Just a word of forewarning. Some of this post may totally fall under the category of TMI.

Throughout the last 9 months I have tried to be very conscious of what I am eating and exercising very regularly. My goal for doing this was to stay as in-shape as possible, keep myself and my baby healthy, and to gain a “normal” amount of baby weight. My original plan was to gain no more than 35 pounds during my pregnancy. This was the “safe” amount recommended by my health care provider.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! *wipingtearsfrommyeyes* 35 pounds? Good one, Doc!

Those 35 pounds are a distant memory.



I now have 60 (YES, 60!) extra pounds sitting on my frame. When I found out I was expecting, I was very happy at my racing/training weight of 130 pounds and had maintained that weight for at least 6 months. My natural body weight (before ever getting into running or doing regular physical activity) hovers closer to 150 pounds. Depending on the perspective, I either need to lose 40 pounds to get to my “normal” weight or 60 pounds to get to my “ideal” weight.

Not only have I been blessed with a baby belly, but I have been “blessed” with gigantic boobs (which, I swear, that if they get any bigger I will completely lose my mind) and the junk in the trunk to match. They say that when you gain pregnancy weight, you gain it in places where you would experience normal weight gain. For me, this means that this curvy girl has become EXTRA curvy…in addition to the belly. AWESOME.

No matter how you slice it, the concept of losing this much weight is daunting. I have never had to or attempted to lose that much weight in my life. To say the least, it scares me. Fortunately, I have an awesome support system of family and friends…both in real life and across the Blogosphere and Twitterverse. I know there will be no shortage of help or motivation when I need it, but it still makes me nervous. In addition, I have read and continue to read so many of your fitness blogs. I have read about some incredible people who have lost WAY more than 60 pounds and if they can do it, I can do it too. I know can.

The hardest part for me will be patience. I have these grand visions of popping out this kiddo and then running a half marathon the next weekend. (No, seriously, I do.) There are women that have been able to accomplish this, and while I would love to be one of them, I know that these women are truly the exceptions to the rule and most people just do not bounce back that quickly. Maybe I will be one of the lucky ones, but I need to stop banking on it and start being more realistic.

I am still excited about about the Core Recovery Plan that I have devised. At this point, I am just ready for Baby Key to arrive, assess my physical level at that point, and move to the next step. The waiting game is TOUGH.

2 days and counting…