Post Pregnancy Weight Paradigm

Post pregnancy weight. Ugh.

I gain weight when I am pregnant. 50+ pounds. Every time. I am blessed with great genes that help to distribute the extra weight evenly so it doesn’t look like that much. But it is.

When my first was born I was still pretty young and I feel that other than stretch marks my body bounced back pretty well. It took a while but I just ran a lot and things went almost back to how they were before.

The second kid was a different story.

My body did not want to get rid of that extra weight. I nursed for almost a year and kept trying to run, but I got stuck at a plateau that I was not happy with. And on top of that, my energy was low (taking care of an infant and a 1 year old can do that). I was not eating well. I just couldn’t find the motivation to make myself something to eat other than the chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese I was feeding my toddler.

And mostly, I just didn’t know where to start.

There is a WHOLE BUNCH of information on the internet about how to lose weight after a baby. I got overwhelmed.  Lots of the information I found talked about what you should do during pregnancy, but I was already past that part. I was so worried about taking care of my kids the right way, I just couldn’t handle feeling like I wasn’t taking care of myself the right way either.

I eventually got close to where I wanted to be, but it wasn’t exactly what I wished.

Then somewhere between kid three and kid four, something clicked in my brain that changed everything.

I was never going to be the same.

Giving birth to a child changed my life. It changed my body. I had just experienced and gone through the miracle of creating a life. The emotional, hormonal journey I had just been on had an effect on almost every aspect of my being.

Raising kids everyday was molding me. Changing me and my way of life.

And time was marching on. As much as I wanted to deny it, I was (and still am) getting older. Every body changes as it ages.

I wasn’t being fair to myself by thinking I could be the same and look the same as my 20 year old self. I was suffering from unreal expectations.

Once I accepted this, that I would never be the same and that was okay, things got better. I still knew that I could feel better and look better than I did.

I finally found the motivation to do what I knew I should.

I started learning how to eat better and how to eat to lose fat. I started to exercise more regularly.

The most surprising thing that happened was I loved my kids more.

I had no idea that my negative body image was getting between me and my kids. Subconsciously I had been blaming them for this new body that I didn’t really like. Once I shed that warped perception a whole new part of my heart opened up that I didn’t know was there. And it was wonderful!

It has taken years of practice but things are better. I still slip back into my old way of thinking. Of hating what pregnancy, being a busy mom, and time have done to my body.

But those days happen less and less.

Children are a miracle. My body is a miracle, and it can do miraculous things.

And I hug them every day. 🙂