life. Family complete, all done, 6 is enough, I need to stop wiping bottoms and changing diapers. I’ve been doing this for almost 17 years! I digress again, apologies. 😀

Life turned upside down!

When I was just about mentally ready to get serious about my health again, BAM! a pandemic hit and everything went on lockdown. Life as we knew it was turned upside down. UPSIDE DOWN. I did alright to begin with and our life as homeschoolers didn’t change too much. The girls no longer had dance in person and church was online only. I didn’t think I was taking it all that badly but apparently I was finding solace in food. The next thing I knew my shirts were getting on my nerves because they felt all crooked, underwear all bunched up and shorts/pants were harder to button. Hopped on the scale and oh my gosh I was the biggest I’ve ever been in my entire life! I’m a tall girl (5′ 10″) but still, 250 pounds is a lot of extra weight y’all. I was past mortified this time.

It’s getting real…

If I’m being very real here; I feel terrible, I don’t recognize myself in the mirror, clothes don’t fit, inflammation in most body parts (I got the flammation y’all!). Obviously, I’m not in any kind of optimal health. If you’re feeling the same, you’re not alone! It’s crazy because I have the knowledge and a gym in our garage to make the change. So what’s stopping me? What’s keeping me from being an optimally healthy person? I’m 47 with a 2 year old, I still have a long life ahead of me here and my kids need me and what about grandkids? I want to enjoy life when I actually have one of my own again (you know, no diapers and such). I’ve been asking myself for weeks what’s it gonna take to get me where I want to be? Back to a healthy state? I clearly cannot do it on my own. I need a resource, a tool of some kind to help me get there. See, I don’t like to cook very much because it’s so stressful with a 2 year old that wants to be held and older kids that are tired of helping and want to do their own thing too. We do what we have to to get through school and then we’re all kinda done after that point, haha.

Just want to make it to goal

I decided to use the tool I’ve used before to get into a healthy state. This time I’m gonna make sure I do NOT get pregnant. (Lord, please don’t make me eat crow…again) I also decided I’m going to step outside my comfort zone and take y’all on this ride with me so you can help hold me accountable. And maybe it’ll be an inspiration to someone. Also, by putting this out there I’ll hold myself accountable to a higher standard than if I just write goals on a piece of paper. Don’t get me wrong, I’m doing this for me, I’m doing this for my marriage, for my kids, for my future self. But not only do I need a program to help me lose the extra weight, I need something concrete where I won’t just crumble it up and throw it in the trash when the going gets tough.

By the way, the reason I haven’t mentioned yet what program I’m using is because I’m not here to be a salesperson or coach, however, I’m not trying to hide anything either. I’ll be more transparent about what I’m doing in later posts. What I really want to do is share my journey, which officially starts tomorrow (Monday, March 8, 2021). I’ll share more about what I’m doing as I share results both physically and mentally. I’ll check in on week 2 (Monday, March

Let me tell you, I started this program just in time. Monday, my first day, my button popped off my second pair of jeans. (gasp) Luckily the zipper locks in place so I’m good for now. I refuse to buy new ones and it’s gonna be shorts season soon anyway, haha.

Let’s Talk

Will you help hold me accountable? Will you join me in this journey? Please comment below and tell me your story.