Postpartum blechs

ChapinaGrande

I gave birth to the most wonderful little thing on earth 2.5 months ago. Before I got pregnant, I was logging my food and exercising like a boss and I lost 20ish pounds. I took a break that turned out to be about a year of gestating and getting used to having a baby around. During my pregnancy, I was so nauseous that I gained -3 lb. When I left the hospital, I was 20 lb lighter. At this point, I have gained 5 lb back. I see that I am headed in the wrong direction and I want to get back on track before I get back up to 275, where I was long before I started on MFP. In addition, I feel disgusting for normal (for me) postpartum reasons. I would like to share a list of things I need to do to get back to good habits again and how to do them and a list of new improvements as well.

1. Exercise for 30 minutes daily--I can't afford the gym anymore and if I walk in my neighborhood, I will get murdered, so I will whip out those exercise videos that I bought 3 years ago and never opened and do them with my 6-year-old. I can also get a day pass to the community center for me and my 6-year-old or walk at a non-murdery park on weekends.
2. Improve snacking--Instead of keeping no snacks around the house, which leads me to ridiculous snacking like eating brown sugar directly from the package with a spoon (seriously??), I can get the kind of yogurt that I like, wonderful summer fruits and vegetables, homemade granola bars, decent popcorn, and individual packets of nuts.
3. Learn from my food diary instead of being devistated by and avoiding it.
4. Feeling a general disgust with my body and appearance--buy a pretty nursing bra, get a haircut and at least wash it daily for pete's sake, wash bedsheets more often to get rid of that postpartum night-sweat smell, buy a few tops at goodwill that fit a new-shaped body, buy longer goodwill shirts that hide stretched-out tummy, make use of my control garments so that my loose skin doesn't jiggle when I walk, use moisturizer, take better care of my horse hooves--I mean feet, view boobs as decorations again instead of only faucets.

What about you, Pals? What improvements would you like to make? What specific steps can you take to make these improvements likely? Can you start implementing some of those steps today?

emileesgram

seriously you crack me up! You have such a great sense of humor. Every day is a chance to make an improvement, if only just a small one. One choice at a time...for me it's getting more exercise in and not snacking so much after dinner, my weakest part of my day.
oh and please find a non-murderous park to walk in!! and post another picture of your cute little one!

4everBrooklyn

First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS!!

Now, You sound SO much like me. I had Postpartum bleh for a while. My daughter is now 7 months old. I still don't feel attractive anymore, not to mention that I just feel flat out FAT. I can see my feet which is awesome, and I even think I can get a "Private shot" if I suck in my stomach, but I am doing my best to make sure that I get back to normal.....SOON

my tricks:
I use my baby as a weight during exercising. She finds it amusing to be lifted up above my head, and I have yet to be puked on.#Kuddos

I buy some yummy snacks in the house. I've almost been tempted to eat the sugar too, but I attacked the nutella once instead (Still, NO BUENO).


Hang in there. Everyday is a work in progress :flowerforyou:

ChapinaGrande

seriously you crack me up! You have such a great sense of humor. Every day is a chance to make an improvement, if only just a small one. One choice at a time...for me it's getting more exercise in and not snacking so much after dinner, my weakest part of my day.
oh and please find a non-murderous park to walk in!! and post another picture of your cute little one!

Thank you for your constant support, Gram! You've been a great friend on here and you have done so well. I can learn a lot from you. More baby pics coming.

Super_Amy

I have eaten brown sugar out of the bag. That's not that weird but it was funny.

RBXChas

I know those blahs, too! I'm 10 months postpartum with my second. I lost weight awesomely after baby #1, but not so much after baby #2. Everyone tells you that breastfeeding is the Best Diet Ever, but no dice for me (and a lot of other ladies on here). For some women it leads to major weight retention :-/

Congratulations on your little one! If you want to hook up with some other moms with babies, I invite you to join Post-Partum Pack: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/656-post-partum-pack

There's also a non-judgey breastfeeding group if you BF (no judgment if you don't!): http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/214-breastfeeding-support

mrsgoochy

I'm eight months pp and I'm here to say it gets better! I was the last of my sisters to have a lil one so I got helpful , down to earth advice from them. One of them was cool enough to get me all my hemmoroid pads and gels as part of my shower gift- God bless her!
Rules for sanity according to my sisters ( This is just coming from a first time mom so it's probably all common knowledge :P )

1. It took 9 to put it on, it'll take 9 to take it off. Some accomplish this much sooner because of their previous lifestyle or hereditary blessing but give yourself time and wear supportive underments. My camisoles smooooooth everything out
2. You have no control over your hips- that was news to me. I didn't think it was going to take so long for them to come back in but my interest in donut holes while I was breasfeeding didn't help either My friend said yoga helped with her hips and some of the aches that came along with it.
3. Get your sleep little lady! Sanity and weight loss are both affected by this- I had to release my supermom cape to the wind when I couldn't finish a sentence!
4. Get out of the house- easier said than done with this nasty weather but try and go to a mall or even a big box store and just browse.
5. Keep in touch with moms; either online or in real life. You really do have to go through this process to be empathetic to it.

Stay in touch and smooch on that baby for us!

qtiekiki

I am amazed by you and a lot of the other new moms on here who are so focused and have a plan to getting back in shape. I swear I didn't even think about any of it until my second was over 18 months. So KUDOS to you.

hoyalawya2003

:flowerforyou: Your post is all kinds of awesome, and brings back those blech memories for me (my youngest is 4 now). I think you have a great plan, and hope you enjoy your walks in the non-murdery parks.

Feel free to add me--I am on here regularly and try to be supportive. Haven't done the brown sugar out of the bag (yet), but can't have a can of icing in the house or I will attack it with a spoon. :drinker: Happily my hubby is very nonjudgmental. :blushing:

gemmamummy

Congratulations on your little bundle. Just take it steady and remember that it takes time to get yourself together after having a bambino. My son is two and a half and I don't think my body will ever be the same, but its something I have come to accept. No amount of sit ups will fix the apron of skin under my tummy.

Any spare time I get without my son is either spent at the gym or cleaning. Five minutes with a mag and a cuppa would be nice. Maybe a trip to hairdressers to rid the roots. Removing last summers nail varnish off my toes is something on the do to list as well.

vharding7

I am 2 weeks postpartum. I had a repeat c-section and gave birth to a beautiful little boy, buuut I am right there with you with the blechs lol I was in the best shape of my life thanks to mfp and lifting heavy before I found out I was pregnant. I kind of just let it all go. We had only been planning on having one child so it as a total shock and it took a little bit of adjusting, so food was a comfort. 50 pounds later, here I am. I'm back at the weight I was when I started using mfp- 185. Ew. It sucks because I fell back into really crappy eating habits like shameful, eating in the dark in my kitchen at night so my husband wont see and even trying bakers chocolate one day when we had nothing sugary in the house..... It will be a struggle getting back on the wagon here but it's encouraging to see that others are here with me, and were able to do it!! You are awesome, thank you for the boost!

Paulinaquijada

Hi, I have a 16 month old daughter and I gained 67 lbs during that pregnancy. I Was able to lose the weight in 5 months ( lost more than half of those 67 right after delivery) but got pregnant again right after. This time I gained 37 lbs. and only lost 3 lbs after delivery. Have lost 7 more lbs. since then for a total of 10 lbs. I am 1 month postpartum and ready to get back to pre pregnancy weight. I always read and follow along what people write and then I'm no longer interested. This time I want to be more involved and hopefully this will help motivate me until I reach my goal and beyond that to help me stay where I want to be.