Hardest Post I've Ever Written, But it Needed to Be Done

As anyone who has read this blog recently knows, I had a beautiful baby boy on April 21st. Like most new mom's I am struggling with my battle worn post baby bump body. I can't complain about my pregnancy, my morning sickness was minimal and I felt pretty good up until the last few weeks. The down side is that when I get pregnant, I get FAT. Not just swollen but just downright chunky. I gained 60 pounds with my first pregnancy (and it took a year and a half to get the weight off) and 50 pounds with this one. I really tried to be better this time, and diet wise I ate much healthier food but I was hungry constantly and needed to eat to not feel sick. I was also very tired and stopped running regularly, which I had been doing for 6 months prior to getting pregnant. I believe this lack of regular exercise made the weight come on a lot faster than it would have if I had at least tried to keep up a regular exercise routine.

It's been almost 5 weeks since giving birth and I was cleared by my Dr. to start exercising again. I have been using MyFitnessPal to help keep a food diary and calorie count. I signed up for an account (and downloaded the app for my phone and iPad) a few weeks and I LOVE it. I haven't found a food yet that it doesn't have in its database and the recipe adding function is super easy. It also keeps track of foods you added in the past so if you eat something all the time you can easily find it on you recent list instead of having to search for it every time. I have been tracking my calories for about 2 weeks and have sticking to it because its so easy. I found a calorie calculator to see what I should be taking in every day to lose weight while still breastfeeding. I have been eating around 2000 calories a day for the last two weeks and have seen slow but steady weight loss, I know that when I start exercising I will be able to eat more calories as long as I keep breastfeeding, and once I stop I'll have to stick to around 1600 calories a day to keep losing weight.

Now here comes the hard part. One of the hardest things for a girl to admit is her real weight and let people see her at her not so best. I need to be held accountable and who better than my friends and blog readers to keep me honest and motivated. I want to be honest with my struggle because SO many women struggle with the same thing, especially after having a baby. If I can motivate even one new mom or fellow chubby girl to get moving and start working on getting to their goal weight or size then I will know that being brutally honest about myself will be worth it. I figure the worst someone can say is that I'm fat and it wouldn't be the first time. So here we go:

Pre-Baby Weight- 155 pounds-Size 10 pants
Max Baby Weight- 205 pounds
5 weeks Post Partum Weight- 182.2 pounds- Size 16 pants

First picture was at 40 weeks 2 days pregnant      Second picture was last night at 4 weeks 5 days PP  

My weight this morning (please forgive my toes, I need a polish change ASAP)

 

 So here's the plan of action. I'm starting Couch to 5K with a friend next week (my first 5K, which will be the Rahr & Sons 5K on September 28th in Fort Worth)  and my family and I are trying to figure out a gym schedule for us to go to the YMCA regularly (they won't watch the baby until he's 6 months old). I am going to try REALLY hard to go early in the morning after the baby's feeding and before my husband leaves for work (that's my goal for Monday). I also have some Jillian Michael's DVDs to throw in on days I can't get to the gym in the early AM. I'm going to stick to my calorie counting and keep breastfeeding (it really is a calorie buster, but you have to drink A LOT of water and try to pump when you can). I'll post an update maybe once a week and I also plan on blogging on some of the fitness things I have pinned, since you know I have to stick with the blogs original format. Can't weight to get started (ha ha, chubby girl pun) and see what the summer brings me. Well I'm off to take a walk before the baby wakes up from his nap. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!