Duxford Girl

As I was out for my daily waddle today, I was reflecting on the cult that surrounds pregnancy these days. Probably the most irritating part of said cult is the hype about how little weight mums-to-be are supposed to gain.

Let me start by sharing my own weight loss story. When I turned 30, I weighed 270 lbs. I did not sit on the couch all day and I was able to walk up a flight of stairs without wheezing and running out of breath. I know that's a big disappointment to all the people who like to stereotype fat people but that was the score. Until the spring of the year I turned 30 I had playing rugby for two years (not well, but I gave it my best shot). During the off season I trained at SAIT in the Peak Performance Program with the rest of my team. Aside from that, I also worked out at the gym 2-3 times a week. I could actually bench press my own weight at one time. When I began working shift work, it became impossible for me to play team sports because of the unpredictable schedule. Looking around the office I could see that if I didn't get my weight under control, my future was going to be a very unhealthy one after too many nights of greasy take-out. It wasn't easy, but I resolved to cut back on calories and really stick to a diet.

It took me five years but I managed to lose 110 lbs. People always ask me “how I did it.” There's no secret, the body needs to consume less than it burns. No magic program, no special diet. At some point I just stopped reeling at the unfairness that some people can eat whatever they want and realized that I had to always watch. The weight loss also didn't happen over night. I stopped listening to the hype that is the diet industry. The sole thing they ever say that has any truth is the disclaimer on every ad that says “results not typical.” The only reason that Valerie has those terrific looking abs is because Jenny Craig makes sure that Valerie has a personal trainer.

I used to mock Ricki Lake because I though that she was worse than an ex-smoker when she lost her weight. Sadly, I'm just as bad. The truth is, I feel better. I handle life better. I accomplish a whole lot more on a daily basis. Bad events are easier to handle when I can go for a run or have retail therapy at any store that I like. There's still frustrations though, I was at 159 lbs. pre-pregnancy and still considered “overweight” according to the medical industry's precious BMI. I know a lot of people skinnier than me that don't have the fitness level to get up and run every morning before they hit the slopes for five hours but that is exactly how I spent the first two weeks of December last year (okay, there may have been a Strongbow or two involved during that five hours of skiing).

At my first doctor's appointment for my pregnancy, the doctor told me that I needed to gain between 35-40 lbs. “Twenty?” I suggested, hopefully. He told me that it wasn't a negotiation. Turns out that there wasn't going to be any issue with me gaining. My first three months I was so sick and exhausted that I only hit the slopes twice and was beyond exhausted at the end of the day. Naturally, the only thing that quelled my queasiness was carbs. As far as the “second wind” a pregger person is supposed to get in the 2nd trimester, forget about it. Good luck trying to find information on pregnancy and shift work, there's very little of it.

I sent a letter to Fit Pregnancy's editorial department today expressing my disappointment in their magazine. Their sister magazine, Shape, usually has very down-to-earth, practical advice but Fit Pregnancy focuses so keenly on pregnancy weight gain (and how little of that there should be) that it's impossible to read without feeling incredibly guilty. It is part of the cult. As usual, women are inundated by images of famous women who seemingly don't gain weight, give birth to twins and “get their bodies back” immediately after delivery.

Time for a reality check. Madge, Angelina and the rest all have personal trainers to make them exercise in exactly the right way, chefs to cook perfect meals, nannies to sit 24/7 and doctors that will prescribe them things that the rest of us do not have access to. The models in these magazines are photoshoped to the max. Given that my doctor recommends the weight gain he does because he's tired of seeing low-birth-weight babies, I have to wonder what the “experts” mentioned in these zines are thinking. Could it be that American doctors are ensuring extra C-sections and post-natal special care to make more money (user-pay system, of course)?

As much as it pains me, I offer the truth in the latest album on this blog. Don't think it brings me any joy to expose my incredibly imperfect pregnant body on the web but women need to be more like men about their bodies. How many guys do you know read GQ and hate themselves for not looking like the models in the mag? In fact, how many of those men's magazines have men on the covers? Maybe we need to do the same, from now on women's magazines should only have pictures of hot guys on the cover or females politicians:

http://www.duxfordgirl.ca/inmemoriam/browse.php?id=9

In the end, being obese, not so great. I've been there and I sure knew when I felt my best, fitness and health-wise. Listening to my body was the most important thing I ever learned to do. Hopefully, I can learn the same lesson about pregnancy by the time I deliver.