Babble

I am seriously embarking on a much-delayed effort to lose the weight I gained while helping my wife with protein-loading during pregnancy, and then the additional weight I gained during two years of grabbing whatever to eat while wrangling lads.  Any advice?

When I "retired" two years ago I was a flabby 230 lbs at 5'11". After 1 year of staying at home I made it down to 170 and now am up to about 185 but that's 15 lbs of muscle not fat. Sorry, I know this all sound really arrogant but I gotta be proud of my hard earned trophy husbandry. How did I do it? I joind the Y and forced myself to go at least 3 to 4 days a week. Balancing running, biking, weights, elipticles, etc. In the summer I would go for super long walks with the stroller. But I think the biggest effect on my weight, health, and happiness was quiting soda pop completely. It will be two years on the wagon in April.

DK

Swimming.  That's the all of it.  Swimming is a complete body workout and it's low-impact.  If your local YMCA or whatever offers a Masters Swim class (that just means we're geezers, not that we're Olympic-caliber swimmers) I highly recommend it.

My husband started swimming as part of his triathlon training and he lost something like 60 pounds in six months.  I hate him, but now we are a triathlon family, he's in excellent shape and I'm starting my own training as a way to lose baby weight.

 If swimming is out of the question, I also do Tae-Bo (Billy Blanks is a scary scary man but those workouts are TOUGH) and for Hanukkah I got DanceDance Revolution.  Surprisingly enough, DDR is an awesome workout and even has a workout mode where you can track your progress.

Of course, eating habits and portion sizes are key to any weight loss effort, since it all ultimately boils down to math.  Burn more calories than you ingest and you will lose weight.  Just make sure your calories aren't entirely from Velveeta and you're halfway there.

I'm just holding my own in the weight department, mind you, but one thing I've found that gets you a workout, is useful with the kids and fun as well, is a bike trailer. We've junked our stroller, but with hitches on both of our bikes, we can tote kids here and there, as well as taking the odd loop around the park. As long as there's a hill involved, you can work up a decent lather. Models vary, but decent ones can pack in two kids, with a total load of about 100 pounds. And there's room for shopping or gear in the back, as well.

How old were your kids when you started using the bike attachment to tote the tots?

Exercise cardio and weight training 2-3 x p/wk for 20-30 minutes, and, if you can, become vegan (pure vegetarian = no animal products, i.e. meat, dairy, eggs). Statistically, vegetarians are physically stronger than none vegetarians, and live longer, healthier lives. You can also find excellent natural supplements and nutritional food at most health food stores.