I am Iron...idle Man
- John DeSantis
- Nov 10, 2019
- 2 min read
It’s no secret that having kids usually coincides with the time in life where your metabolism leaves you on the side of the road like a box of unsold stuffed animals after a yard sale. Conveniently, this also comes at a time where you find it near impossible to make time to do much physical activity to make up for this loss of fat burning. Soon you find yourself packing on pounds like Robert DeNiro preparing for the role of an old washed up boxer in a Martin Scorsese film. Obviously, this isn’t ideal when paired with a lesser amount of sleep than you had in your younger years.
If your kids are beyond the age of bottles and baby food, you’ll soon find yourself munching on whatever they didn’t finish on their plate: chicken nuggets, pancakes, grilled cheese, fish sticks, the vegetables they're not eating. It’s all delicious and you feel like you’re in college again! The only difference now is that your body has betrayed you without the benefit of young adulthood on your side. You’re now gaining the freshmen fifteen at an alarming rate that’s only getting more difficult to overcome by the day. You have less hair also.
There aren’t many things you can do when you have a limited amount of time between work, childcare, cooking, and whatever’s left for you or your partner after that. This is all assuming you’re energized enough to do anything other than sit on your couch dozing off to a TV show that requires little brain power. Trying to just not put on extra pounds, let alone trying to shred them is a daunting task, one that isn’t made any easier with less sleep and the need for quick meals, or often food on the go.
You’ll worry about your health, about the example you’re setting for your kids, and wonder if there will ever be a time to get your well-being back on track, or at least get it somewhere in the vicinity of the track. This is the new reality. Finding ways, whatever ways however big or small, to get some exercise in or to ease up on the desserts will at least make you feel like you’re making an effort and how you feel is half the battle. There are no exercise or diet tips here other than: don’t get discouraged if you fall off the wagon, try to have a support system around you whether it’s a partner or friend who is doing this regimen too, and remember this is for you as much as it’s for your kids. You’ll feel better knowing you did what you could.
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