Body After Baby (part 2)

Here I am, still fighting the battle of the baby bulge. Need to catch up? Read part 1.

I will tell you, this has been a very slow process. Sometimes it's frustrating. But I just have to keep looking at the positive.

I've had days where I've felt great about my progress and others where I almost break down (i.e. the time I went to Target looking for shorts and nothing looked good on me or fit right).

This is definitely an adjustment. I am not sure what to put on my body. I walk into my closet and about 80% of my clothes are unwearable. And I don't want to go out and buy a ton of new things because I am still losing (albeit slowly).

There have been some successes in this process, however. The other day I was able to button up some of my pre-pregnancy jeans! Granted, those were my "fat" pre-pregnancy jeans and they were tight as all get out. Even my husband commented that I probably shouldn't wear them out of the house. It still felt like an accomplishment, though. I'll take anything I can get!

I had another accomplishment - actual weight loss. I'll get to that in a second.

I was feeling so frustrated at the scale. I know what you're going to say. "Stop looking at the scale!" But it's tough. And it stares at me, teases me and taunts me. And I'm a little obsessive. I weigh myself almost every day. I know that's bad, but it's really interesting to see how much my weight does, in fact, fluctuate. I was stuck at that 15 pound mark since April. Now, that is especially frustrating to see when you are eating right. Then all of a sudden I lose a pound. And the best part? One week later, another pound! That seemed like a LOT seeing how I had zero loss for about two months!

So here I am. 12 pounds left until my pre-pregnancy weight. It's probably more like 10 because my boobs are ridiculously huge. This is definitely something to celebrate (the weight loss, and perhaps the boobs, too)!

Not the greatest picture of me but it will do

What am I doing now?

DIET:
I obviously cannot go on any kind of strict diet or cleanse, since my body needs the calories for breastfeeding. I especially cannot eliminate carbs because it will kill my milk supply. I am not doing any strict calorie counting, just trying to eat cleaner. More veggies, lean protein, and whole grain. Lots of water. I think of it this way - I want my baby to have the best nutrition so I am putting good things into my body. I cheat sometimes, especially on weekends, but I make it a point to not overdo it.

I know I am doing the right thing with my diet, simply because Kennedy is still exclusively breastfed and is in the 70th percentile for weight (this was at her 4 month check up). She really is a big baby. The chunker can fit in 9 month clothes and even a few 12 month things! Haha! My body is a baby nutrition machine, and I keep telling myself that any time I feel down about my weight. That is something to be proud of!

EXERCISE:
Finding time to exercise was becoming very difficult during the school year. I parted ways with my yoga studio for the time being so I could get serious about getting back in shape. The main reason was because my yoga studio doesn't offer childcare, and the gym does. Even doing DVDs at home was getting to be difficult because Kennedy requires much more attention nowadays. I reactivated my gym membership and have been going every weekday in the morning since summer started. My feelings are since Kennedy doesn't want me to sleep in, I might as well use that time doing something productive while my husband is working. That way we can be together in the evenings and I don't have to rely on him to watch the baby.

Getting to the gym in the morning has been fun for not only me, but Kennedy, too! She is a ham and the girls in charge at the kids club love her. Kennedy loves being around a lot of people so it's a great time for her to interact, observe, and play. It takes a lot of pressure from me to figure out when to work out.

BOTTOM LINE:
I don't know how fast I will lose weight from here on out, but at the end of the day, I am doing everything right by eating right, exercising and breastfeeding. It's just about all I can do at this point.

At the end of year Theatre Banquet at school. This is actually with 15 pounds left to lose.

I will update you as I have more to update!


Moms, what helped you stay focused and on track when you were trying to be rid of your baby weight? Please share your tips!