I was at my heaviest when I was pregnant with my first baby. Makes sense, right? Well yes, and no. I went ahead and had a second baby and I did not gain any weight, except maybe 5 lbs at the very end. In fact I started that pregnancy losing weight, which was somewhat of a concern to doctors, but not to me. I topped out at almost 200 lbs right before I had my first child. That was way too much for me. I'm only 5'2 so I would go so far as to say I was fat. I didn't lose any weight (at least that I remember) after Emma was born and I slept so little I may have even gained more. For 2.5 years I was quite large. Then I got pregnant with Rose.
For the first 2 months I lost maybe 10 lbs - not a concern to me, well except for the non-stop "morning" sickness which I had all day during both my pregnancies, since I was happy to see the scale going down, and then staying the same. The doctor (and her student doctor) were surprised to see my uterus growing but my weight declining. I did not gain anything during my pregnancy with Rose, and by the end (after birth) I think was down to 160 lbs. After her birth I realized at once she was going to be an "easy" child (after my first hellion who only nursed or cried for her first 6 months of life, until she starting being more mobile but still nursed and cried a lot). Rose was happy to sleep on her own (we co-slept with Emma for a year plus) and she only nursed when she was hungry, and I could put her down awake and she would stay asleep - all the most wonderous things a small baby can do to make a parent happy.
So I thought maybe I could try to get rid of a bit more of this extra weight, and I signed up with My Fitness Pal and tried tracking my calories. I was already down to a size 12 from the 14s and 16s I was wearing before I got back into my maternity clothes, and I had to buy new clothes to go back to work after my maternity leave. My Fitness Pal was actually great for allowing me to see where I was eating too many calories. So I tried to just eat a "serving" of each food I was eating (unless it was vegetables) and made an effort to cut back on eating at night and having too much junk. And you know what? It worked! I still eat everything I was eating before - just not as much - and I am (slightly) more active - I put on music and dance when I'm doing housework, and I've got a parking spot about 6 blocks from my workplace - and I'm happy with my weight right now. My youngest is now 4, so after about 3 years I've lost almost 30 lbs. Now my struggle is finding new clothes that fit. I can't really wrap my mind around the idea that I'm a size 6 now! That and I hate spending money on clothes when I have a whole closet full of stuff to wear, even though it doesn't fit!
Moral of the story - don't give up, and small changes really do add up. I feel more comfortable in my own skin now, and I have more energy for playing with the girls. Life is good.
Toodles!
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