Well things are going strong. After my last post I was still frustrated and I felt at a stand still. I know my body was improving but it seemed so slow. If most of you are like me you just want your old body back now! However, a lot has happened in the last few weeks.
After I was feeling frustrated I has to stop and think about why. I mean really I have been doing very well. I have been eating well and starting to exercise just like I has been before I became pregnant. So why was I feeling so out of alignment emotionally? I realized that even though I was doing just fine I still wasn’t living true to my goals. My long term goal is to get into better shape than I ever have been. I would like to step up my workouts and eat more pure. The exercising part for me is the easy part. The eating part is the hard part.
I believe that I am addicted to sugar and carbs. I think that can happen when you are pregnant very easily. Most of us are addicted to these things anyway. However when you are pregnant your body and mind goes through a lot. See if any of these situations apply to you. First, the morning sickness hits. If you are like me you can only eat what doesn’t make you want to throw up. I lived off of potato chips and cereal the first three months. Then you have that little voice in your head that you are eating for two, so you go overboard with the sweets and snacks. Finally, if you have cravings it can be even worse. When you are pregnant it is very easy to become addicted to unhealthy food if you weren’t already.
Now I have to get off this addiction. For me, I know my temptations. I like cereals and desserts. So first I have cut back on the cereals. Desserts are another question. When the kids go to bed my husband and I like to indulge when they are not around. It helps us relax and to feel like we have “our time”. This is our time to sit and talk and eat our treats.
The other problem that I had was that I left certain things, such as dark chocolate chips, out on the kitchen counter and every time I went into the kitchen I would grab something. So I had no idea how much I was consuming. It could have been a small amount or I could’ve been eating the equivalent of a few extra snacks in a day. This was not good.
The solutions were simple but I won’t say they were easy for me. First, cut back on the cereals. I did this by just replacing the cereal with yogurt which what I eat for breakfast anyway. So I have more yogurt and less cereal and I don’t eat cereal for snacks. Cereals, even so called healthy ones can be dangerous. Cereals are high on the glycemic index and can cause you to feel unsatisfied so you eat more and more. That is what happens to me. Second, the desserts are harder. To be honest, I am still working on that one. Like I said I like to eat after dinner. There are many options if you like to munch at that time of day as well. Having a couple small cookies is better than a whole bowl of ice cream or a piece of pie. The best choice is having a piece of fruit or some veggies. Third, I put the snacks that were on the counter away in the cupboard. This was easier than I thought. I just realized that I haven’t even thought about taking them out. Holding a baby it is too easy to just grab something that was out with my free hand. To actually get the bag out of the cupboard and open it with one hand is too much work.
Then something happened this week. I am almost 4 months postpartum and I went from last week feeling frustrated because we had somewhere to go that we had to dress up for and I couldn’t fit into anything to fitting into my favorite pair of jeans this week. I didn’t change much except for the things mentioned in the last paragraph. But all this past week I have felt like my body was ready to let go of my pregnant body. My clothes fit better and I just feel more like my old self. It could be that my body was ready to give up that extra weight or it could be my workouts finally kicking in. I don’t know but I am thrilled.
The final thought on what I have been going through is this – I know I was doing fine. After all I did just have a baby and my body was going through a lot. I was eating mostly healthy and starting back into my regular exercise routine. My body was getting back to normal. Really there was nothing to worry about. The fact was though that I just didn’t feel like myself. I knew there were a few things that needed to be changed in order for me to feel like I was living my truth. I already changed a few things and will continue to learn and grow.