Thursday, March 8, 2012

Frugality? Meet Reality.

Here's my conundrum for this rainy Thursday morning... grab your coffee.

Though I am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight (yay!) I still feel, for all intents and purposes, FAT. Not, OMG, get-a-crane-she's-stuck-in-the-house fat. But to me, I feel large, and not in charge. Everything is just... wider than it was before. Wider is not good, especially since I have so many striped sweaters.

I mentioned a little while back how I was trying to get back in shape through running and the 30 Day Shred. This combination WORKS, at least for me, if you can stick to it. The problem is that I am back to work, and I have a 12 week old baby. Shockingly, I have much less free time than I thought I would.

Using My Fitness Pal and tracking calories, I am still losing weight, but I don't think dieting alone is enough. If you want to look toned, you have to exercise. And for me, walking isn't enough. I need to sweat the pounds away, otherwise I don't feel accomplished. I need to run.

My darling husband is back in school to get his MBA, so on top of working full-time and watching our sweet pea in the mornings, he is in class two nights a week until 10:00pm. So it's not like I can leave Em alone in the living room while I go the gym. My plan was to do the 30DS on the nights he had class, and run on the nights he was home.

But then Em decided she needs to know mommy's whereabouts at all times. The last three times I have gone to gym after she went to bed, she has cried and cried for Jon until I came home and fed her. Even if she just ate. It's like she knows I'm not in the house and she is piiiiiiiissssed.

The other problem with running after she goes to bed is that I am knock-down, ass-dragging tired at the end of the day. The last thing I want to do at 8:30pm is go back out in the cold, run at the gym, get home, shower, and be all wired up and not fall asleep until 11pm. Especially since homegirl has been eating much more frequently at night aka wakes up every 2 hours famished the past few days. Growth spurt maybe? I get up at 5:45am every day, and I NEED my sleep. I have to be asleep by 9:30pm in order to be a fully functioning human at work the next day. So until Em sleeps through the night consistently (which many people who are exclusively nursing will tell you takes a LONG time), I just can't go to bed that late.

Ok, still with me? Herein lies my conundrum, at last.

The solution I came up with is that I need to buy a jogging stroller. Em LOVES being outside, loves being strolled in her stroller, and loves looking around at all of the foreign objects in our neighborhood. So she'll be happy and entertained, and I can get my runs in even if Jon isn't home. I won't have any excuses!

But jogging strollers aren't cheap. We have a baby now, and I am trying to be good about frivolous purchases. Except for her, we buy her ridiculous stuff all the time. (Case in point, we may or may not have spent $40 on this Adidas track suit that she'll wear maybe 1-2 more times before she's too big for it. Yep.)


I am having a hard time justifying the $180-$250 it would cost to buy a stroller when I probably should be saving that money for childcare. Or groceries. Or college. Or headbands.

I thought maybe I could buy one on Craigslist to save money, but then I thought, just like cars, stroller tires wear out. And then to replace them is an added expense so I might as well just buy new.

So now I'm struggling with frugality vs. reality. I don't want to spend the money, but I'm afraid I will never be able to get back into shape without one, given our time constraints.

I need someone to tell me either a) It's fine because we'll get alot of use out of it or b) Just wait a few more weeks and Em will be sleeping better and I'll have more energy to go to the gym that I already pay for every month.

HELP!!!

9 comments:

  1. Get the stroller girl! It sounds like you will be getting the good use out of it, and it's not like it's only for when Em is a little baby. You'll be able to use that thing for years! Not even that it's going to benefit you. You still have to do what is right for yourself and your body and in the end Em is only going to benefit by having an active mommy who can run around with her & not get tired! DO IT!!!!!!!! If you want help researching let me know! I'm the queen of....well everything lol but I am pretty good at researching :)

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  2. I say keep an eye on Craigslist for a gently used stroller that may eventually need new tires. That way, you can not feel bad about your purchase and you can make sure you'll use it...then if you use it all the time, you can buy a new one when the wallet allows :)

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  3. Craigslist! I bet most of the ones that have made it to Craigslist are indeed lightly used.

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  4. I agree wtih all of the above -- Get the stroller! & Watch craigslist. Although, DH & I were just at Target last night and we saw a jogging stroller by Baby Trend for $99 (much much much less than the regulary $200+). Granted, it's probably not "the best" you could have, but it looked sufficient and efficient enough to get the job done. The tires were good tires. So that is an option as well. I've been browsing craiglist too, because, although I haven't had my baby girl yet, I already struggle (and always have) with weight loss & toning up. A jogging stroller is a must have. And, worst case scenario, if you don't use it as often as you wanted, you could always resale on craigslist and get some money back! Good luck, Lovey!

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    1. Oooh, $99 is very doable! I will check that out for sure!

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  5. Get a 20% off coupon for Babies R Us and go get your stroller! If you don't have a Baies R Us coupon, did you know that Bed Bath and Beyond coupons work there also?!

    You have a half marathon to run in 2 months!

    A Happy Mom = a Happy Baby!

    DO IT!

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    1. I know, and I HAVE to run that! My bridesmaids dress depends on it! ;-)

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  6. I would say get the stroller, and if it's feasible, cancel your gym membership. That way you have the extra money you would have been spending at the gym for other necessities...like headbands ;)

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  7. Thanks all for your advice... I'll let you all know what I decide! Eeek!

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