Let me start by saying that I am in no way a professional exercise coach or have any kind of trained expertise in weight loss. I am just a new mom, probably like you, who needed to lose weight after giving birth to my beautiful baby girl. In fact, I have struggled with my weight for many years. Growing up I was very athletic. I started skiing when I was 2 years old which turned into racing that lasted up until high school. I was also involved in t-ball, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, track and cross country running. So needless to say I didn’t grow up having any kind of body or weight issues. It wasn’t until my last year of high school that I gave it all up. I was tired and you know how teenagers are…I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. From that point on I pretty much stopped moving. Since I didn’t have a specific sport to focus on it didn’t even cross my mind to find another form of exercise. So, I started putting on the weight…20 lbs here, 5 lbs there and on and on. Before I became pregnant I was on the BMI chart just about to cross the line from overweight to obese. Yikes right? But I didn’t really feel like that. I mean, I knew I was overweight but obese? I’d sort of tried to lose the weight over the years but never really went on any kind of serious diet. I would work out but could never stay motivated enough to get results any better than 5-10 lbs at a time and then I would put it back on and more usually. Then I got pregnant and gained 50 lbs more. But to be honest, I wasn’t really worried about it. I had this feeling, even before I became pregnant, that once I had a baby things were going to change for me. I’m not sure why but I just had this gut feeling. Plus the last thing we women should be doing while we are building a baby is stressing out about the weight we are gaining and how we are going to lose it!
So now I’m a new mom basking in the amazement and joy of my new gift. Losing weight was nowhere near the top of my list of things to do. I just jumped into motherhood with gusto. I was in awe of this little being that solely depended on me to help her survive in this new world. I wanted to do nothing but make sure she felt safe and secure in every moment of her new life. She was only going to get the best from me as that was now my purpose in life. I had decided from the moment I found out I was pregnant that I was going to breastfeed her. It was what my body was designed to do and finally I would get to use it for its purpose. I started wearing her close to my heart in a mai tie or ring sling. I was using cloth diapers to help avoid anything toxic that that might touch her soft skin. I was right there ready to respond to her when she told me she needed something. I was watching every move she made to try and catch her needs before she had to yell at me to do something. I was sleeping right by her side so she could nurse whenever she woke to hunger pangs and the need to know she wasn’t alone. It was wonderful… really I couldn’t image doing it any other way. It wasn’t until a few months into it that I heard about Attachment Parenting and started reading up on it. Turns out, that everything I was already doing, instinctively, was right in line with the AP principles. It was kind of a wonderful moment for me to learn that I wasn’t the only one out there that believed in these same things. There are many different ways to parent a child but this is the one that feels right for me. As women and mothers we have to follow our instincts and do what we know is the right thing for ourselves and our children.
So as of right now "Little" is slightly over 9 months old and after gaining the 50 lbs while pregnant I am now already down 65 lbs! That's right...I'm 15 lbs lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. I'd have to say I'm pretty darn proud of that!
More on exactly how I lost the weight to come....
How did you lose your pregnancy weight?
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