Body by Baby

Right now, I have a "body by baby." Technically, you could say I have a "body by babies" since I never got those last 5 pounds from Spencer off, but I got close enough, I think.

In April of 2004, I had hit my highest weight (to that date, at least) of 219.5 pounds. When I stepped on the scale, I was mortified. I had no idea that my weight had crept up so high; I just knew that Old Navy's sizing had obviously gotten smaller as I was wearing a XXL. Denial in its finest.

I stumbled across the Atkins diet on accident and decided to give it a try. At the time, I needed the rigidness it provided (you can eat these things, you can't eat those) and it worked out perfectly. Between April and November of 2004, I lost almost 50 pounds. It felt great.

That November, I found myself unexpectedly pregnant. At least I was married. Ha! Anyway, it isn't advisable to do Atkins while pregnant, so I threw it out the window and, man, did I throw it far. I was still eating reasonably, but I had added all the "no-no" foods back in; stuff like whole wheat bread, oatmeal, and tater tots. Ok, so I wasn't perfect, but I certainly wasn't out of control.

My weight gain stayed in check pretty well until my water broke and I landed in the hospital for 10 weeks on strict bedrest. I was doing my student teaching at the time and was on my feet, moving and shaking, for about 6.5 hours a day. Once I was in the hospital, the most I walked was the 5 feet between the hospital bed and the bathroom. Not the mention the fact that hospital food is incredibly unhealthy, go figure. My meals consisted of things like fried fish, double cheeseburgers, and huge slices of pepperoni pizza. By the time my pregnancy was over at the 30 week point, I'd put on over 40 pounds.

Once I was home from the hospital, I didn't resume Atkins (I was pumping for Spencer and Atkins also isn't recommended during breastfeeding b/c it can impact your supply) but I did keep an eye on what I ate. The weight began moving down, slowly but surely. After my milk supply ran dry (I will always thank the awesome doctor that told me to take sudafed, a drug that is WELL known to dry up milk *sarcasm*), I got back on Atkins and dropped down to 179, which was a mere 2 pounds above my pre-pregnancy weight.

Then, in October of 2006, my step-mother was in a terrible car accident. My eating has spiraled out of control ever since and was on its way back up when I got pregnant with Jack (expectedly, this time, LOL) last June.

Man, oh man, did I have fun eating during my pregnancy! I even turned backwards on the scale at the doctor's office so I didn't have to see the damage (my midwife didn't weigh me). Looking back, I had to have gained at LEAST 50 pounds.

In the immediate 8 weeks or so after his birth, I didn't change anything. I didn't want to affect my milk supply, of course. And I couldn't exercise b/c I couldn't leave Jack. He wouldn't take a bottle and, if he got hungry, Jake would be SOL on feeding him. Excuses, excuses. And I actually GAINED weight while breastfeeding! Looking at pictures of me from a few days postpartum and then again at my sister's wedding, which was 8 weeks later, you can see the weight gain in my face. When I figured it out, I couldn't believe it.

So I decided it was time to take action. I did Weight Watchers back before my wedding in 2003 and thought it was terrible. I was hungry all the time and it took forever for me to lose any weight. But I knew they had a program tailored to breastfeeding mothers, so I looked into it again, and a lot has changed.

Two weeks ago I joined. And, wow, do I love the program. In the first week, I lost a bit over 5 pounds (which will slow down as my body settles into the plan; it isn't typical to lose so much on a week to week basis). I'm also planning on joining a gym soon. When I did Atkins, I worked out about 6 days a week and loved it. I want to do that again.

Mondays are my weigh days and I'll probably keep track of my weight loss here each week (and hopefully get some measurements eventually too). I think being public will keep me honest.