A little bit of history...
Growing up I was pretty athletic and had a good body. I wasn't thin...I was just right. I remember being really self conscious though and thought that I was so much bigger than all the other girls. What I would give to have that body back!
At some point after moving to California and beginning my teacher career, I began to pack on the pounds. There wasn't one thing that changed that caused me to gain weight...it was a whole bunch put together. I was working a lot of hours just to live paycheck to paycheck. I was living off mac n' cheese and other cheap food. I was depressed and homesick. I quit running and most other exercise. Huh, listing things all out like this it is no wonder I gained weight!
By the time I met my husband I was about 40-50 pounds overweight. We fell in love (obviously) and moved in together. Over time I realized that most of the reasons I packed on the pounds in the first place were history and I decided it was time to shed that weight. I lost all of it in about 9 months and kept it off for some time. Then I left the classroom to be an instructional coach. Between the lack of exercise I got because I had a "desk job" and the stress eating I did because my job situation stunk, I slowly began added 25 pounds back on.
When we moved to Portland 3 years ago we had so much fun exploring the great restaurants and pubs that I joke that we ate are way through Portland. Then I had a miscarriage, fell into a depression, and gained the last 20 pounds plus some that I had lost way back when.
When I got pregnant with Superman I was 210 pounds (yikes- I can't believe I am telling you all this!). I gained about 15 pounds during the pregnancy and thankfully lost that weight almost immediately. Despite the fact that everyone told me that breastfeeding helps you lose weight, I struggled to lose more weight postpartum. In fact it took a LOT of effort to lose 13 pounds before getting pregnant with Mr. T.
Where am I now?
So I started this last pregnancy at 197 pounds. I gained about 13 pounds by the end of the pregnancy. Today, 12 days postpartum I weigh 192 pounds! There was one morning where I weighed 190, but I think that was just a fluke. Besides, I have heard that your weigh can fluctuate for the first 6 weeks postpartum. Anyone else know anything about this? I can't remember from last time.
My Goal
I have a goal weight of about 155-160 even though that is on the high end of my "ideal weight range" for my height. At my lowest weight of 150 pounds I really felt like I was just too thin and don't have any desire to get back to there.
I would like to get to this weight in a year, but I don't think that is realistic because I don't consider my body to be mine yet. As long as I am nursing, that takes the priority. So I am giving myself 18 months. This year I will focus on eating healthily and exercising and see where that gets me. Then adjust and pick up the pace after I am done nursing.
Biggest Hurdle
As I have said, I am nursing and I am assuming that I will struggle to lose weight like I did after giving birth to Superman. I am not willing to jeopardize my milk supply so finding the appropriate amount of calorie intake given my activity level is complicated. I will be going back to Baby Bootcamp as soon as I can and may use the point system from Weight Watchers just to make sure that I am getting in enough calories (because I know points and it makes keeping track of calories a whole lot easier).
So stay tuned. I will update my progress as I go along. It won't be a regular posting, but as I reach milestones (hopefully that is) or encounter struggles, I will be sure to post. For now, if you have any tips on how to lose weight while maintaining your milk supply, please feel free to share!
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