As I look at myself in the mirror I have to keep telling myself that I just had a baby 8 weeks ago. The 37 pounds I gained took 9 months to put on. It is going to take at least that amount of time to get it back off. And I know that when I got pregnant with my second child 15 months after my first I still had 10 pounds of baby # 1 still with me. But that is my brain talking. I want results yesterday, I want to look like the woman my 2 year old doesn't recognize as his Mommy in my wedding photos, and I'm sure every other new mom thinks the same. With breastfeeding, the only weight loss option available to me is 2200 calories of sensible eating. But my depressed brain wants carbs and chocolate so what do you do?
Well my doctor says eat less and move more, so I started walking again. I used to take JD for a 2 mile walk every day when I got home from school and I tried to exercise when pregnant but with a full time job, a husband with an opposite schedule of mine and a toddler I was exhausted just existing. So I'm back to hitting the pavement and have found that it is amazing the terrible shape your body is in when you are done with the life altering process of creating a life. So now 8 weeks after my c-section I am walking again, not as far or as fast as I was before, but walking none the less.
But I'm still looking for better faster results and eat less is not a very firm guideline. In talking to my doctor I have discovered that there are very few diets available to nursing moms. After JD, when I gained over 45 pounds, I joined Weight Watchers and used their nursing mom's plan for weight loss. I've used Weight Watchers before and have found it to be successful but now ,I find it too time consuming, counting points and measuring everything. During this pregnancy to help me have healthier weight gain, my doctor suggested I follow the American Diabetic Association guidelines for healthy living to help me make better food choices. As you read earlier it worked keeping my down to only 37 pounds gained, however I still had those 10 pre-baby # 1 pounds to loose so the end result is still the same.
The problem I'm dealing with is my rational brain and my emotional brain are not seeing eye to eye. I find myself looking at other women going I'm definitely skinnier than that! and come to find out I'm not. My brain cannot comprehend this body it is carrying around and the shock I get looking in the mirror only confirms this fact. So how do we get it back? My older-skinny friends tell me "not to worry" and "I gained way more than that in each of my pregnancies and look at me now", give me hope for a better me f not soon then not too far into their childhood, mind you I didn't say toddler hood. So I have made the resolution to plan my meals better, walk everyday, and to try to not worry about my Mommy Body. Someday I'll see my old self again and hopefully my clothes will still be in style, if not I'll have to go shopping and my new best friend until then I've made a new friend to help me feel better about myself and deal with my new harsh reality... spanx!
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