Tag Archives: life

An update from Alyssa and April: A fresh start in 2016!

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APRIL_ALYSSA_HOLLY

Well hey there! How are ya? Lots has happened  in the past year… mainly that I had a baby! Holly was born on 11.09.15 and is an amazing, sweet, happy little baby. My life has changed dramatically in just two months, and as I suspected, I’m finding that my attitude towards my body and weight loss is changing. The desire to get healthy is even stronger than ever now because it’s no longer just about me – being a healthy Alyssa is being a healthy mom for my daughter. April and I decided over Christmas this year that we wanted to come back to the Double Chin Diary.

Managing a full-time job, marriage, baby, and writing on my blog is going to be a bit difficult, so this year I’m not giving myself any “goals”. It’s simply trying to move to a frame of mind for feeling good. Pregnancy and the post-partum time period does a doozy on the body, so for now, I’m ready to get started with a few simple things; 1) Getting back to gentle exercise, like walking, yoga, and riding my bike, 2) Moving away from sugar, and 3) focusing on self-care like sleep, gardening, and eating nutritious things. That’s all. No goals of “I must lose this much weight by so and so,” because that stuff has never worked for me. I just need to try to do and be better.

A blogger friend of mine has been experiencing some health issues, and she posted this on her Facebook: “To all of you youngsters on my friend list who are carrying extra weight, PLEASE heed my warning and lose the weight … sooner rather than later! We only get one shot at this life, so please don’t waste/throw away years of it being overweight like I’ve done.”

It really resonated with me, and as I approach the ripe old age of 31, no day or time is ever promised. Why wouldn’t I want to spend it feeling great? I’m thrilled that so far mommyhood has been wonderful; I feel happy mentally, and now it’s time to start feeling better physically. My back in particular has been aching a lot since late pregnancy and labor (more details about that later: the chiropractor is my new best friend), so I’m ready to shed some weight to see if that helps.

Feels good to be back… I’ll check in soon with more details about my body during pregnancy and after.  2016: let’s do this! (PS: You can also find me on my other blog, LaLaLyssa.com sharing more lifestyle related things like tales from motherhood, random posts about cats, and other stuff.)

XOXO

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The Double Chin Diary Divider

From April:

It has been a year since I stopped writing on the Double Chin Diary. This past year went by quickly as I didn’t have much time to rest with my usual chaotic schedule. I spent 2015 working an assortment of positions at a local humane society, babysitting, and being a full time student. I am proud to say that I’m just one class away from completing an advanced certificate in Environmental Resource Management and Pollution Prevention!

Even though my life was on the constant move, I managed to gain 45 pounds. I know why I gained the weight. I ate for convenience and not health. My idea of exercise was walking from the farthest parking spot in the lot at work. I stopped hiking, playing tennis, and going for walks around the town. I hit my ultimate level of exhaustion and my body took the impact of it.

This year I can’t continue to act the same way. My body just can’t handle any more weight. My legs get all twitchy when I’m tired, just like they used to do 8 years ago before I had lost 50 pounds. I eat Tums like they are the only thing that keeps me alive. I spend my weekends sleeping and cleaning because I’m too tired from the week to do anything productive after work. I need to start making the changes necessary for me to lose weight and regain my health. Plus, with my niece Holly around now, I have even more motivation to get fit.

Alyssa and I have been talking how we need to start writing again on the Double Chin Diary. I never had an extraordinary amount of weight loss while writing here but a major benefit I found was the accountability for myself to do well. I felt like I wanted to have positive things to write about so I was motivated to try harder.

Now that it is a new year and my crazy schedule should be calming down, it is time to start again. I plan to write at least once a week about my adventures of being back at the gym, eating well, and regaining my health. I’ll be using Myfitnesspal.com to track my weight and maybe my food and exercise, if I can be disciplined enough. I need to start COMPLETELY avoiding the foods I’m allergic to (wheat, rice, oats, apples, oranges, and bananas) as I do think my denial of my food allergies over the past four months definitely attributes to my weight gain.

Like so many at the beginning of the year, I am full of great intentions. I hope I can actually fulfill them this year.

Happy 2016 everyone!

Cheers,
AprilSignatur

Big Sexy

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I heard of TLC’s new show “Big Sexy” via word of mouth before I actually saw it being promoted. A few of my friends asked me what I thought about it, and being a “big sexy” myself, I decided I had to check it out.

The show follows “Five Fabulous and Fierce Fashion Divas” living their lives in New York City. The episode I watched tonight was about a singles party. Here are my initial thoughts (I’ll be tuning in later tonight, too – but these are my thoughts after watching the show for the first time.)

  • These chicks ARE actually big. So often in mass media, representatives of “plus size” are barely topping a size 10 and look just like your average sister, mom, cousin or girlfriend. Plus-sized means PLUS SIZED, aka, having to buy clothes from the ‘fat lady’ department. I like that these girls have “plus sized street cred”, if that makes sense, and they’re not the usual skinny girls with cellulite moaning about their fat thighs. Kudos to TLC on casting accurate body types for a show that’s about, well, big bodies.

  • Some of the typical comments from the brilliant citizens of the internet about this show are that it’s “promoting and celebrating the lifestyle of the obese”. I’m obese – and do I celebrate my life? Hell yes, I celebrate my life – I celebrate every breath I breathe, every rose that blooms in my garden, every day that I wake up next to my sweet husband. Life is something to be celebrated. I’m not going to mourn because I have fifty pounds to lose. Like my figure, my life is FULL. There’s a difference between celebrating obesity and celebrating life. These girls are proud of who they are. They have work to do to be healthy, and they acknowledge it – but they’re confident, happy and successful at the same time. I know this goes against mass media’s typical representation of the fat kid, but it’s time to progress. Lots of fat people are miserable, but lots of fat people are happy, too. One size does not fit all. It’s 2011. Celebrating life is a sign of gratitude, wisdom and knowledge – not celebrating the fact that you binged on cupcakes and can’t button your jeans.

  • TV is still up to its usual tricks. In one scene, the girl aspiring to be a plus sized model is shown boxing at the gym, and then it cuts to her working out on the treadmill. The camera zoomed in at least three times on her ample bottom. I don’t know if TLC zoomed in on her ass to be like “Hey male viewers! Look at this booty!” or to be like “Hey viewers! Here’s a big fat ass! We’re going to zoom in on it to make you worry if your ass looks big!” Regardless of the intent, it felt gratuitous and degrading, no matter the size of the ass. Women fight a battle EVERY DAY to be seen as equals and don’t tell me it doesn’t happen, because I see it happen on a daily basis. Zooming in on asses, cleavage and tummy rolls only further perpetuates the idea that we are THINGS, things that are made to be owned, prodded and analyzed. Size 20 or Size 2 – We are people. Leave the ass shots to Jersey Shore.

  • While I admire the fact that there is a show purely for larger women, I sometimes wish TV could just integrate and that so called “Reality television” could actually be realistic. I don’t choose friends based on their weight, so it seems weird to me that shows are always “segmented” by body type or appearance (think Real World, Jersey Shore, The Hills, etc). Does TV need to be so US and THEM? America’s Next Top Model integrates plus sized models among the regular sized models, and I always thought that was a refreshing change. TLC’s “Big Bliss” is another example of plus-sized programming. It’s great to have diversity, but I hope for the future that media will not always be so categorized. The reality is that big fat people mingle with little skinny people in real life – so reality television should follow suit. If we’re representing the mass – make sure it looks mass.

What do you think about “Big Sexy”? Have you watched it? No matter your size, how does it or other shows like it make you feel? Chime in!