This is me the week I found out I was pregnant (3 weeks along) and 35 weeks later at 38 weeks pregnant.
First I would like to tell you how I gained 54 cute little pounds. I snacked a lot while pregnant, on Debbie Cakes mainly. I never had morning sickness but I was always hungry. Always. I would eat everything on my plate, plus seconds, plus whatever Josh didn't eat of his meal and look at him and say "I'm still hungry." Spent many a lunch at the Japanese restaurant, and drank a million gallons of chocolate milk. Often I would wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I hadn't seen food in weeks, and would fulfill my hunger with not so healthy foods. I did indulge more than I should have. Can't say I regret it, I had a great pregnancy. I also can't say I would do it the same way the next time around though. Once Josh gently encouraged me to eat more fruit. I bought an over ripe watermelon, sour grapes, and oranges with mold on them in the span of a week. Bad luck. I called Josh and said "Have you ever ate a rotten Debbie Cake?!?" Of course not, junk food it was then.
After I gave birth my appetite didn't disappear. Every time Georgia and I woke up to nurse, I still needed a snack. But I replaced my snack with cheese and crackers or granola bars. If the junk food isn't in my house, then I can't eat it. So we stopped buying it and it sucked pretty bad at first, but we have adjusted! I also gave myself a free pass to eat 2 foods anytime I wanted a snack: salad or oatmeal. Oatmeal because it is supposed to be a lactogenic food (helps with milk supply) and I didn't add butter, but I really wanted too.
About 1/2 there!
Once I was "back on my feet" per say, I lost/fought off the urge to snack all the time. I started by no more snacks at night. Then during the day I can have 2 snacks, one between breakfast and lunch and another between lunch and dinner. I like to snack on granola bars (100 calories or less), pistachios, pretzels and peanut butter, cheese and crackers, or a small bowl of cereal.
Meals are harder to control when Josh is home. I love to put comfort food in his belly, so I cook a lot for us. I TRY, key word try, not to have seconds. I rarely shed any lbs when he is home. But I try my hardest not to gain. When he is back at work again it is easier. I strive to eat a lean cuisine or weight watchers frozen dinner for either lunch or dinner. Most of the time I eat turkey or PB&J sandwiches with pretzels or pistachios (no chips!), cereal, chicken salad, tuna salad, egg sandwich on an English muffin. I don't count calories. I keep it simple: don't pig out and don't eat junk.
I bid farewell to my precious, precious chocolate milk. No more yoo-hoos or root beer either. Water, water, water. I keep juice in the fridge at all times and have it sometimes with a snack. But not with every meal. Probably one small glass of juice a day, one Starbucks Frappuccino for breakfast, and the rest of the time only water. I splurge from time to time with iced caramel frappe from Mcdonald's, no whip cream and non-fat milk. I get my sweet tea fix from taking a sip of Josh's when we eat out. ONE SIP. Now that's not easy.
I wish I could say exercise played a role in my weight loss, but it really didn't. When it warmed up before the mosquitoes got bad here, I tried to walk at the park a few times. I'm making excuses here but it was hard to actually get any walking in. When you live in this small town, more socializing was done than calorie burning. I had to stop and chit chat a lot with people who hadn't met Georgia yet, other people would see me walking as they were driving by would pull over, and I would spend the next 30 minutes on a park bench visiting and not moving. Not a total loss though, those times were the first outings I had alone with Georgia. It felt great to get out of the house, big accomplishment!
Breastfeeding. Probably my "secret weapon" Nursing burns 200-500 calories a day all the while giving you baby the cream of the crop in nourishment. Win win situation if you ask me.
I weighed myself everyday, but didn't beat myself up about the numbers on the scale. It's just how I tracked my progress. And if I ate too crappy the numbers showed it, and motivated me to get back on track.
Will you see me in a bikini? Nope, probably never again. The weight is gone, but prebaby body is long gone too. I'm not perfect, but that's okay. I would weigh 1000 pounds for the rest of my life it meant I got to experience pregnancy and have my sweet Georgia. I really have to credit my angel of a husband for always telling me I'm beautiful and really making me feel it. I never felt pressure to look better for him, any confidence I have is because he builds me up and treats me exactly the same everyday no matter what the scale says. I value this tremendously because I don't want Georgia to hear me criticize my own body over and over. She will learn from me. So I love my body because it gave me Georgia.
The day I gave birth (cringe) And 6 months postpartum.
Happiest girls are the prettiest girls.
I have big dreams to become one of those people who love to work out. That's really a far stretch for me, but can't never could. Maybe someday I'll be blogging about my first 5k. You never know!
Peace.Love.Debbie Cakes. I really miss them.
Update! Georgia is 3 now. I've ran a half marathon, I'm a hot yoga instructor, and I love advocare! All of this from simply staying motivated and starting small. Kicking one habit at a time. Here are my personal results for the the advocare 24 day challenge. It enhanced my work out results and toned me up!
I actually exercised less on the challenge, and didn't run at all. Abs really are made in the kitchen! Check out the products. The 24 day challenge or ordering some spark is a great way to start! I had a sugary Starbucks frapp every single day for three years until I discovered spark. I quit Starbucks cold turkey and never even suffered!
Loved this!really boosted my confidence. Your blog summarizes me perfectly. I am 165 pounds at the moment I have tried not eating a lot and exercises but it seems to be stuck on there. baby weight was 120 I weighed 190when I had him. He is 3 months old I weigh 165 now but cant seem to loose the rest but your blog was very inspiring thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much girl! You got this :) the older the baby gets the easier it is to get active, taking Georgia for a stroll is a favorite for both of us. Just do what you can and appreciate yourself for your efforts. Your body is beautiful and created life. Xoxoxo
DeleteThank you for this post and all the great SIMPLE tips. I have been feeling so huge lately after having my last baby but I've been so overwhelmed at how to do something about it. Now I feel like it's time to start and it CAN be simple. Thanks again - you look amazing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for writing this. I was beginning to criticize myself for being twenty pounds overweight and having a three month old. I was looking up weight loss ideas and found your blog. You put it into perspective for me and made me realize what is most important. My sweet kiddos. I have a 20 month old and a three month old. My body is going to take some time to lose the weight. Thank you for writing this and encouraging other moms. You really helped me. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteI know you wrote this ages ago but I wanted to say thank you for writing this!!!! I have a 4 year old and a 5 month old and I still have 50 lbs to go to get back to my pre-pregnancy size... I've just felt so overwhelmed and discouraged because I never have the time or energy to workout/do a strict diet plan and you've given me the encouragement to get back on my feet and do something!
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