Mrs. Hydrangea, Dallas
Age and Occupation: 26, Administrative Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Network Analyst
Engagement Date: June 2007
Wedding Date: September 2008
Blogging Since: January 14, 2008
Venue: Catholic Church and Reception at The W Hotel
About Me: Mr. H and I come from very different cultures and backgrounds so I'm excited to plan our wedding with a balance of both traditions. My mom has always been a DIY queen, and I'm just now starting to get into it with a new house and a wedding to plan!
The Weight Game… Or Gain
February 6th, 2008 @ 11:10 am by Mrs. Hydrangea
I am more then fully aware that in only weeks I will be getting in front of the camera for our engagement pictures AND only a few months until I take my bridal portraits. However, this does not seem to be motivating me to get my butt to the gym whatsoever. Maybe because it seems so far off that I keep procrastinating, or maybe I’m just lazy.
I tend to think it’s getting up at 5:30 in the morning to take care of the dogs and get ready for work, followed by getting home late in the evening, taking care of the dogs and cooking dinner. By the time I make it to feeding the dogs, I’m already ready for bed.
My commute to work is a good 45 minutes to 1 hour trek each day, each way. I know that I chose to do this to myself, and, if I didn’t like my job, I wouldn’t have lasted with the drive I have everyday. The drive seems to take two hours of productive time out of my day and, by the time I get home, I’ve had an hour in the car to talk myself out of going to the gym.
I am one of those body types who has skinny times, and has very chubby times. Right now, I’m borderline getting to my chubby times again. After 26 years of having my weight go up, then go down and back again, you’d think I’d go out of my way to keep it on the low side… and I did …until Mr. Hydrangea and I became serious. Time spent going to the gym became time for going out to dinners or cuddling on the couch. After months and months of this routine, my motivation completely disappeared.
Recently I started tracking my calories on Spark People and it has helped a lot! Everyday I log what I eat and it automatically calculates the calories, and recommends how much I should eat in order to get to my fighting weight. It also has you track your workouts, has motivational articles, recipes and pretty much everything you could look for in a website… and it’s free. I definitely think this has helped me get on the right track, and now I just need to get my butt to the gym as well.
Have any of you all had this happen to you? If so, what have you done to change your routine and make the time to workout? Any suggestions on how to get my butt out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to get in a workout?
16 Responses to “The Weight Game… Or Gain”
Hi there Miss H–same thing happened to me. I was always fit & thin and then gyms gave way to late night dinners and movies on the couch. What is your weather like? My favorite easy fit tip is to take nice long walks with my fiancee, and we always try to walk to dinner and walk home (we live in the city). I’m up at 4:45 every morning to make it to the gym. I work 11 hr days, plus 40 min commutes. What helped me get in the habit of getting out of bed is a “Wake Up” playlist that I immediately listen to after the alarm goes off. Good luck!!
Sign up for a bootcamp with an early morning workout. I’m part of a bridal bootcamp right now and because of the money I’ve paid for it, there’s not way I’m missing a class and it forces me to go to bed earlier the night before which takes away the temptation for a evening snack after dinner. Working out with people also is really motivating because it doesn’t allow you to cheat as I know I have a tendency to do when I work out alone. If that doesn’t work and you’re a member of a gym, try to find an early morning class you like. That way you still have all that time to cuddle on the couch with your fiance in the evenings!
Sign up for a few strength training sessions with a trainer. You won’t skip out on the trainer and they will push you harder than you probably do on your own. You’ll probably see quicker results and learn some new moves!
(No, I am not a trainer, but I did use one to step up my workouts before my wedding and LOVED it!)
I’m a SP member too and have lost about 15 pounds since August. It’s been so motivational for me and has definitely helped me eat better. At the beginning of summer, I joked that I had gotten fat and happy in that way that you do when you’re in a relationship. Now we’ve started going on walks and playing racquetball. FI and I try to motivate each other.
Any chance of escaping your gym contract and joining one close to work? You might even cut your commute time by going home later.
I don’t get enough sleep as it is, so a morning workout is not going to happen. My approach is to take a quick nap after work and then exercise (if you nap in your workout clothes, it will be easier to overcome any grogginess and get going again).
I’m the say way. I get up early and get home late. It is so hard to motivate to the gym. Why not join a gym near work so that you can go for a 1/2 hour on your lunch hour or right before you head home. On the days you go to the gym ask Mr. H to make dinner and take the dogs out.
I love Spark People! I joined about a month ago and have become obsessed with getting points. It’s a great site!
my weight flutuates within the same 10 pound window as well. i wake up early and get home late too. if i don’t do something before i get home, it’s not getting done.
to combat that, i tend to watch my snacking [which is a killer because i’m such a grazer] and i walk as much as possible. i take the stairs instead of the elevator at work or the parking garage, during the warmer summer months i walk during lunch, and i go to yoga once a week on my way home from work [the studio is only 10 minutes from my house which helps a lot]. that has helped me maintain my weight which has helped a lot. is there a gym close to your job or somewhere along your drive home? that would make it easier to make a quick trip in for a good half hour of cardio at least. maybe the mister can help motivate you and keep you going too. good luck!
I’m in love with SparkPeople! I also hired a trainer to force me to work out w/him at least twice a week. Those two things together have got me on a routine and I’m starting to see small changes. Once I finish grad school in May, I plan to seriously amp up my workouts (my wedding’s in November, so it’ll leave me about 6 months to do so).
I don’t think I could ever get up at 4:30 to work out. I can barely crawl out of bed at 8am. Don’t fight your body’s natural inclinations if you’re like that (i.e. like me) but if there’s ANY chance you can get up early, do it. It’s the best time to work out. I do work out first thing in the day… it’s just later, like 9am b/c of my schedule - but it keeps me on track b/c for the rest of the day I think, “No, I don’t want to eat that b/c it’ll waste that workout I got up for this morning.” That helps me a lot.
Good luck!!
I’m the same way- I have to get to work early because I’m a teacher, then I fight rush hour to get home and I’ve still got tons of papers to grade and dinner to make and laundry to fold or whatever. The biggest thing that I’ve found is this- I don’t have dinner until I’ve been to the gym. Yeah, I eat at around 8 because of that, but it’s worked so far for me!
sounds like a familiar situation. I also have a 45-60 min commute both ways, and it definitely cuts into my day. I think once I worked out that 2 hrs commuting per weekday equals something crazy like 20 days out of the year.. boo!
Before my wedding, I joined a gym close to work and started doing lunchtime workouts. This helped a lot. Some other advice I’d offer is to take an afternoon out of the weekend and cook large quantities of a couple dinners, so you can reheat them during the week and cut out the cooking time in your evenings. Then you could get home, eat and take the dogs out for a nice long walk.
Or, another thing I do on days I don’t make it to the gym during lunch is to have a snack like a protein bar around 5 or so, and then go running after I get home. If your fiance is also into working out, you could run/walk together, so you’re not losing your quality time together. Nothing like discussing wedding details during an invigorating evening walk 
I love love LOVE sparkpeople. I am a very visual person and really enjoy their grafts. I like see my progress in picture form.
oh my gosh, i LOVE spark people!!! i was so excited to see this post.
I do an hour a day on my treadmill and use a meal delivery service through ediets.com. I bought the treadmill b/c I was too busy to get to the gym, but since it’s in my house I use it every day. Same thing with the meals- theres no excuse when I have gourmet meals at my door. You have to WANT it.
my best advice… just start…. once you start going every day, you will soon find that you are on track and don’t want to miss a day… that’s what i did… on a great day now i get two workouts in… one before work AND one after…..
My best advice would be go to the gym before you go home. Whether that means you go during lunch or before you go home. Either way, I agree with the previous post that it great if your gym is near work. My second advice is on days you don’t make it to the gym walk your dogs a bit longer. I have two dogs (Yorkie and a Morkie). Within two months of walking my dogs regularly, I lost 10lbs. And I am sure your dogs will enjoy it as well.
