Let me premise this post by saying before I had kids, I never struggled with my weight. I was one of those girls that could eat whatever I wanted and not gain anything. This was all before kids. Post kids, I was 5′ tall and weighed 155lbs. I am not pleased to admit this, and I find it embarrassing.

But after some hard work in the diet area and getting off my big booty and running three days a week and walking and some strength training, I have shed some of this weight! I went into the Guess outlet, here at the outlet mall by my house while waiting for a friend to get off of work, and I decided to try some of their skinny jeans on. I grabbed a size 32 and headed to the dressing room. I put the pants on and promptly fell to the floor! I was flabbergasted! So, I grabbed a size 30 and size 29. The size 29 was totally for fun, I never expected them to EVER fit, however they did! They fit well! I did a quick happy dance there in the dressing room and promptly bought them. I asked the sales gal and she told me that the size conversion was a size 8. I haven’t worn a size 8 in a long time, so to be able to fit into this size was a HUGE deal for me and did wonders for my self esteem!

As a nerdy girl, it’s important to show my girls and fellow nerds that while gaming is awesome, we have to take care of our bodies! A great program to follow is the Couch to 5 k or C25K app for Blackberry, iPhone and Android phones. This is a great way to ease into running and the timer on the app is perfect. You push the button and do what it says. This app is a great way to use your nerdy tech and get fit at the same time. There are also the Adidas Mi Coach and the Nike Plus, which will track your performance as well.

So get your nerdy butts off the couch and get up and get moving. Remember, don’t make resolutions, make reality happen! Need some good tunes to run to? Check out my playlist!

Image via Wikipedia

Brad & I signed up at Gold’s Gym today and I couldn’t be happier! After trying to juggle my DVD workouts between naps and kid-related interupptions, I realized that it just wasn’t working for me! I need a place where I can go and just get in the zone without my kids bugging me. (I love my kids, I really do!) We stopped at our local Gold’s Gym and met with Kari and learned more about Gold’s Gym.

Let me just preface by saying that although I worked at a gym (YMCA) for 3 & 1/2 years, I was still intimidated by Gold’s Gym. For some stupid reason I got it into my head that Gold’s is the place for SERIOUS bodybuilders only and the weak or unskilled (or flabby) need not apply. Boy, was I wrong! First off, let me say that Kari was the perfect person to take us on the tour, because she was built, but not intimidating. (If she had been bleach blonde with the perfect tan and perfect body, I would have barfed and then walked out! You know what I’m talking about!) The people at Gold’s were friendly and totally not intimidating (yea!!!).  So, we signed up and I am really excited to get going on my workouts! I am ready to take back my life and feel confident and sexy to boot!

I will be posting a photo of my progress monthly more for my benefit than for everyone else, however if my weight loss and toning up encourages someone else, then awesome! But let me tell you, posting this LOVELY before photo is really humbling, so be kind please!

My Before Photo (8/2010)

I recently joined Sparkpeople, which is a great site for workouts, diet and encouragement. Plus it’s free! Sparkpeople is a great way to workout, feel accountable, and meet some great people from all over the nation! You can set up your own website through them and track your nutrition and exercise. You can also post before and after pictures, but it’s not necessary. I love this great website and I would also suggest checking out the book The Spark by Chris Downie, the creator of this great site!

See, technology and exercise can work together!

Many times as moms, we feel like we might be at odds with our pediatricians. We as moms know our children best and feel that we are the best for them, especially in the internet age, where with a click of a button on sites like WebMD, we can self-diagnose with the best of them (or so we think)! But there is a better way! Want to know how? Jen Klein, author of SheKnows.com Presents — The Mommy Files: Secrets Every New Mom Should Know (that no one else will tell you!) can tell you.

Partnering with Your Child’s Pediatrician in the Internet Age
By Jen Klein,
Author of SheKnows.com Presents — The Mommy Files: Secrets Every New Mom Should Know (that no one else will tell you!)

The relationship with your child’s pediatrician is unique. The pediatrician is not your physician — even though you may call her or him “my” pediatrician — it is your child’s physician. And learning to work well with this medical provider on behalf of an initially non-verbal, non-decision making little being can be a challenge. It can be a wonderful relationship, it can be a challenging relationship, and it can be any variation in between — or even all of the above at various times.

Both you and your child’s pediatrician have the same goal in mind: the ongoing, long-term health and development of your child. Your approach to that may be rather different — but you each need the other. You bring knowledge and details of your child’s day-to-day doings, development, and personality while the pediatrician brings years of education, training, and practice to the exam room. Neither can contribute to appropriate medical decisions without the input of the other. It’s always been thus — but there hasn’t always been the Internet.

To fathom the broad impact of the Internet is impossible, really. It touches so much of our lives, expands our world view, and brings us so much information — but also presents new challenges. How do you know that what you read on the Internet is true? Or valid? Or at all applicable to your situation?

You can see this in microcosm in how this vast network of words and pictures and stories — and the occasional bit of data thrown in — has affected our interactions with medical care providers. We go to the web for medical issues big and small. Sometimes we are right and sometimes we are wrong. We may joke about self-diagnosis on the web, but it’s no joke really. And especially not when our kids are involved. Search engines may return results, give you clues to bigger issues, and start you down a productive path, but they are not an education in and of themselves. The Internet is no substitute for partnership with a medical care provider.

So how do you identify and build that partnership in the Internet age? By focusing on same issue that built the relationship before we carried the Internet on our pocket-sized phones: communication. From strong, clear communication you will build respect and trust with your child’s pediatrician to the benefit of all of you.

While the Internet is an astonishingly useful tool for discovering potential pediatricians for your child, and vetting credentials and experience, nothing beats face-to-face contact. Meeting a potential medical care provider for your child gives you a sense of communication chemistry — on both sides. It’s a first sense of, “Will this person take my child’s health and development seriously? Will she listen to my concerns about my child’s growth and my parenting? Can we work together for my child’s benefit?” Likewise, on the other side, the pediatrician herself similar has questions about you.

Once you have identified a pediatrician, on-going communication with your child’s physician is about more than a preference for phone, email or in person. It’s about your words, your tone, and your body language when you speak to one another, too. Endeavoring to communicate openly and honestly with the pediatrician builds trust in each other and respect for one another. It’s an understanding that the relationship is a partnership for the benefit of your child.

Your child’s continued health, well-being, and development is the shared priority and you come to that shared goal with different skill sets and knowledge bases. Communicating truthfully and openly helps both of you make the best use of what you each bring to the relationship on behalf of your child. You may be communicating on behalf of the patient in this doctor-patient relationship, but your child is the patient — not you — and the doctor is your child’s doctor.

Your child’s physician uses the Internet, too. She or he has a general idea what is out there — the helpful and the less-than-helpful. Physician and Internet are not mutually exclusive: the doctor and the Internet can complement one another, often quite effectively. One can help you understand the other, but only if you are honest with the pediatrician about your efforts and communicate your interests or concerns.

Respect and trust is a two-way street, and it’s built over time. The doctor-patient relationship depends on real-life personal interaction, one that takes into account nuance as much as concrete symptoms and lab tests. This was true before search engine results for obscure symptoms were seconds away, and it will be true even as the Internet develops further. Nothing replaces the human touch, literally and figuratively.

Not everything you read on the Internet — or anywhere, really — is true. Not every circumstance applies to your child. Just as you would think it ridiculous and probably insulting if the doctor were to walk into the exam room and say, “I read on the Internet that mothers who wear blue shirts pay less attention to their children,” statements from unvetted Internet sources can sound just as inane to your child’s pediatrician — and lower that hard-earned communication-based trust. Obviously, “I read on the Internet that . . . ” is never a valid basis for an important medical decision — but asking for help in discerning, clarifying, and understanding what you read online can be a valuable part of your communication and can help build the partnership with the pediatrician.

The Internet is a tremendous tool in our lives, though we are still learning how to harness it to its best effect. Where once there was implicit trust between doctors and patients (or patient’s mothers), the Internet has helped push us toward doubt and distrust — sometimes warranted, though often not. Somewhere in the pendulum swinging between blind faith and rabid skepticism lies the productive middle ground in that ever-shifting sand of a relationship with a medical care provider that is not actually your medical care provider.

© 2010 Jen Klein, author of SheKnows.com Presents — The Mommy Files: Secrets Every New Mom Should Know (that no one else will tell you!)

Author Bio
Jen Klein is a mother of two boys and a girl, the youngest of whom just started kindergarten. After earning a thoroughly useful degree in art history and studio art, she writes technical documentation. But in her primary job as mom, she’s dealt with nearly every parenting scenario imaginable, and appreciated every slobbery toddler kiss along the way. Klein has been a contributor to SheKnows.com for the past two years and writes a weekly parenting column called “Monday Mom Challenge” in addition to regular articles. She lives near Boston, MA.

For more information, please visit www.SheKnows.com.

This picture was taken on Saturday and I have never been more disgusted with myself! What happened to me, I realize that I just had a baby two months ago, but I look awful! Well, today I took the plunge and joined Weight Watchers Online. I never fully realized what lousy food choices I was making! Oy! What I really love about this site is the community. After just signing up today, I have made two friends, joined two groups and I feel like I have the support to make this work, instead of falling by the wayside.

The points tracker is a great tool, but I am still trying to understand the whole Points thing. I know if I read some more that I will figure it out. I also like the activity tracker, weight tracker and recipe finder! I really love the recipe finder! I admit that I am not much of a planner when it comes to food, especially at dinnertime. I used to be so good about that stuff, that is until I had kids!What I liked about Weight Watchers versus Jenny Craig and etc was the fact that Weight Watchers teaches you how to eat, not just ship you food.

Right now, I weigh 148 pounds, which may not sound like a lot, but on a petite 5′ frame, it is! Yes, I realize that I had a baby two months ago and that I teach water fitness twice a week, but still if the eating habits aren’t there, the weight will never come off! Oh, yeah, and I failed my 30 day challenge on EA Active, so I have to start all over!

I am excited for this new journey and getting back on track! I think it will be a great thing!

I was looking at a friend’s copy of Your Pregnancy Week by Week and I really liked it! In fact, I ordered a copy off of Amazon. I liked it better because I felt I was given more pertanant information. The What to Expect When You Are Expecting book is good and full of great information, but for me, it was more like a “these are all the things that could go wrong in your pregnancy” book. I’m pregnant and hormonal, I don’t need more crap to worry about in my life. However, it was a good resource when I was dealing with placental previa, so it has good information, especially if you are having issues in your pregnancy.

So, if you are pregnant, I would suggest looking at both books and decide, or buy both. One to read weekly to really get the gist of what is going on in your pregnancy and one to read as a general overview and a what if book.

Tell me a bit about your pregnancy so far and enter to win a copy of Your Pregnancy Week by Week!

Normally, I would talking about video games, movies and etc. But I need to take a moment to talk about something that is far more important. Your health.

After watching just the first half hour of the new season of the Biggest Loser, I have already purged 95% of the candy and crap food in our house. Watching Jerry from the white team pass out after doing his own workout that he came up with was scary. I am five months pregnant and am working out (mild workouts) when I can, but I had some weight to lose before that, about 20 pounds. I lost 12 pounds due to extreme morning sickness and am at an okay weight right now, even for being pregnant.

But let’s face it, gamers are not usually known for their physicques. We’ve all heard the stereotypes, that we are lazy and we just sit on the couch drinking energy drinks and gaming all night. Whether these stereotypes are true for you or not, make sure that you are getting some exercise and eating healthy. If not for yourself, then for the thought that if you don’t take care of yourself, what bitchin games are you going to miss out on when you are dead.

Sorry to sound doomsdayish or morbid, but it is January and people are thinking more about their health. I would just hate to see another person from our gaming community be lost.