MOM-ents: Losing the Baby Weight

I have never considered myself an under-achiever, which served me well in my education and in work ethic.  However, like all people that do things with gusto, eating is another pastime that I enjoy, but has caused me much heartache. 

When people talk about college kids gaining the freshman 15, I gained the freshman 50 (although I thought it was just everyone’s camera making me look fat).  You are supposed to gain no more than 35 pounds while pregnant, so I gained 70.  Both times. 

When I was pregnant, I gained some significant amount of weight in a month and the nurse admonished me about what I must be eating.  Biting back tears, I regaled her with stories of all the yogurt, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean protein I had been ingesting.  I left out the part about letting Cheetoh puffs dissolve on my tongue, while I sliced an apple to drag through some peanut butter. 

With Ryann I joined Weight Watchers right away with a girlfriend of mine and lost most of the baby weight.  I gave myself a 10 lb. cushion since I was under my “normal” weight when I got pregnant.

With Matthew, it has not been easy.  The first 40-50 lbs slid off as a result of going back to work and nursing him around the clock.  The last 10-20 lbs have stuck around as a reminder that I love carbs but they don’t love me.  I told myself that I would not lose the last bit of weight until I stopped nursing since women’s bodies tend to hang on to that fat in order to create the milk (I swear, I read or heard this from somewhere and since it supported my inability to lose weight, I believe it). 

I stopped nursing 3 months ago.  Guess how much weight I have lost?  If you guessed “gained 3 lbs,” you are correct. 

The hardest part about losing weight--for me anyway--is the concept of “eating less” and “moving more.”  Apparently that is the secret, but if I eat less I want to move less, and if I move more I want to eat more.  Whoever came up with this rule really didn’t think it through.

So as motivation and ownership, I am putting it out there that I am really going to push to lose a few more pounds.  I am not trying to get “high-school skinny” or trying to get on the cover of “Parenting” magazine.  I would settle for the cover of a magazine entitled “Not Too Bad-Looking Moms Over 30 Who Probably Have Lost A Lot of Their Baby Weight.” 

If you see me power-bombing a Big Mac in my car, please waggle your finger at me.  Embarrassment puts my over-achievement into over-drive, which is why the threat of people just “stopping by” the house can get my downstairs from crumb castle to livable in under 15 minutes.  Hopefully you will see less of me soon.