I was always aware of the fact that pregnancy would alter my body completely. The cause of my worry was that I had seen women who have never been able to shed their pregnancy weight or like they say, ‘bounce back’.
Pregnancy also hit me quite hard. I wasn’t one of the lucky lot who gains 7-9 beautiful kilos only in their belly. I was one of the others, who by the end of their pregnancy look like a ballon ready to pop, or a whale, or a bear- you probably do get the point by now. If not, let me tell you, I gained 24 kilos, all over my body.
Such is the irony that women face, on one side is the most wonderful blessing god bestows upon you and on the other you are traumatised by letting go the physical treasures you have embraced your entire life. I also thought that there was no going back. I was sure I wasn’t gonna lose more than 5 kilos apart from the baby+placenta weight once the baby pops and that’s how I was gonna look for the rest of my life.
From adoring yourself in the mirrors to just avoiding every mirror that came in my sight to avoid getting into depression was how my last trimester passed.
I packed all the fancy outfits I had and shoved them in a closet in our basement.
To my amusement, just after giving birth I lost 10 kilos, which left me with being 14 kilos above my pre pregnancy weight. By this time, I had a baby to take care of and feed, I had given up on thinking about how I’m getting to my pre pregnancy jeans because the baby needed me more than I needed to get into those jeans.
The entire 16 months I spent feeding the baby, there was no noticeable change in my body. I joined aerobics and worked out but could only reduce 4 or 5 odd kilos due to being inconsistent.
It was after I weaned off the baby that I stopped feeling the need to hog on food. The baby didn’t demand for me to be around so much, so I could freely concentrate on working out. He started to walk having me running behind him all the time to which also I credit my loss of inches. Few months later, when people started to ask me what I did to lose so much weight and look like before, I realised I actually had lost a lot. I pulled out the coffins from the basement, and believe me you, I could fit into 90 percent of my pre baby clothes. I’m still 2 kilos over my pre-pregnancy weight but I’m sure I’ll get rid of this too.
Let me put it this way to make it simple:
- You can only control to an extent, how much weight you gain during your pregnancy. You do not have full control over it because we all have a different body type. So try keeping a check to avoid gaining empty calories but do not let it stress you out. We can always get back. Eat healthy as much as you can it will help you a lot in losing weight and getting a healthy body later on.
- When the baby is out, for the first 6 months stress most about its well being and your health rather than the need of bouncing back. You have your entire life to do that but the baby needs you most during this time.
- Feed the baby- it helps you lose weight quicker, even if it is at a later stage. New age moms think that feeding will make their body sag and also that they can’t be more free to get back in shape and for other activities. This is the wrong-est thing you can do to yourself and the baby. Feeding the baby is wonderful for your body (discussed in another post) and for the baby. The only reason why we sometimes don’t lose as much weight while feeding is because to produce milk, fats get stored in the mothers body hence we get rid of this fat when we wean off the baby.
- Stay calm and work out as much as you can. Even if you can jump rope for 15 mins a day or jog for half an hour, yoga, aerobics, jumping jacks sets in the room, whatever little you can afford to do. This keeps you active and in routine. It also reminds you that you can’t stay in a body like this for too long so don’t get habitual of it.
- Don’t make unrealistic goals. Go on your own pace. Losing 1 healthy kilo a month is better than losing 5 unhealthy kilos. Set your pace and stick to it.
- NEVER GIVE UP AND ACCEPT A BAD BODY for the rest of your life.
I believe most of us have to go through this phase of life but how we balance ourselves as strong women and manage to conquer this situation our way is what makes us wonderful.
Stay happy and determined and you can do wonders with yourselves.
Image source: TheBump
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