Covering The Spread With Ryka

I gained a little over 30 pounds when I was pregnant with Myles. My weight has always fluctuated 5 pounds one way or the other through the course of any given month and any time I got on the scale last summer, it could have read 120, 118 or 124. On the day I was induced, I weighed 156.

I know everyone's experience is different, but for me, the pregnancy weight has come off fairly easily. Breastfeeding helps a LOT. After the initial month of rapid loss, I've been averaging about 1/2 pound a week without doing much of anything, which is great. But I think I've hit a wall.

Any time I've weighed myself in the past 3 weeks, the scale reads 127.5. That number and the fact that I still can't quite squeeze into my very favorite Lucky Brand pre-pregnancy jeans, has become my nemesis.

My goal is to get back to at least 123, which means I have 4 1/2 pounds to go. Who-hoo! But just losing the pounds isn't going to be enough, I'm afraid. I've got to do something about the "spread". You all know what I'm talking about, right? Suddenly my lower half seems a few inches wider than it used to.

That's where Ryka comes in. I've been wearing their MC2 Walks for the last few weeks and making an effort to get out at least a few times a week beyond what I normally do, which is next to nothing.

I'm ashamed to say the last time I bought athletic shoes was in 1999. That's right, the shoes I owned before these Rykas were almost 8 years old. So, needless to say, anything would have been an improvement. But these shoes are really great.

They're made especially for women and it shows. They're lightweight, and they seem to breathe well, which is especially important for me since I live in southwest Florida and wearing socks is not something I do on a regular basis.

Additionally, I have to wear shoes in the house because our home has ceramic tile floors throughout and going barefoot is murder on my back and legs. The Rykas have been great for giving me support on our hard floors and still being comfortable after wearing them all day.

I have never purchased shoes online before because I have a flat arch and one of my feet is slightly larger than the other, but Ryka has a page that helps you determine the unique shape of your foot and then tells you which shoe will work best for you.

I'm hoping that in another few weeks, thanks to Ryka, that 4 1/2 pounds will be history and I'll be back in my favorite jeans just in time for fall. Which in Florida means the temperature drops into the 80s.

You can read more reviews of Ryka's walking and running shoes at the Parent Bloggers Network and be sure to check this out: Ryka is GIVING AWAY 50 pairs of shoes and 50 t-shirts a day from now until October 25 as well as donating matching numbers of shoes to the Women's Sports Foundation. So Ryka is company with heart AND sole.