Balancing Life and Fitness: My Journey

During my time on the road visiting schools for The Muscle Mania Tour, I often have adults pull me aside and ask me for tips on losing weight. I once had a cab driver in Queens ask me how he could lose belly fat. I used to be at a loss for words when presented with this situation. In my work with kids, my philosophy has always been to view exercise as a way to a healthy, fit body. That's what I emphasize when I teach kid's classes, and since I often get my workout while I'm teaching, that mentality has spilled over into my own personal views on exercise. Then I had a baby...

I've been so active my whole life that my weight had never been an issue for me. Sure, I inherited a good metabolism, but exercise has always been an integral part of my life, both personally and professionally. I had always been able to strike that balance between caloric input and energy output. For the first time in my life, the scales had tipped.

I remember the day I noticed something was amiss. I was cleaning up after my son's lunch. As I turned and bent over to wipe his high chair tray, my rear end hit the wall. Hmmm. I underestimated how much space I would need. It was after that when I realized I was still wearing a lot of my favorite maternity clothes. Up until then, I had been blissfully unaware of my inability to lose the baby weight. After all, I was exercising just as much as normal. I went back to teaching six weeks after my son was born. Besides, it takes time to reclaim your pre-pregnancy weight. The problem was, my son was nearing his second birthday.

The time had come for me to face the facts. I needed to make changes in my lifestyle to lose the weight. From my background in health and fitness, I knew that I had to create what nutritionists call an "energy deficit." This scientific term can be easier understood with the phrase "eat less and move more." To lose two pounds of body fat per week, I'd have to burn 1,000 more calories per day than I took in. Now, I admire those people who have the discipline and patience to actually measure their caloric input. But I knew that wasn't going to work for me. Here's what did:

• Limiting portion size: Cutting the amount I ate at each sitting was easier than I thought. I knew my portions had been too big. When making dinner for my family, I often served myself the same size portion as my husband, who is over six feet tall. After just a few days of resisting the urge to overeat at meals, I began to enjoy the sensation of not feeling full. No more food comas!

• Eating every 3 to 4 hours: Probably what helped the most for cutting portion size at mealtime was snacking between meals. I put a bunch of low-calorie, healthy snacks in plastic baggies in a designated bin in the kitchen. That way I could "grab 'n' go" as needed. When mealtime arrived I didn't feel famished; so I didn't overeat.

• Increasing the activity: It was time to address the other part of the equation, energy expenditure. What? Exercise more? Although I was already active daily, it wasn't enough to meet my temporary goal of losing weight. I had to increase either the intensity or the duration of my workouts. But since I was feeling less sluggish by eating smaller portions...well you can see how it all works together.

I reached my pre-pregnancy weight with conflicted feelings. I experienced a sense of accomplishment for using will power and discipline to reach my goal. But I also had trouble reconciling the exercise philosophy I teach my young students with my own personal weight loss journey. When I ask a roomful of new students why we exercise, inevitably one kid will answer "to get skinny." I've spent my career encouraging kids to view exercise instead as a means to a healthy heart, strong muscles, and energetic spirit. Was I being hypocritical by leaving the subject of weight loss out of my presentations? I decided to keep my weight loss experience private, because in essence, my original philosophy on exercise hasn't changed. I still exercise because I love to sweat. I love to dance. I love my strong biceps. I even love feeling sore the day after a tough workout. It reminds me that I'm alive. This enthusiasm for exercise is what I share with kids.