A Fresh Start: Part 1

It’s certainly been a while since we’ve blogged, and that’s not because we haven’t wanted to, it’s simply because we haven’t had anything to say. Since the last time we wrote, we’ve moved home as well as started eating healthier, both in an effort to create a nice environment for our future. We also had a lovely week with S’s godson, J, giving us a chance to be children for the week and have legitimate excuses to play on swings (not that that usually stops me).

In light of having to move, it meant that we had to put the baby-making process on hold as we all know how stressful moving can be, and we also had no room for D as J was using ‘his room’. It would have been a waste of D’s time and ours. So we gave him a little holiday.

The move went really well (unsurprisingly as S was the organiser). Our new home is certainly an upgrade, which we (unfortunately) didn’t get to tell our old (crappy) landlord. It is bigger and has a lovely calm feeling to it.

S and I are certainly happier and more relaxed, not that we were unhappy (or realised we were unhappy) but looking back it was clear that we were getting bogged down and stressed easily, and then taking it out on each other. Even our animals are happier now, they stay in a lot more and they even seem to be playing with each other like kids! All-in-all, it was certainly a blessing in disguise. We just hope the change will be a blessing in many ways than one.

After moving, I also decided to take advantage of the time off we had and started eating healthier, which in turn encouraged S to join in as she was starting to see results on me (which S recently translated as “I didn’t want my wife to get thin and fit and leave her fat wife”) (*sigh*).

Over the years, there was never anything that really kicked me up the backside to start dieting (I promised I wouldn’t use THAT word). I knew that I wasn’t in the best of shape physically, nor did I really like the tyre round my gut but I had the “I don’t care” attitude, regularly stating that “I don’t want my last meal to be a salad” and, more importantly, S was fine with how I looked. However, as if it was a sign, my work decided to start conducting yearly fitness tests at the same time that I regularly started reading references to weight in regards to TTC. Now, I am not saying that larger ladies cannot become pregnant at all, I’ve seen evidence of this with a few close friends of mine, but it’s certainly a factor that appeared regularly when doing my research, upsetting me. So I made a change.

Although in the past we ate well anyway (lots of fruit and veg – nothing processed), which I thought would be good enough, we weren’t doing much exercise alongside it (apart from walking the dog). The portions were perhaps larger than the average portion, and we would pig out most weekends with the occasional chocolate bar. This had to stop.

Both S and I are now using MyFitnessPal to calorie count the food we eat as well as log the exercise we are doing. I’ve also joined the gym, which is comfortably based at my work (I don’t work at a gym), I’m certainly annoyed I didn’t join sooner as it’s been the best change I’ve made for a while. So far, I’ve lost a stone in two months and S has lost just under a stone. I don’t fit my work trousers any more and S has a ton of now baggy t-shirts.

We are so pleased, especially as it really hasn’t been that difficult – I guess having a goal in the back of your head really gives you the motivation.

K