Body after baby: 6+ months

Well friends, it’s been over 6 months since I gave birth. By bean’s birth date, I had gained about 27-29 lbs and never really felt ‘big.’ I quite liked my preggers belly and didn’t notice the expansion of my thighs (or didn’t care).

I heard of the miracles of breastfeeding and was convinced I’d be one of the lucky ones to melt off the pounds with ease. I imagined being close to my pre-preg weight (of about 118/119lbs) by 3 months or s,o and by 6 months be a lean-mean-fighting machine..not really, but you know what I’m getting at.

And where am I at after 6 months, 11 personal training sessions, and a renewed gym membership?

Still about 6 lbs over my desired weight (116-118lbs). 1” over my “normal” thigh circumference. 3” over my “normal” waist circumference. And about 5-7% above my “normal” body fat percentage. (And yes I quoted “normal” because I realize that the body I have now, may be my new normal). Hurumph.

The trainer was able to drop me 4lbs (note: if you’ve been keeping track or following, the pounds gained/lost may seem inconsistent mostly because I’ve been using multiple scales as reference starting/ending points; the gym’s scale said I lost 4 lbs). She also skimmed 3+ % of body fat and reduced my waist and leg size by 1” each. And she definitely improved my strength, muscle tone, and my overall body image.

That all being said, I’m still ticked that I’m not losing more. Sure to some, it’s wah, wah, poor girl weighs 120-something, but for me, this weight is NOT my normal. I feel sluggish. I have pockets of fat that didn’t exist before. I can’t fit in majority of my clothes. And I don’t feel like sugarcoating my disappointment. I’m upset. Period.

So what gives?

I go to Spin 2x per week. I do yoga 1-2 times per week (mini sessions, like 15-20 min). I have been seeing the personal trainer 1-2x per week. And I do cardio 3-4x per week on top of all that for about 40 min followed by ab work, burpees, mountain climbers, dips, or the like.

As for calorie intake, on the days I work out, it’s about 1600. Days I only do yoga, I (try to) keep it closer to 1300. The weekends are about 2000 cals each day (err, including Friday since I don’t work on Fridays). I’ve upped my protein to about 50+ grams (not a lot for most, but quite a bit for me).

And still little to no weight loss. Is it hormones?

I asked my doctor and you know what she did? She gave me numbers to obesity (/weight management) hotlines. Huh? Gee thanks!

I spoke with my trainer last Monday and she suggests that I reduce my sugar intake. Hmm, she may be on to something. I posted this on twitter and these were just a few of the responses:

Yeah 10g is ridiculous and not do-able for the lifestyle I want, but I *can* cut it back. I took a look at my normal sugar intake and I’m above 50g a day…heck my weekend large non-fat vanilla latte has 54g of sugar (<—yes you read that right). I seriously had no idea. Ugh. This cannot be a 3-4x per week indulgence. This is 1x per week tops and maybe with half the pumps of vanilla syrup.

I refuse to jump on the artificial sweetener bandwagon (because let’s face it, many people think Splenda is a perfectly good substitute) because I don’t like the taste or the chemical make up. Instead I’d rather reduce the amount of real sugars (lower fruit intake, increase veggie intake, reduce processed foods, increase protein, etc).

I’m going to see if I can reduce to <10g *added* sugar per day and see if that makes any difference. Or I was thinking of doing 30g of total sugars per day (that includes lactose, fructose, etc).

Last week I managed several days with less than 30 total grams of sugar (including all my fruits and dairy) and felt great! Okay that’s a lie, in the morning I was cranky and had a headache, but by the end of the day I was feeling much better.

Will this work? Let’s hope so. I feel like I’m making a change that I can keep up with, which is important to me. Anything drastic and I know I will jump ship. So this sugar-total may increase a bit as I find what’s right for me, but the goal is to be far more aware of the unnecessary sugars I’m consuming.

Bean needs a healthy, happy mamma so I’m going to do what it takes!

Tally up your sugar count for the day and share – you may be surprised!!!

4 weeks postpartum update

Ugh.

In a word that’s how I feel. 

Not about life.  That I feel pretty good about.

My postpartum body progress gets a big fat ugh. 

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I wrote how I was going to get back on track and going to rein in the eats and become more active.  Well I have become more active – in fact, I actually went to the gym (at my complex) on Monday for the first time in 5 weeks!   20 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes of light weights and abs was an easy way to get back into things.  It felt ah-maz-ing.  But that has not been enough.  Nor has my longer walks with the dog. 

Why?

Because I’m eating like a fat kid.  The lack of structure in my days, revolving door of houseguests, and Birthday treats (my birthday was yesterday) has really impinged my healthy eating. 

But hey, I own it.  I’m facing up to it.  I’ve been eating crap.  And too much of it.  I did hit the desired 2100 cals/day a few times, but more often than not, I was pushing 3000 I’m sure.

So with that being said, what measurements have changed since a week and a half ago? 

None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada. 

I am the same weight and measurements.  And it’s my fault.  (But I’d also like to silently blame those that say if you’re breastfeeding you scorch calories and can’t eat enough…not true my friends).

Admittedly getting on the scale on Monday pretty much ruined my day.  Believe me, the gift of being a Mom is far superior than weight loss, but in that moment, that number owned me.  Rather than round out my pity party with binge eating, I vowed to get back on track then and there.

It was fairly easy during the day and I stuck to eats like I would as if it were a work day, but the night was much harder…luckily a glass of vino was able to satiate me (for the most part).  The evening workout also was key.  And so was a nice 4 mile walk yesterday.

Here’s a pic of me at 2.5 weeks and 4 weeks post partum:

It appears that my tummy is getting flatter and my face is thinning a bit, but I’m still aiming for more.

Let’s hope I can keep this time around I can keep my word…