Happy 2015 all! I hope you had a fabulous holiday season with your families. It went WAY too fast if you ask me. But, I guess that’s what having a new baby will do to you!
Speaking of having a new baby, pregnancy does WEIRD things to your body. I know that all you moms out there feel my pain. And on top of that, you’re an emotional roller coaster for several weeks after having your baby and every time you look in the mirror you want to cry because your body just isn’t the same anymore.
I wouldn’t trade it for the world though, and I know you mamas out there agree with me. Mommyhood is the best job in the world (and the toughest!). But even so, every mom deserves to look and feel her best.
It’s challenging to get your body back after pregnancy, but it CAN be done. That being said, here are some of the things I wish I had known about getting my body back post-pregnancy.
It takes TIME. We’re all told this, but I don’t think the reality of it really hits home until you go through it yourself. The first 5-6 weeks you may not be paying much attention to your body because you’re too enthralled with your baby and sleep-deprived to care. But then you’re given the green light to work out. And then you expect to see a change RIGHT NOW. At least that’s how it was for me. But what I’ve learned, and am still learning to do, is to be patient and focus on the progress that I’ve made so far. My daughter was born on October 16th, so I can’t expect to really be back to the “old me” until 4-6 months later.
It’s not easy to switch gears on food. I was intent on having a healthy pregnancy, but I did allow myself to give in to certain cravings. (Like ice cream!). I knew that after Ellie was born I was going to need to get back on track, so I figured I would enjoy the cravings in moderation while I could. The reality of having a new baby in the house is that when you’re hungry, you’ll pretty much eat whatever you find. It’s not easy to automatically go back to how things were pre-pregnancy. It takes some serious willpower and determination.
Your moods do not help the matter. Oh, hormones, how I loathe thee. Those mood swings you had the first few weeks after baby? They don’t go away as fast as you’d think. I swear, my hormones are still wreaking havoc on me. They cause me to cry over nothing and cry over my reflection in the mirror even though I’ve already made really good progress. It’s incredibly annoying.
Your baby doesn’t care. This is the biggest one. Does your baby care what your body looks like? Nope. All your baby cares about is that you love her and feed her and take care of her. During pregnancy, especially the end, it’s easy to become consumed with wanting to lose weight post-baby. But then your baby is born and that doesn’t matter as much anymore. Yeah, you still want your body back, but then you look at that sweet baby’s face and nothing else matters anymore.
I’d love to hear your post pregnancy experience. Was it exactly how you thought it would be?
As much as I try not to obsess about losing the baby weight, I’m human. I still want to lose the pounds. And working out just makes me happy. If I can help you lose the pounds and be happy, I’d love to do it. Just shoot me an email or connect with me on Facebook. I’ve got support groups running every month.
Maci says
a couple things that I wish I would’ve known is that my hair was literally going to disappear. I had a very very bad receding hairline post partum and had to start taking prenatals again to make it grow back. Also, I always heard about how breastfeeding was this magical way to lose the baby weight, this was not the case for me. When breastfeeding you have this insatiable hunger and I just couldn’t stop eating. I ended up GAINING 40 pounds post-partum.