Back to basics

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to lose weight. I maintained my goal weight for a year before becoming pregnant, and then spent 9 months (moderately… ok, not always moderately) eating for two. I never tracked my calories while pregnant; instead I just tried to eat the best I could. In reality, my diet could have been a lot better, but I’m guessing a big reason why I only gained 25 lbs in spite of my less than desirable eating habits is because 1) babies end up requiring 300 extra calories a day from you and 2) I exercised a lot. So on days that I ran, I could easily have “burned” upwards of 500-600 calories and that’s quite a bit!

But I’m no longer pregnant, and in spite of our best efforts, sadly no longer breastfeeding, and so here I sit with total control of my body for the first time in 10 months. Oh, guess what I discovered? You can’t eat like you did when you were pregnant and still expect to lose weight or even maintain. If you eat 5 or 6 extra large peanut butter truffles leftover from the holidays, you’ll quickly pack on the pounds. Mind blowing stuff here, folks.

So it’s back to basics. Counting calories. Trying to exercise as much as I can without going overboard. (By the way Karen, I also made the mistake of taking a peek at the nether regions and I agree with you… it ain’t pretty!) Thus begins my weight loss efforts. I figured I would have to lose some weight after pregnancy and I’m glad it’s only about 10 pounds. But it’s difficult to get back into diet mode and even more difficult when you’re juggling a newborn, trying to squeeze in working from home a few hours a week, and remembering to at least get dressed for the day and look like a normal human being. It’s hit or miss on how tired I feel every day. Right now Katie is sleeping in 3 hour stretches at night, but as of yesterday, I lost my 6:30 a.m. feeding and diaper changing partner to going back to his job (someone’s got to bring home the bacon around here!), so it’s all on me from here on out until I return to the office. I didn’t realize how much that extra 1.5 hours of sleep I was getting every morning helped.

The good news is, we’re functioning. And Baby Daddy lends a huge helping hand when he gets home from work in the afternoon so I was able to re-acquaint myself with our treadmill yesterday. I ran for 1 mile and walked for 1 mile. My lungs still burn, but not as nearly as bad as they did last week. I hope to get in an exercise video today, and tomorrow it’s supposed to be in the upper 60s so we will probably take the kiddo out in her stroller for some fresh air and a jaunt around the neighborhood.

So I’ll find my way back for sure… it’s just a little different this time around because free time is kind of a luxury these days.