KidMitts

Once upon a time I was a skinny chick who could eat all she wanted and lounge around all day without gaining a pound.  Then college and partying happened and I put on a few extra pounds. I was still looking pretty good and wasn’t too unhappy with how I looked.  Then I got pregnant, and I went all out.  I had the swollen ankles, massive “are you having twins?” belly and I never really recovered after having my beautiful bundle of joy.  I’m 5 feet 4 inches tall, and when I got pregnant I was about 142 pounds. I came home from the hospital after a lovely c section weighing in at a whopping 180 pounds (cringe!)  After some time I eventually got myself down to 160 and 6 years later  I’ve managed to get myself down to just under 150.

I work at a desk job and I’m pretty sure the weight loss can mostly be attributed to my muscle just turning into fat.  I’m essentially becoming a blob.  My stomach, as my daughter loves to point out, is like dough.  Sigh….I know I’m not alone in this. I’m sure there are some mommies out there reading this right now with doughy tummies, c section scars and also trying to figure out how to find the energy,  time, or maybe even the ambition to do something about it.  I know I am.  Where is my damn fairy godmother to take care of this mess?!

Anyone else have a Fitbit?  My wonderful boyfriend bought me a Fitbit for Christmas this year.  This was after I mentioned that my sister-in-law and my mother both have them and that we would be able to cheer each other on and such.  He basically told me that the Fitbit was really just going to tell me how much I sit on my ass all day.  He meant it lovingly I swear. I really do sit on my ass all day lol.  Anyway, he bought me the Fitbit and I was a happy girl on Christmas morning.

Out of all the features on the Fitbit, the three that I primarily keep track of are, how many steps I’ve taken, how many flights of stairs I’ve walked, and how much sleep I’m getting.  Rest is important when you’re sitting on your bum all day, and tending to children at night! I get a good amount of sleep but the steps could use some work.  I average about 5000 steps a day whereas my sister-in-law usually hits about 10,000. God love her, but she’s totally an enabler (kidding).  Right after I got the Fitbit she gave me a virtual cheer. Little did she know, I was sitting down to a Christmas dinner. I had just polished off a plate of food, a few glasses of wine, and was working on a slice of pie.  Thanks for cheering me on sis!

This brings me to our Family Fitbit Fail.  A birthday party brought us all together and somehow my Fitbit ended up on my daughter’s wrist.  And then my mom’s Fitbit ended up on my nephew’s wrist, and my niece ended up with her mom’s Fitbit on her wrist.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!

Did you know that children are really inactive these days? The solution to this problem is letting a group of them wear your Fitbits and have a contest to see who can get the most steps!  Yup, this really happened. I should be ashamed but I’m not.  The kids had a blast running around the house and checking in with us to see who had tracked the most steps.  Our data was skewed for the day but cheering our kids on as they raced around was worth it in the end.  I’d like to say that it won’t happen again but I’m not sure that it won’t!

As for me and my fitness goals for 2016, they need to be dusted off about as much as the Bosu ball and TRX trainer in the corner behind me.  The Fitbit is a great indicator of how inactive I am, and hopefully it will keep me mindful that I need to get up and get moving.

To learn more about Fitbits, check out their website here Fitbit