I’ve been quieter on the blog than I had hoped since little AJ was born 3 weeks ago, but I guess I’ll accept that as a fair trade for some much needed rest (or at least the pursuit of rest) and baby bonding. We are doing well… healthy, generally happy, and excited for the future. Part of that excitement for me involves losing the baby weight and getting to the point where some of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit again. To be honest, I’m really excited about that. Because right now nothing fits except maternity clothes, and I hated wearing those even when I was pregnant. Now, 3 weeks out, I can tell the weight loss will be the same hard-fought battle it was after each of my other pregnancies, but now I’m mentally prepared for it. Today is Day 1 of the process of reclaiming my body.
To get back down to a healthy weight I’d like to maintain, I want to lose between 28 and 34 pounds. I am exclusively nursing my baby, and I’m not the type of person who automatically drops the weight the minute baby starts eating. Nope… no matter what people may tell you, sometimes nursing makes you really hungry and being really hungry makes you eat more and eating more does not a successful dieter make. For me, it’s always a little depressing to get home from the maternity ward not having lost even the weight of the baby. How is that possible? Well, post-partum water retention and the requisite milk-producing expansion of “the girls” can easily account for it, but that doesn’t make it feel any better when looking at the scale. And after birth, new mothers really do need to take it easy so their bodies can heal properly, so exercise and diets shouldn’t happen right away. And that’s where I am now…
My plan of action? Weight Watchers.
I love Weight Watchers. The only successful dieting I have ever done was using their plan. I lost weight as a teenager when my mom was doing their plan (and so I had access to the tools too). I also lost 20 pounds after my third child and, for the first time in my memory, I was not overweight. It felt good. It felt very, very good. And I enjoyed the process! I think that the WW plan works by helping you understand what you’re actually consuming, creating healthy food choice habits and encouraging variety in both food and exercise. I used the online program and it made keeping track of daily food intake and exercise easy and fast, and kept me accountable for every choice I made. It worked well with my budget-minded mentality… if you want to splurge on something, you have to plan ahead. Today I signed up for a 3 month plan… I don’t want to wait a year being chubby before I decide to get down to business. WW allows nursing mothers to diet safely by calculating the right amount of extra nutrition to make healthy milk. The cost is generally about $18 per month, and I consider that a wonderful price to pay to see real results. And besides, that’s probably less than the new pants you’ll happily buy when you lose the weight :)
Since WW has revamped their system since I last used it, I am spending today acquainting myself with it and planning my next shopping trip. We’re out of the grocery essentials anyway and, with the inherent hassle of shopping with 3 kids under 5, it will also count as some exercise for the day. Double bonus!
So, in the spirit of Keep It Up, David! (David has lost over 165 pounds over the past 16 months… check out the blog for some great tips and motivation, as well as laughs and weight-loss camaraderie), I intend to keep you updated about my progress. So, off I go with a smile and a plan :)