Running to find myself

So -  onto the next New Year’s resolution. 

I will get fitter and lose some of this weight.  I guess they are really 2 resolutions which go hand in hand given I could get fitter and stay fatter, or get slimmer and stay unfit.   But I want to achieve both.

The extra stone and a half I’m lugging around with me isn’t even baby weight, which is the most annoying thing about it.  Immediately after the Biscuit was born I was only a couple of pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight.  I had admittedly been rather ill just before and just after the birth (which is a story I’ll tell you some other time), but regardless I’d only gained about 20 pounds all pregnancy, and had kept fit and exercising all the way through to the very end.

The weight gain was initially caused by breastfeeding.  I know so many people say it helped them lose weight, but honestly it just made me so hungry!  As if I just couldn’t eat enough calories to keep me and the Biscuit going.  And it didn’t help that I was slightly lactationally challenged, so I was reluctant to even think about reducing my food intake, in case that affected the milk supply even more.  And when I stopped breastfeeding at about 6 months, I was still hoovering up the cake at get togethers with friends, as well as boredom eating at home.  And not really exercising – because regardless of what the ‘experts’ say, pram pushing doesn’t really cut it.  Not when your body is used to the levels of exercise I’d been doing pre-pregnancy anyway.

Because I am a former marathon runner, and lapsed fitness enthusiast.   I was never skinny, but I was fit, and lean, and energetic.  But then I stopped running at about month 7 of pregnancy.  And didn’t start again.  All sorts of excuses why not – none really valid.

This is me in a former life – probably not in the best shape I was in, but relatively close.  Sorry its a bit blurry!

But now I’m starting again.  We have a group of girls in the office who have agreed to run together a couple of times a week at lunchtime.  And I’ll fit in another run each weekend.  It won’t be as much as I used to do, but it’s definitely better than nothing. 

Is there anyone else who has just started running, or any mums who are picking it up again post-pregnancy?  How are you finding it?

I’ll blog separately about the ‘diet’ – there is a reason for the inverted commas!

P.S – I’m logging my runs on http://www.fetcheveryone.com/ which is a brilliant running site with loads of lovely supportive members.  Look out for me on there – I’m Treacle.