After having 4 kids, I didn't think I would ever be able to be at my ideal weight again. After having my first child my body went back down to my pre-pregnancy size within weeks. So during my pregnancy with my second child I thought I could just pig out and everything would just go away after the baby came. Of course I found out the hard way. It took a little over a year for me to lose 15lbs. I will not sit here and say that I exercised all the time but I did a lot of running around chasing my kids. To me that was enough exercise for anyone.
The older I got the harder it was for the weight to come off. I found myself being tired all the time and having no energy. I wanted to get my energy back and lose my tummy fast in addition to eating healthier. So I looked to my kids for some extra help. I mean, my extra weight gain was their fault (right?),it was only fair that they help me lose it.
With my oldest son being 15 years old, and a football player in high school, he was always exercising to stay in shape. During the week, after dinner he would challenge me to see how many sit ups I could do. We would even race down the street to see who would have to do the dishes. I started taking my 6 and 2 year old to the park 2-3 times a week, so that in itself was exercise for me. My 10 year old daughter loves to read, so she would read about what things were considered healthy to eat and what things were considered unhealthy to eat. She would remind me all the time if I was cooking something that she did not think was healthy. My husband and kids enjoy every meal and they don't even complain about the vegetables. I started being creative with how I cooked so that they would not pick at their plates and try to take out all the good stuff.
All in all I am happy with my size and I thank my family for being so supportive of me. We all in someway help each other stay fit. I want to be around for a very long time and I want to be able to keep up with my kids.