Post Pregnancy Update #5

Ok, I’m going to be completely straight up with you…there’s a reason I haven’t done an update in a while and that’s because I fell off the healthy eating wagon. The sleep deprivation really got to me and I found myself craving all the wrong things. I really started to beat myself up about it and then I just had to get a grip and cut myself some slack. All the things that normally helped me lose weight before I got pregnant just weren’t really working. I think I was putting myself under so much pressure to make progress that I got upset when I didn’t see an immediate change in my body and that lead to me doing some emotional eating. I had underestimated how differently my body would behave after having a baby! I finally broke the cycle and I’m back on track again but with a new set of rules to make this whole thing sustainable.

Left: 6 weeks post-pregnancy Right: 10 weeks post-pregnancy

I don’t think there’s a huge difference between the above pictures and I think that’s due to three things:

a) I haven’t been eating as well as I should
b) It’s a lot harder to shed the lbs after having a baby
c) I need to streamline by toning up with weights

I have only just started light weight training again as I wanted to give my body the time it needed to recover after the birth. I didn’t want to risk straining myself or causing any damage to my stretched muscles in my abdomen. I feel like now is the time to start again though and start strengthening my core.

I recently bought a Citrus Zinger which is basically a large water bottle with a juicer in the bottom section so you can flavour your water with lemon, lime, orange, ginger, honey, cucumber…whatever you fancy! Lemon water is a great way to cleanse and detox your body and because the water is naturally flavoured, it makes it easier to drink 2 litres a day. I have been trying to eat well 80% of the time but still allowing myself treats (like the two macarons and almond cake I had yesterday!) because I figure that if I don’t have a little of what I like, then I’m more likely to fall off the wagon again. I’ve been trying to make small changes as well because every little bit counts right? So I have cut out sugar in my tea, cut out white bread as much as possible and switched to wholemeal pasta.

I tried on my size 12 Topshop Leigh jeans and although it was a squeeze, at least it’s progress! I think in the coming weeks I’m going to concentrate on pushing myself to walk further and faster every day with the dogs, doing light weights every evening and trying to make healthy choices with my food as much as possible. Just to reiterate what I’ve said before, this isn’t about becoming skinny, it’s about feeling fit and healthy. Eating the wrong things makes me feel lethargic and bloated and just not very good about myself. So by making healthier choices, I’ll feel much more energised and happy.