When Gorda Is Good

Walking back from taking BG to daycare the other day I ran into one of my excavation assistants who I hadn't seen in a while. Even though the village is small, it's not all that surprising that I hadn't seen him, since I spend pretty much every day holed up in the house doing lab stuff. And therein lies the problem.


He told me that I'm looking "bien gorda", nice and fat, basically. He said that when we were working up at the site that I looked like a line, but that I was looking much better now. I laughingly told him that I want to go back to how I looked then, but it was clear that he couldn't understand why I'd want that. It's nice being some place where the emphasis isn't all on being thin, but unfortunately I'll be returning to one fairly soon. And it's not just about being skinny, but also about the tone that came from an hour of strenuous hiking every day, hauling buckets, and all the other stuff that goes along with fieldwork.


Somehow the digging-before-lab-work schedule has got it backwards. You need to dig at the end of the trip, so that when you return home you can show off your tanned and toned muscles to all of your friends who have had to survive a six-month winter (and yes, maybe rub it in their faces a little). 


I'll admit, I'm having fairly major body issues after pregnancy. Nothing's changed all that much, everything is just looser. And I'm not the kind that easily takes a chunk of time to work out. If I can fit it into my daily routine, like hiking to the site or riding a bike to class, then I exercise. If not, then I basically don't. I also know that I'm snacking a lot more now that I sit around the house all day. I'm hoping now that I've realized it that I can start looking for those little ways to fit in more physical activity, and watch a little more what I eat, but I find it hard to do either when I'm not in the best of spirits. Steve and I definitely use junk food as comfort food here, and we're feeling that we need a lot of comfort.


Since we've been here Steve has lost around 30 pounds, mostly from stomach issues in our first few months here. He's gained about 10 or 15 of that back, but is still looking really good, and is probably in better shape than he has been for a fair amount of our relationship. He jokes that he's reverted back to his 1995 model. I'm not exactly complaining. I haven't really lost anything, maybe 5 pounds, but isn't that always the way? I think that we both need to find ways too keep up our activity levels when we get back, and hopefully start some better food habits. Suggestions, and offers for workout partners, will be appreciated.