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!!!

3 months postpartum

Happy Friday my friends!

Thanks again to my bestie for writing up her pregnancy story – she’s one tough cookie and I have a feeling her tator tot will be here soon rather than later. 

It’s been an interesting week going back to work.  It’s quite the effort to pack a diaper bag, breast pump bag, laptop/work bag, and lunch bag every day, on top of the typical household and pet duties.  Soon it will be second nature, but this week was a wake up call back to the ‘real world’ as it once was pre-soybean.  Maybe that’s worth a blog post?

On that note, I realize this blog has become very baby-heavy, but fact of the matter is that’s what’s at the forefront of my life right now.  And from the direct feedback I’ve received, readers are interested – more importantly, my friends (IRL) and family like reading those posts.  And, really, that’s the audience that I care most about.  Perhaps the blog will return to what it once was, perhaps not.  We shall see

Anyway, back to my 3 months postpartum status.  I haven’t updated much since 6 weeks postpartum, mainly because there was so little change.  I didn’t expect anything drastic anyway for a couple of reasons: breastfeeding has my body holding on to some additional fat; I’m not working out regularly or at any high intensity to garner results; I’m not eating that great and definitely exceeding my required calories. 

Here is a recap of where I was at February 8, 2012, 6 weeks postpartum:

• Weight: +10.9 lbs (down 2.1 lbs (16.1 lbs since birth))
• Ribcage: 29” (down 1”)
• Waist (smallest part above belly button): 30” (down 2” (~8” since birth))
• Hips: 35.5” (no change)
• Right Bicep: 10.75” (down .25”)
• Left Bicep: 9.75” (down .25”)
• Right Thigh: 21” (no change)
• Left Thigh: 21.75” (down .25”)

And here is where I am at as of March 28, 2012, 3 months postpartum:

• Weight: +9.5 lbs (down 1.4  lbs (17.5 lbs since birth))
• Ribcage: 28.5” (down 0.5" since 6 week status)
• Waist (smallest part above belly button): 29” (down 12” (~9” since birth))
• Hips: 34.5” (down 1” since 6 week status)
• Right Bicep: 10.75” (no change since 6 week status)
• Left Bicep: 9.75” (no change since 6 week status)
• Right Thigh: 21” (no change since 6 week status)
• Left Thigh: 21.75” (no change since 6 week status)

Workouts:

• Skinnygirl Workout 1-3x per week
• Treadmill intervals (jogging/walking) 1-3x per week for 30-45 min
• Weights 1x per week
• Dog walks daily – approx 1-2 mile

The progress is marginal, but it’s there.  And you know what?  I’m okay with it.  Sure I wish the weight loss was super easy and just melted right off, but if I have to work for it, it will feel that much more of an accomplishment once it’s off (at least that’s what I keep telling myself ) However, if I could make some progress on my thighs, that would be super because right now they are preventing me from being able to fit into my work clothes.  And frankly I sorta need those clothes since it is awfully costly to have to buy new dress pants.

Here are two shots I took last weekend:

And there you have it. My blog post on bean at 3 months will be far more interesting since he is cooing up a storm and smiling nonstop

As for the weekend, no firm plans yet.  Hoping some Thai food is somewhere on the agenda!

6 weeks postpartum–bad news

Listen carefully: I should have had a c-section. 

There is oh so much to share in this post and very little of it is good news.  So bear with me.

Why don’t we actually tackle the good news first:

Daddy and soybean (after his milk coma)

The soybean is doing so well.  He seems to be gaining weight (thanks to supplementing with about 3 ounces of formula daily) and is happy as can be.  In the last week or so, he’s started to intentionally smile (they say this happens at 5 weeks) and I melt every time I see his toothless grin.  We are having fun making faces and noises to get his little lips to curl.  It’s absolutely amazing.  We are operating well on the schedule I mentioned a few posts ago.  He sleeps in nice predictable chunks and is fairly easily soothed in times of distress.  He also is starting to come alive on his activity mat – it took awhile for him to notice all the toys/animals, but now they totally intrigue him.  Yay

Sawyer is the light of my life and makes bad news palatable.

How’s that for a segue?

I had my 6 week postpartum appointment yesterday.  You know, the one where you get the all clear to resume normal activity?  Yeah, I didn’t get that.  In fact I got a dose of bad news:

• My estrogen levels are quite low.  There is a name for it, but it has escaped me.  Basically it means I’ll struggle more with my milk supply.  This apparently can happen fairly easily in thin women.  Estrogen supplements are an option, but something I’m waiting on due to wanting to deal with the following issues first.
• I have granulated scar tissue as a result of my stitches – my body reacted poorly to the material apparently.  Granulated scar tissue is extremely painful and will not go away on its own.  As a result, I had to have the areas treated with silver nitrate yesterday at my appointment.  Luckily the numbing cream made it relatively painless.  BUT, there is one area that is requiring more extensive treatment which could require surgery and IV sedation.  Good lord, that just sucks.
• And if that’s not enough, I either have muscle or nerve damage in my pelvic floor muscles.  I’ve been scheduled to see a specialist next week to pinpoint the issue(s) and ascertain the best way to fix it, which could be something like physical therapy or surgery.  This is the bad news that scares me the most because it would be pretty invasive and most impacts my life.  Sigh.

So yeah, I definitely did NOT get the all clear for resuming all activity.  I can still take long walks and do some light work outs (like yoga), but nothing strenuous.  This sucks given my resistance to weight loss (which my doctor said happens a lot more than people think while breastfeeding).

Had I had my c-section like I originally wanted, I would have avoided the hemorrhaging post birth, the huge blood clot (most likely), the scar tissue, and the reduced muscle control.  Argh.  I guess I should listen to my instincts eh?  Even my doctor said “next baby, c-section.”   Though birth was a breeze, aftermath has not been kind to me.

I still plan to track my progress so here ya go…stats as of February 8, 2012, 6 weeks postpartum:

• Weight: +10.9 lbs (down 2.1 lbs (16.1 lbs since birth))
• Ribcage: 29” (down 1”)
• Waist (smallest part above belly button): 30” (down 2” (~8” since birth))
• Hips: 35.5” (no change)
• Right Bicep: 10.75” (down .25”)
• Left Bicep: 9.75” (down .25”)
• Right Thigh: 21” (no change)
• Left Thigh: 21.75” (down .25”)
  (all measurements at widest part)

Standing up my tummy is completely flat, but it’s definitely wider and looser than pre-pregnancy.  At about 4 weeks postpartum, I tried on a pair of pre-preg jeans and they fit comfortably.  Subsequent to that, I’ve tried on some other pre-preg jeans and not all fit, that’s for sure.   I can tell my upper thighs and hip area are larger than before and that will take some time to lose. 

On that note, I am debating going back to the same facility for personal training that I trained at for my wedding.  I was able to drop 5% body fat and about 10 pounds via the workouts and have similar hopes this time around.  I’ll keep you posted. *This is only after I am healed and get officially cleared

Hopefully I’ve shed some light on what isn’t always talked about post pregnancy.  And maybe some new moms can relate.  If any one has had similar experiences and have words of wisdom, please do share!