A few days ago, while changing from leggings and a tee shirt to my jammies, I looked in the mirror and discovered that I am carrying a cheeseburger baby. It’s easy to ignore the scale telling you that you’ve gained 10lbs completely out of nowhere. It’s also easy to ignore pants that don’t button. After all, I can block out the numbers and wear stretchy pants instead, right? But as I looked at my silhouette, I realized that I couldn’t ignore the fact that I’d grown a potbelly. Months and months of sitting and working in front of the computer, playing in the digital world, consuming cheeseburgers and tacos, and not doing much activity that required me to move had resulted in a belly that looks two months or so pregnant.
I’m not kidding:
Is that a baby bump? No - it's a cheeseburger baby!
I’ve known for a while now that I’ve gained some unhealthy weight. It’s partly why I decided to play softball this season. And yet, I somehow managed to continue to ignore it, sucking in my gut when dressing in the morning, until my pants refused to get even remotely close to buttoning.
When I talk about it, though, everyone tells me I look great. I think it’s that they feel obligated; when women mention their weight, everyone jumps and falls all over themselves to tell us that we look great, that we’re beautiful. It’s hard to feel beautiful, though, when none of my clothing fits. I don’t want to be skinny, but I would like to fit into my once normal size 5 pants. I don’t feel like I need abs or anything. I just want the cheeseburger baby to go away and I want my favorite jeans — all soft and ripped and wonderful after years and years of wear — to fit again. I want to sit and bend over without having to suck in my gut so that my pants don’t cut off my circulation.
Sorry, little guy.
So, softball. This Sunday, Mike and I went to the park to refresh my rusty catching, hitting, and throwing — and running, oh man, the RUNNING! — and although I am paying for it in pain, it felt so good to be active. Truth be told, I’m also playing softball because I want to say to myself, “I can do this.” On Sunday, I realized, I can.
My goal is to lose weight and gain confidence and self-esteem. I don’t to be a lazy web designing sloth. I want to feel and look good.
I haven’t cut cheeseburgers and stuff entirely out of my diet, though. I’ve been eating smaller portions, and instead of having, say, a cheeseburger and fries when I do get fast food, I’ll replace one of the two with a salad.
I figure, after a few weeks of going for walks and runs and playing softball, my cheeseburger baby will be long gone. I’m hoping that it also helps loosen my joints so that I won’t be in pain as often, though after Sunday my hips and thighs are sore as hell, especially when I get up after sitting down; I have to stand up and sit down very slowly because I’m so stiff. The more I move around, the better I feel, though, so I’m not too worried about it.
PS: I broke down and started that social media marketing and community building blog I’ve been talking about. Check it out!
Haha this blog is too cute! I hear ya though I am trying to get healthy again too,I am not gonna lie I HATE exercising so I am really watching what I eat and doing it the healthy way. Once you start playing softball you will see a huge change! then bye bye burger baby!
I’m pretty lazy when it comes to exercise, which is why I never did anything during gym at school…
I loved the exercises Mike and I did last Sunday while he helped me brush up on my softball stuff, though. It felt so good after, like I could do anything! I’m going to start running, starting tomorrow, so that I can build up my muscles better (and not be in pain for three days after playing softball; these last few days after Sunday’s workout were brutal — but so worth it)!
I’ve never heard this expression before – the cheesburger baby. But, of course, there’s QUITE A FEW expressions I’ve never heard before and it is so frustrating, because once I think that “oh, my English isn’t that bad”, I’m proved completely wrong. Anyway, I’m struggling with the same problem, and the weirdest thing is that whenever I gain few kilograms (pounds? haha) all of sudden I hear from people: “Oh, you’ve LOST weight. You’re so much thinner!”. Which I think is crazy
I actually made up the cheeseburger baby phrase, because I’m positive that this weight gain is due to the large quantity of cheeseburgers I’ve been eating (and the Reeses, and the laziness), but I’m sure someone else has said it before.
I swear people try too hard to be nice. I’d rather hear, “Yes, you definitely gained a few pounds, but it’s okay!” than, “You look great!” and “No, you’re thinner!”
Pingback: Yummy Mummy vs Scrubby Mummy « Sarcastica