Guest post by Ayanna Nahmias, the highly acclaimed author of the internationally renowned blog, The Nahmias Cipher Report.
After my traumatic divorce I was faced with raising a child by myself. I was blessed to have the support of my mother and sister. However, the burden of good parenting usually falls upon the shoulders of the individual who has custody. Thus began my quest to return to health and fitness.
Prior to my son’s birth I was an incredible athlete. I ran triathlons, raced roller-blades, rode horses, and worked out two to three times a week with a personal trainer. My body was my temple, and like many people who live in South Beach, Miami, maintaining the perfect physique was not only desired but required. Like many busy professionals, I waited to have children and did not get pregnant until I was nearly forty.
Throughout my pregnancy I continued to exercise, eat a low fat diet, and follow all of my obstetrician’s advice. I talked to other mother’s about postpartum exercise regimes and weight loss techniques. I was wisely advised to breast feed as it usually speeds weight loss. It worked quite well for me, and then when my son was just a few months old my milk dried up and so did the significant weight loss I had experienced. In fact, I noticed, to my chagrin, that I even started to gain weight, despite carefully watching my diet.
I found it increasingly difficult to balance single-motherhood with a workout regime. I paid for several sports club memberships which ended up as a waste of money because I was either too tired or too busy to make it to the gym. Next, I bought a home step machine which I used in the evenings, but after a few weeks I lost my motivation. Then I decided perhaps Pilates, Tai Chi, or Yoga might help me lose weight and reduce my stress.
I managed to make it to several classes before once again the hectic demands of work and motherhood intruded. I promised myself that as soon as my schedule relaxed I would return to the tranquility of the studio. But, this commitment, like previous efforts, remained unrealized. By this time I was very unhappy with my appearance as I had gained over forty pounds and gone from a size 4 to a size 12.
It was then that I decided to join a mother’s group. Theoretically women in this group could understand the challenges of trying to stay fit while raising young kids. I imagined that I could become close to one of these women and we would become workout ‘pals’. The approach seemed sensible; however, I found that it was hard to bond with women who were usually fifteen to twenty years my junior.
During the intervening years I managed to loose some weight and was now wearing a size 8. However, I seemed to hit a plateau and remained unable to achieve my pre-pregnancy weight, despite all efforts. By then my son had grown into a handsome and very active eight year old. He loved animals and wanted to add a dog to his menagerie of frogs, snails and fish. As I already cared for these creatures, despite my son’s promises, the idea of taking care of a puppy seemed overwhelming.
We decided to get a rescue dog and adopted a Labrador Retriever puppy. We brought him home when he was 8 weeks old and it turned out to be the answer to my long pursuit of a return to fitness. Since we live in an apartment building, we have to take the dog out for walks quite often. In the beginning it was every two hours, but now at three months old, he lasts between five to seven hours between outings.
He is a very active puppy with a lot of energy and enjoys walking quite fast. Our ‘power walks’ are so enjoyable that I didn’t even realize how much energy I was expending until one day I had nothing to wear and decided to slip on a pair of size 6 jeans. Imagine my surprise when they fit beautifully. At long last, I had discovered the secret to weight loss and a healthy exercise regime; a puppy named Mr. Fluffy.
Ayanna’s Bio
Ayanna Nahmias was born in 1964 in Florida into a military Christian family, but was subsequently raised Muslim. The eldest of three children, her father studied and earned his degree in physics and mathematics, while her mother taught English. In 1970 her radical, Islamist father who had a deep hatred for American values and culture moved the family to Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Three years later they relocated to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after a grueling three week cross continent journey by car.
Several years later, her mother fled from her husband’s oppressive and tyrannical rule, and returned to the United States with Ayanna and her siblings. Ayanna completed high school in Bethesda, Maryland, and received a Benjamin E. Mays academic scholarship to pursue her tertiary education at Bates College in Maine.
During her third year, she completed a semester abroad at The Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, a Bates College exchange program at Oxford University. Upon her return to the States she was awarded a Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature.
Ayanna was recently interviewed about her life in Africa and what it was like to survive cerebral malaria and to successfully conquer many other life challenges. She was featured on Radio Netherlands Worldwide program titled, “The State We’re In”, a show that highlights “first-person stories from around the world about human rights, human wrongs and how we treat each other.” The interview broadcast on 21 August 2010 in the US on an NPR affiliate stations and will be available for download on the net.
Ayanna currently resides in Arlington, Virginia where she publishes an internationally followed, highly rated blog titled The Nahmias Cipher Report. In addition to writing her memoir titled “Memoirs of a Cipher,” she also cares for her mother, an ordained Baptist Minister; and she is raising her son as an Orthodox Jew. Because of her unique history she adheres to and instills in her son a deep and abiding respect for his biracial heritage and for all People of the Book.
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September 3, 2010 at 6:01 AM
Beautiful article!