By jove I think I've got it.

rubyted

I joined mfp years ago. I'd log for a few days and then get embarrassed by a day and wouldn't log it. My profile was private so why….well because I'd embarrass myself. (Yes…much logic missing there…!) Who was I cheating but me?

I've never been overweight but have a very small frame so have spent times chunkier than what suits me and I wanted to do something about it…..but I didn't want to log the bad days, because they were BAD. My ideas of portion sizes were ridiculously out and weighing pasta just made it all the more real.

I'm nearly 6 months pregnant with little boy number 3 and being the largest I've ever been I decided that the "Oh well I'm pregnant" approach won't really cut the mustard when I've had baby and feel like crap about myself. I'm 5ft3 and was 8 stone when I fell pregnant with my 2nd child and just before falling pregnant with this baby (1.5 years later) I was 9 stone. I know it's still in the healthy range but it's not where I'm comfortable and who knows where I'd end up after this baby.

I'm NOT dieting. That'd be stupid at this point in time, but I decided a month ago that if I'm going to be successful after baby is born then I should look at what I eat now and to get to grips with what a portion size is. I'm weighing out all my food religiously (which I thought would be a huge effort, but really isn't) and logging every bite. There is no dieting going on, but I'm cooking the correct amounts for family meals which means there's no waste and my husband and I aren't overfilling ourselves and feeling like crap the next day.

If I'm hungry then I eat and because I'm not bothered about going over I'm not having a problem with logging every little thing, from a breadstick to a takeaway. It's shown me that when I eat the correct portions of meals I have calories left over, and if I have a treat then it isn't the end of the world as the extra calories don't amount to as much as I'd have previously thought.

I know it's only a month and the real test will be after I'm done breastfeeding and actually start to diet but I'm really impressed with myself. Bump is growing but I'm not at the moment, even with a holiday thrown in the mix last week. I'm confident that no matter what weight I end up at, I won't "worry" about losing it (and my 2nd's baby weight that I failed to lose all of). It's taken the fear out of losing weight, whereas in the past I'd think that I have to starve myself if I want to lose any and that fast results are the only way to keep me motivated. In reality if I keep an eye on what I'm eating then I don't even need to think of it as dieting. It's just eating normally…..!

Anyway, I'm rambling and am probably telling everyone what they already know but it's an epiphany to me.

David_AUS

Some rambling is great - you are getting things clearer in your head this is always a fantastic thing. Hearing peoples story's benefits is all, thanks for sharing.