First off I just have to say Hallelujah!! I am finally beginning to lose those stubborn pounds that have stuck around since pregnancy.
I definitely didn’t eat as healthily as I should have done while I was pregnant. A combination of strong food aversions to pretty much anything fresh or healthy and a feeling of being allowed to put weight on for the first time in my life led to a lot of pastries and cakes being consumed in those nine months. I had great intentions when I first found out I was pregnant of staying fit and eating so healthily but it just didn’t turn out that way. So I probably did put on more weight than I should have done over that time. People are very nice to you when you are pregnant and tell you things like ‘it’s all bump’, ‘you’re glowing’ or ‘you’re carrying well!’ But in reality you know if you’ve put too much weight on, you feel it when your legs rub together a way they never have before and you see it when you twist round to look in the mirror and see mini rolls on your back where they definitely never used to be.
I have always sat more or less on eight and a half stone most of my adult life (that’s 54kg or 119lbs) and I think by the time I gave birth I was around 12 and a half stone (that’s 79kg or 175lbs). That’s a lot! I read you should put on between 25 and 35 pounds throughout pregnancy and I surpassed that marker at some point in my second trimester!
Darcie was 7lb 8oz so I can’t even blame her for my weight gain, so I’m looking at you Greggs! Of course, you lose the weight of the baby, the placenta and a lot of water weight initially, I think I lost 20 pounds, and that lulls you into thinking that the rest will just fall off you as well the way everyone had told you it will. As I breastfeed that was another way I was told the weight would come off, but it didn’t. Sure the odd pound came off here and there but I was stuck about 20 pounds heavier than my start weight for a good few months.
I tried to diet but found that when I cut my calories down enough to make a difference my milk supply went down too. There was an awful couple of days when I first cut calories when Darcie would just scream and scream while I tried to feed her but the milk she so needed just wasn’t there. I pumped and the milk was so watery compared to normal so of course I increased my food intake straight away because feeding my baby is obviously my priority over losing weight. I felt annoyed at all these people that told me how amazing breastfeeding would be to get my body back because that just wasn’t the case for me.
I put losing weight to the back of my mind and just focussed on caring for my tiny human and settling into being a Mummy. But every time I got dressed in the morning it would bother me that I still couldn’t wear my pre pregnancy clothes and the things I could wear just didn’t hang the same way they used to. I spoke to my Mum about this and asked how long it took her to lose those post partum pound and she told me that she was still waiting for it, so at 7 months post partum I decided to do something about it.
I’ve not been doing anything ground breaking that you haven’t heard before but I’ve been drinking lots of water (I’ve never struggled with this though, Dan says I am the most hydrated person he’s ever met), I’ve been eating slightly healthier than usual and with smaller portions and I’ve massively cut back on sugar. It’s hard when you are a Mum because sometimes you need that instant energy fix but I have started to reach for a banana or a handful of nuts instead of cake or chocolate. I’m barely drinking alocohol as I am breastfeeding which must be helping a bit and I go out walking with Darcie in the pram or carrier every day. And miraculously the weight has started to come off, I am currently about 10 pounds off my starting weight which is a much more comfortable place for me to be and the end now feels like an achieveable goal rather than an impossible dream.
I know there are a lot of Mamas out there struggling with this as well, but just hang in there! Eventually something will click into place, you’ll find the time and energy to do something about it and those pounds will start to bugger off. I’d love to know What worked for you to lose the baby weight? Sharing is caring!
