The Land of the Skinny People

KevinsCatie

Hi. I'm Catie, and I live with not 1, but 3 people with Hyperthyroidism. Let me explain....

I met my husband about 3 years ago when we both had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. We started dating, and sooner rather than later found out that we were expecting. Great! No sarcasm, we were ecstatic to find out that we were going to have a baby.

Well fast forward about a year and a half. We have a beautiful 9 month old baby boy is growing wonderfully and is so smart it is scary sometimes. Mama on the other hand is not feeling too beautiful. I was 180 lb when I checked into the hospital to have my son, and from then to 9 months postpartum, all i had managed to do was gain another 5 lbs. So, I started this weight loss journey in January 2013 at 185 lbs and 5'4". (By the way, if I were still in the Corps, my *kitten* would have done been kicked out by then for not meeting height and weight standards by A LOT)

By March my son was 1 year old and I had lost about 10 lbs. To me, that was awesome. Come June I had lost nearly 20 lbs. I had been very careful about my calories, keeping between 1200 and 1400, more if I had enough motivation to take Jillians abuse that day in the form of her 30 day shred. I was finally starting to feel awesome for the first time since I had had my son.

However, in June, we also found out that our son had not grown since his 1 year check up. It had been 3 months, and he gain about a 1/4 of a pound, less and a half inch in height, and according to his dr his head circumference went down (but I still think that was an incorrect measurement.) Now he is in the less than 3 percentile for his age. This is not especially surprising when you look at his father and I, since we were both tiny children. None the less, it was concerning that he hadn't seemed to grow at all. So we try to up his calories. The trouble is, he thinks he's a big boy now. He only wants to eat what mama and daddy are eating. So, that means that dinner time as a whole goes up in calories. This is ok because honestly, my husband seriously needs to up his calories too, since he has hyperthyroidism. I do my best to stay on track while i'm at work, and it works for a while.

Now, we are back to present day, and the situation at hand. Remember how I said I was living with 3 skinny people?...... Welcome Gail..... my mother in law. She just moved in with us while she can find a job and get a new apartment. she is 5'0" and weighs in at..... 96 lbs. Can anybody guess why I have gained back 10 of that original 20 lbs I lost?

As you can see, I am drowning in butter soaked, cheese topped monstrosities of calorie overloads every night at dinner. At this point, I'm at a loss of what to do. How do you go through every meal at home while attempting to ignore what literally everyone else in your home is eating? Its not like I can just hide the fattening stuff out of my sight, because that is literally all there is now. I dont know anyone has any advise, or if anyone will even read this, but I have to figure out something, or one of 2 things is going to happen. Either I follow along and wind up blowing up like a damn balloon, or..... I'm going to go flat out insane. Place your bets and stay tuned to see which one will prevail!!

meeper123

maybe they need better nutrition instead of more calories have you considered seeing a family nationalist you seem like an extreme case also I don't eat what my husband does I actually cook 2 meals one for me and one for him I only have to cook every other day sometimes I can go even longer. You could take baby steps cut out the butter for yourself and make small changes throughout your day

pnece

Yikes! Your situation certainly is a challenge! I like the idea of seeing a nutritionist -- both for yourself and your son. A good nutritionist will be able to help you sort out how to handle the competing issues you're faced with. Good luck -- and I'm looking forward to your updates!

KevinsCatie

I hadnt thought about seeing a family nutritionist actually. I was easy before because I would fix a low"er" calorie dinner for me and hubs, and he would just eat seconds usually. Then the little one wanted to eat dinner with us, so they got a little higher. Now my MIL has dinner made most nights by the time we get home, and its almost never something I should eat. I dont want to just not eat her cooking because I know she will take it offensively. Maybe we should look into seeing a nutritionist.

rowanwood

I sometimes make different foods for myself -- or make a variety of dishes and some is lower in calories. And portion control is helpful too. You can always have extra veggies and some salad when they eat more of the calorie dense stuff they need.

meeper123

well does she cook every meal? if not you could just eat less during the day then at night it wouldn't be as big of a deal?

bcf7683

I hadnt thought about seeing a family nutritionist actually. I was easy before because I would fix a low"er" calorie dinner for me and hubs, and he would just eat seconds usually. Then the little one wanted to eat dinner with us, so they got a little higher. Now my MIL has dinner made most nights by the time we get home, and its almost never something I should eat. I dont want to just not eat her cooking because I know she will take it offensively. Maybe we should look into seeing a nutritionist.

It sounds like you need to talk to her. Explain your goals and tell her not to take it offensively that you don't want to eat her cooking. Why should you fill up on their food when they're eating it for a specific health reason? You should eat your own food for YOUR health reasons.

mommy3457

I hadnt thought about seeing a family nutritionist actually. I was easy before because I would fix a low"er" calorie dinner for me and hubs, and he would just eat seconds usually. Then the little one wanted to eat dinner with us, so they got a little higher. Now my MIL has dinner made most nights by the time we get home, and its almost never something I should eat. I dont want to just not eat her cooking because I know she will take it offensively. Maybe we should look into seeing a nutritionist.

Let your mil know you are trying to lose weight, and perhaps you two can come up with meals you all can eat.

hannahpistolas

Don't you wish you could do that? My man is like that, too-- and my child is already following the same pattern (tall and skinny. Still gaining weight, but skinny for how tall he is.)

Make yourself a salad, and eat small portions of what your MIL made. That's my suggestion!

KevinsCatie

Yall are assuming I have one of those nice MILs that actually treat me like one of their own children. Its not quite that easy. Plus she is menopausal, so the slightest thing will set her off and she wont talk to me for days (which is actually not that bad most of the time). But that is really another problem altogether. I guess I have just been more focused lately on getting my son to gain weight than I have on myself trying to lose it. Honestly, I just need to get my head together and it will all be fine. I know this, its just a little easier said than done.

KevinsCatie

Update, my husband had strogenoff ready for dinner last night before I got home. Did I eat any? Yes, but only about a 1/2 a cup, because I ate a big salad first!!! And I even had ice cream after, although it was actually frozen nonfat greek yogurt. Woohoo!