Losing the baby weight...
I stepped on the scale this morning and to my surprise I finally hit my pre-pregnancy weight! Although, I was not as excited as I thought I would be to finally see that number. Most likely because even though I am back down, my clothes still don't fit! I can wear them, they button up fine, they just don't look as good as they used to :) My goal weight is actually my pre-marriage weight, the "husband layer" as I affectionately call it still needs to come off. I am being realistic about this and giving myself three more months!
Losing the weight after baby wasn't all that easy until Griffin was about 2 months old. Something I never knew about post partum weight loss is that you cannot restrict you food intake if you are nursing. You cannot be a work out maniac and you really need to take care of yourself. Being the rookie that I was I had images in my head of me heading to the gym a couple weeks after having Griffin. You know, getting all tone and and cutting back calories to lose the weight. Now, if you are a Victoria Secret model this may in fact be you, but let's face it, many of those celebrities don't breastfeed, have personal chef's, a baby nurse and work out 24/7. In the real world, if you breastfeed you can't work out to exhaustion (it can significantly reduce milk production and quality) and you have to make sure you are eating enough calories. Oh, and make sure you fit this in somewhere in between nursing, playing and loving on your little one, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, showering and sleeping. I think the first month or so I was lucky to get to eat lunch or have a snack when I was home with Griffin by myself. I quickly realized that my aspirations were a little much and I needed to be more realistic about my goals! But, let's back up a little bit, back in the days that I used to be pregnant...
The recommendation for a women of healthy weight prior to getting pregnant is to gain 25-35 pounds during your pregnancy. One way to track your weight gain is to plan on gaining 1 lb a week on average, after your first trimester. I pretty much did this, except for 3 weeks in late March and early April I didn't gain a pound. I was under a tremendous amount of stress at work and was working 60-70 hours a week. I didn't have time to eat, so I didn't. At my next doctors appointment I expressed my concern for the lack of weight gain and my doctor said this to me, "Elise, the leading cause of obesity in women is pregnancy. I no longer recommend ANY weight gain goals for my patients unless it is medically necessary". She said she has stopped making weight gain recommendations based on the 25-35 lb rule because many women struggle to lose the weight after the baby has arrived. I took her comment to heart and did my best to eat as healthy as possible. Also, I had failed my first glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes (GD). My sugar was almost 170, so I was sent for a more in depth test, which I passed. However, I tried not to eat too many sugar filled foods because even though I was not diagnosed with GD, Griffin was measuring pretty big at each of my appointments. GD babies are usually pretty large in size and I didn't want to deliver a 10 lb baby!
Overall, I gained almost 40lbs during my pregnancy. I was shooting for 30 lbs, so I was definitely over! I decided to step on the scale about a week after we got out of the hospital and I was already down 25 lbs. I had 15 lbs to go! Then 6 weeks went by and my weight didn't budge. I was pissed, here I was nursing up a storm and not losing a single pound. I was starting to feel good enough to maybe try a trip to the gym, so I started doing that about twice a week. My first trip to the gym was exhausting, but it felt great to get a work out in. Actually, it was the first time I had ever been away from Griffin! I did the gym thing for a couple weeks, but never really had the motivation to follow through with it, although I had lost a couple pounds. I wanted to try and start eating healthier but I was afraid to do any sort of restrictive diet because I knew it could affect my milk supply. I did a little research (shocking, I know!) and found out that Weight Watchers had a program for breastfeeding women. I signed up to do the online program and found it really easy. Sean agreed to do it with me, so we figured out his point allowance and both started the program. He had some "baby weight" to lose as well, so it was great to have a fellow weight loss buddy. In true Sean fashion he lost 10lbs in two weeks. What a turd, so unfair! But, he continued to support me and we made lots of changes to how we cook meals and our portion sizes. I actually lost 3 pounds in the first 5 days on the program. I was psyched, although that was short lived because losing weight that fast caused a HUGE drop in my milk supply so I actually had to give myself more points each day just to make sure I was eating enough. I leveled off at losing about 1.5 pounds every 2 weeks, so here I am 4 months post partum and I have finally reached that magic number. I still have some weight to lose to reach my goal, but I feel good knowing that it is achievable! In the meantime, I just look at that sweet baby boy of mine whenever I get frusterated because he is healthy and happy and it makes me feel good that I had a part in making those cheeks so chubby!
Losing the weight after baby wasn't all that easy until Griffin was about 2 months old. Something I never knew about post partum weight loss is that you cannot restrict you food intake if you are nursing. You cannot be a work out maniac and you really need to take care of yourself. Being the rookie that I was I had images in my head of me heading to the gym a couple weeks after having Griffin. You know, getting all tone and and cutting back calories to lose the weight. Now, if you are a Victoria Secret model this may in fact be you, but let's face it, many of those celebrities don't breastfeed, have personal chef's, a baby nurse and work out 24/7. In the real world, if you breastfeed you can't work out to exhaustion (it can significantly reduce milk production and quality) and you have to make sure you are eating enough calories. Oh, and make sure you fit this in somewhere in between nursing, playing and loving on your little one, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, showering and sleeping. I think the first month or so I was lucky to get to eat lunch or have a snack when I was home with Griffin by myself. I quickly realized that my aspirations were a little much and I needed to be more realistic about my goals! But, let's back up a little bit, back in the days that I used to be pregnant...
The recommendation for a women of healthy weight prior to getting pregnant is to gain 25-35 pounds during your pregnancy. One way to track your weight gain is to plan on gaining 1 lb a week on average, after your first trimester. I pretty much did this, except for 3 weeks in late March and early April I didn't gain a pound. I was under a tremendous amount of stress at work and was working 60-70 hours a week. I didn't have time to eat, so I didn't. At my next doctors appointment I expressed my concern for the lack of weight gain and my doctor said this to me, "Elise, the leading cause of obesity in women is pregnancy. I no longer recommend ANY weight gain goals for my patients unless it is medically necessary". She said she has stopped making weight gain recommendations based on the 25-35 lb rule because many women struggle to lose the weight after the baby has arrived. I took her comment to heart and did my best to eat as healthy as possible. Also, I had failed my first glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes (GD). My sugar was almost 170, so I was sent for a more in depth test, which I passed. However, I tried not to eat too many sugar filled foods because even though I was not diagnosed with GD, Griffin was measuring pretty big at each of my appointments. GD babies are usually pretty large in size and I didn't want to deliver a 10 lb baby!
Overall, I gained almost 40lbs during my pregnancy. I was shooting for 30 lbs, so I was definitely over! I decided to step on the scale about a week after we got out of the hospital and I was already down 25 lbs. I had 15 lbs to go! Then 6 weeks went by and my weight didn't budge. I was pissed, here I was nursing up a storm and not losing a single pound. I was starting to feel good enough to maybe try a trip to the gym, so I started doing that about twice a week. My first trip to the gym was exhausting, but it felt great to get a work out in. Actually, it was the first time I had ever been away from Griffin! I did the gym thing for a couple weeks, but never really had the motivation to follow through with it, although I had lost a couple pounds. I wanted to try and start eating healthier but I was afraid to do any sort of restrictive diet because I knew it could affect my milk supply. I did a little research (shocking, I know!) and found out that Weight Watchers had a program for breastfeeding women. I signed up to do the online program and found it really easy. Sean agreed to do it with me, so we figured out his point allowance and both started the program. He had some "baby weight" to lose as well, so it was great to have a fellow weight loss buddy. In true Sean fashion he lost 10lbs in two weeks. What a turd, so unfair! But, he continued to support me and we made lots of changes to how we cook meals and our portion sizes. I actually lost 3 pounds in the first 5 days on the program. I was psyched, although that was short lived because losing weight that fast caused a HUGE drop in my milk supply so I actually had to give myself more points each day just to make sure I was eating enough. I leveled off at losing about 1.5 pounds every 2 weeks, so here I am 4 months post partum and I have finally reached that magic number. I still have some weight to lose to reach my goal, but I feel good knowing that it is achievable! In the meantime, I just look at that sweet baby boy of mine whenever I get frusterated because he is healthy and happy and it makes me feel good that I had a part in making those cheeks so chubby!
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