But, man, check out my moobs. I swear they weren’t this big before. Well, thus far my life has been closely following those daddy-to-be books, and weight gain has been no exception. Many books talk about how fathers will experience sympathy pregnancy symptoms, also known as Couvade Syndrome. Couvade Syndrome is a condition where the father-to-be experiences pregnancy symptoms such as weight gain, morning sickness, insomnia, labor pains, mood swings, messed up sleep and even postpartum depression. But who gives a crap about that laundry list, I’m getting fat! In fat, I mean in FACT, some studies claim that men gain around 14 LBs during their partner’s prego state, and I’ve been steadily reaching that apex.
I would never have believed it could happen to me. On the one hand I’ve always been pretty active and watched what I eat. And on the other hand I’ve never really noticed any of my “dad-friends” gain this weight. I mean every sitcom dad, who was originally trim, stayed trim during their pregnancy. On “Scrubs,” J.D. didn’t become Heavy D, on “The Office,” Jim Halpert never became Fat Halpert and On “Fat Albert,” well … I never saw a kid so his situation might have been glandular. My point is that this weight gain has really snuck up on me.
To be honest, it’s off-putting. When I met my wife I actually had those diagonal muscles next to my stomach and now they have more of a curviness quality. In this state of my crisis I’m just trying to avoid having to buy new, bigger clothing, so I’ve been trying to hit the gym more and eat healthier. But it’s difficult. It’s tough to choose the gym over working on my kid’s room or on the house, but mostly it’s tough to work out when I don’t have the same energy that used to push me there. I actually used to love working out and now I sweat just getting changed for the gym. And, yes, my clothes situation has changed. I think I cut my wardrobe by a third based on what still fits.
It’s also very challenging to eat a salad when my wife suggests mac and cheese and tater tots for dinner (which I love), or we have the opportunity to celebrate “Burger Month” at Margaretville (which we just did). The one great thing about this experience is that I can feel and eat like a kid again. I also get to share these “too tired for the gym” and “let’s eat pizza rolls for dinner” experiences with my wife. In a way I get the sense that she experiences this as empathy on some level.
But I know I’m not healthy and it’s time to turn things around. Gaining weight also has the ability to make people feel poorly about themselves and I want to catch it before it reaches that point. My thinking in writing this post is to call myself out. I want to be a ball of energy for when Baby Dino arrives. After all, I am home with him for a full year so I need to be on my toes. I also want to be able to run across the house to soothe him when necessary (because, let’s be honest, who wants a crying baby in the next room from you). So I begin a pledge to myself today of becoming a more energetic and active father for my baby. I will not be staring in “Who’s eating all of Gilbert’s Grapes,” or playing Rose DeWitt in Titanic (though I would still let Leo paint me naked … I mean, who wouldn’t?). My final promise to you is that you will never find me out of breath rocking the little one in my new stylish and contemporary rocking chair, rather you will find me rocking and rolling with the little one in my new stylish and contemporary rocking chair.
Celebrating “Burger Month” At Margaretville
with the Ultimate Burger Melt
(Photo credit: My Awesome Wife)
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