Editor’s Note: We want to thank Jenette for sharing her weight loss journey with us! If you are new to Jenette’s posts on our site, you can check out her starting point here. She’s come a long way and we offer her our sincere Congratulations!
By Jenette Jurczyk
This is the homestretch. I am in the days leading up to my 40th birthday and it’s time to wrap up my weekly updates. A lot has changed for me in the past six months. I have had the most intense joy and the unparalleled exhaustion of raising two adorable girls under the age of two. I left one high-stress job and took another that was better in line with my work-life balance. I moved my family across town and we traveled to multiple states to visit family and friends. I chose to journal my path of losing the baby weight and seeing how far I could go before I hit the next decade of my life.
I relate to so many of my friends in this community, trying to do it all. That is why I chose to write this blog, to share my experiences with those who could laugh and cry with me and know what I am going through. And to those of you who commented on the website, emailed or texted me, or even stopped me on the street to say that you’ve been there too, thank you! You kept me going. You helped me make better choices.
I am not the size 4 woman who spends every waking moment in the gym. I am also not the person who is on a first name basis with the McDonald’s drive thru window server. I am very much like almost every woman I know in this community, who is trying to lose weight, trying to eat healthier, trying to keep it all together. The one piece of advice that I got the most from friends of mine who have been successful with losing weight is that it is not a diet, it is a lifestyle. Making better choices every day is what will make the difference in the long run. The habits that I have formed while on this journey will stay with me. The post-partum hormones have balanced themselves out, as well, and I can no longer use my recent pregnancy as an excuse. I am taking charge of my health as I enter my forties and I am sure that will make many things better for me in the years to come.
How did I do in the end? Well, my lowest weight was 33 pounds from my starting point, just after Juliana was born in January. I am seven pounds shy of my goal, and I will keep going. I will also point out that I am handling my new relationship with the scale much better than I did when I was in my twenties. I am much less hard on myself and much more comfortable in my own skin. I am a mom now. I am a wife. I am loved for who I am. For those reasons I have found success and happiness in my life.
Now I am embarking on the final week of my thirties and am excited about what new wisdom life will bring to me. To those of you working on losing the baby weight, the last 10 pounds, or the first 10 pounds, I wish you well with your journey. I want to thank my husband and my parents and my friends and family for their support. And especially my beautiful daughters, who are the best exercise plan I could ask for!
Jenette Jurczyk is like any new mom struggling to balance work, marriage, life and wellness while raising 2 young daughters. A native of New Jersey, she graduated from the University of Illinois and then lived and worked on both the east and west coasts. She is very involved in the community through organizations like Junior League and the Celebration Company at the Station Theater. Jenette and Brian welcomed their first daughter, Genevieve in August 2012 and their new daughter, Juliana in January, 2014.