Pfizer's Return to You

Six years ago, I had a little baby who was having some difficulty. She was my 6th baby, and she followed fast on the heels of her sister, who was just a year older.

I was really struggling with raising my kids, trying to be the best mom possible, and setting unrealistically high standards.

My baby was found to be on the autistic spectrum, and we began dealing with occupational therapists, developmental pediatricians, and physical therapists. We worked on speech therapy, worked with the sleep and feeding clinics, and in general, my life was very overwhelming.

I had developed poor eating habits with my first couple of kids and having two kids back-to-back made me reach for the food much too often. I was deeply unhappy, and who better to cheer me up than Ben & Jerry?

I consoled myself with food. Chocolate, fancy coffees, brownies with ice cream and chocolate sauce, french fries. The list grew. I ate myself from an already comfortable 14-16 right into an 18-20. It took a comment from a family member, telling me she was happy I was no longer the skinny one, and a comment from one daughter's friend that "at least she didn't have a fat mom!" to wake me up.

I decided to stop and take a good, hard look at my life. I realized I needed to make some changes in my life and get back to being myself. After all, I'd been a very happy, and pretty good, ballet dancer in my teens and was slim until I was in my early thirties. There was no reason for me to be that stereotypical "fat" mom, no reason for me to be unhappy with myself. The people at Pfizer call this "Returning to You", the time in her life when a woman decides to return to being her best self.

I began an exercise regime and slowly, slowly, so slowly it seemed to take forever, the weight came off, and the life came back into me. It's tough being a woman in her 40s. We start to experience creaks and cramps, our bodies start doing their own things, growing hair in awkward places, and we just aren't the young women we once were.

It's a challenge to find ourselves resembling our mothers more than our daughters. Topics that we never considered, such as menopause and heart health, begin to creep into the forefront of our thoughts, and we often lose our places.

Exercise helps all of these areas. It helps us to keep our figures the way we like, keeps our hearts working at optimal functionality, and helps us to feel better about ourselves in general, all of which make getting older just a tiny bit easier to handle.

Do you have a story to share about a time you felt you had to "Return to You"? Leave me a comment and tell me about it; I love hearing about how other women are dealing with these issues.

And don't forget to check out Pfizer's Page on Blogher.com to read more blogger "Return to You" stories.

Comments

[Nicki]

So, yeah, after 13 or so years of not putting myself anywhere near first, I am finally attempting to do just that, which fits right in with the whole "return to you" sentiment. In my case, it involved one child with ADHD and later clinical depression/self-harming, etc., moving for the military on a regular basis, a husband who has always had a lot of job stress and can't handle the home stress on top of it, add in a second child who has Asperger's/ADHD/OCD/anxiety, a third child with asthma and peanut/tree nut allergies, and all of my own insecurities and issues and not dealing with it and you end up with an unhappy, overweight mess. I figure at the age of 39, it's probably time to start taking care of myself and get back to the person who was happy and had a lot of interests and wasn't afraid to try things and live, not to mention the whole setting a good example for my kids thing. At this point it is still baby steps, but at least it is a start. So, yeah, at the ripe old age of 39, I am attempting to find myself again and this time not let go. Also, I have to second the whole thing about resembling the mothers and wondering whether every ache or pain or what-have-you is diabetes/cancer/heart disease. :)

[LizP]

I am trying to return to myself now. After marrying in my mid-thirties, acquiring two pre-teen boys (along with their wonky schedules and our bad eating habits), then having two kids of my own at 39 & 42 ... I am now trying to lose the 98 lbs I gained in the last 9 years. I've lost 15 since August.

[addy]

My story is not so dramatic. I was simply not going to buy another pair of pants in yet another larger size. Not gonna happen. Took control that day and am still evolving 5 years later.

[Brandy]

For eighteen years I've put everyone first. Starting with my husband and then with my children. And I was fine with that. Until this weekend and an ER visit and health scare that turned out to be not as scary as it could be. And I think I ended up there in the first place because I was so busy taking care of everyone else and trying to fit my things in there that it's just too much. So, this weekend I informed the family that I do not wish to return to the hospital (this week or any other) and that I was taking time off. And in that time I hope to slowly make them realize that I deserve help. That it's not going to just me doing it ALL anymore.

[Kristie]

After having four babies in less than five years, I began to have borderline high blood pressure. With a healthy diet, regular exercise and a few less pounds I don't need medicine. I often get busy and fall of the wagon--eat poorly, gain weight, no exercise and the high BP comes back. Once again, I find myself in a "return to you" state. Even if the house is a little more messy, it is more important to get the exercise in regularly. Now....Repeat daily. :-)

[Kim ~ Recipes To Run On]

Great to link over from the Return to You series. Looking so forward to reading more of your blog. But, as one who can relate to this post having allowed myself to indulge in food and use it in all the wrong ways.... only to wake up one day and not recognize myself in the mirror, I can agree that it's so important to take care of ourselves to be able to care of others. Great post!

[Angie]

I'm at the beginning of this. I'm working on a huge body (maybe 26/28W) and 3 special needs children (1 who is a stepchild here full time and is 10, with asperger's syndrome, severe adhd, and Oppositional something or other...basically extremely defiant..drives me nuts! 1 who is nearing 10 and is a bio child with autism, bi polar disorder and mild MR. 1 who is a stepchild here full time, 8 yrs old, shows autism, severe adhd, and emotional issues). I'm whooped. Cherry coke and chocolate are friends. And a few pots of coffee.

[jeheannindy]

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