When I started writing about my journey after having my awesome son, I really thought I’d be done by now. I thought every pound would have shed off of my body and I would be on to writing something new each month. Here I am, month 6, and I am still writing about my journey to lose my baby weight. I have said it before, and I will say it again, “Ladies, be kind to yourself, it takes time and patience.”
I even need to have patience. There have been many times when I have had to reread my words from last month. There have been times where I have had to eat my own famous saying, “Don’t compare yourself to others in this journey.” When my friend came over last week with her two month old baby and had told me she only had 4 pounds left I wanted to run in my room and cry. Then I remembered that we are on different journeys and my fitness goals look different, my body is different- every body is different and responds differently.
What I do know for sure about 6 months postpartum is that I am happy! I am happy where I am as a person, as a wife, and as a mom. I couldn’t imagine life without these two children who bring such joy to my life each and every day. My only request is that time slow down because I cannot believe Mr. M is already 6 months!
Little Munchkin, M
M continues to bring so much joy into our home. He is such a happy boy. He is becoming more and more vocal and is such a mover! He grabs EVERYTHING. Do not leaving anything even remotely near him or he will figure out how to get it, grab it and most likely knock it down. He is strong and has amazing hand-eye coordination. And yes, I am already thinking about how that will play out on the baseball field.
I spoke too soon about him liking cereal and he now hates it. When he stopped liking the cereal I introduced him to real foods. So far he has had banana, avocado, sweet potato and apples. He loves all of them! He tries to grab the spoon from me and usually eats every single bite that I give him.
He sits up, rolls over and is trying to scoot! When he is on his back or belly on the floor and he wants something he will roll all the way over to get it. He is going to be crawling in no time. He has also had a recent obsession with sticking out his tongue and making noises. I can’t get enough of his sweet yet rambunctious personality!
My Weight
My pre-pregnancy weight: 129
My healthy, comfortable weight: 130-133
My weight at 40 & 4 days weeks: 174
My weight 1 week postpartum: 161
My weight 2 weeks postpartum: 155
My weight 1 month postpartum: 149
My weight 2 months postpartum: 146
My weight 3 months postpartum: 142
My weight 4 months postpartum: 139
My weight 5 months postpartum: 139
My weight 6 months postpartum: 137
And now that I have posted that, I am officially breaking up with the scale. In fact, that weigh-in was from last week before the Pump & Run and I have avoided it ever since. I feel good, I am comfortable in all of my clothes, and I am stronger and faster than I have ever been.
My Fitness Level
Strength: I hit 110 pounds on the bench press 3 times this month. I am still working on those pull-ups and was able to get half way up for one unassisted pull-up. I did not test my push-ups yet, but I WILL do 31 on my toes on Sunday for my 31st Birthday and see how many I can do beyond that.
Running: Yep, my last long run was now 6 weeks ago. I was supposed to be training for a half marathon in April, but I pushed that back. This week officially started half marathon training for me and I will run one at the end of May. I am still getting in some short, fast runs here and there, but will knock out five or six this weekend.
My Food Intake
I have stopped tracking my food. This was just not working for me. I was becoming too obsessive and I did not feel it was a lifestyle I truly wanted to sustain. This does not mean I am eating whatever I want. I am listening to my body. I eat when I am hungry. I limit my sugar and processed foods. I mostly eat real, whole foods: meat, veggies, fruit and nut butter. Yes, I occasionally have some tortilla chips & salsa or some pretzel thins and hummus. I have gotten back out my Eat Clean book by Tosca Reno and am getting back to the basics.
Review of last month’s goals:
- Desserts & Sweets- I have caved a few times. I am trying so hard. I have gone from one sweet treat per day to 3 since Ash Wednesday. I am making an exception for myself on my birthday.
- Run 2-3 times a week- I have been running on the treadmill about 2 times a week. This week has warmed up and I have been able to get outside.
- 110 pounds on bench press by summer- CHECK!!!!
- 31 push-ups on my 31st birthday- will do on Sunday!
- Piyo- I did it 2 times! Better than nothing.
- Workout with my husband once a week- I did this once!
New Goals: a lot of my goals will stay the same since I am training and some I didn’t accomplish. So here they are…
- Spring half marathon, break 8:00 minute miles on my 10k, and run 2-3 times per week.
- 1 workout per week with my husband
- Even after Easter, limit dessert & sweets to once a week. Continue refraining (birthday exception) until Easter.
- 1 unassisted pull-up by June 1st.
- 10 minutes of stretching 2x a week.
There it is, where I am 6 months after having a baby. I can’t say for sure or not if I will write 7 months post baby or not. I might not ever get back to my post baby weight. What I do know is that I am happy where I am and am proud of what my body can do: my body has carried two children; is currently feeding and nourishing one growing little boy; and continues to be able to carry them up the stairs, chase them around the house and mother them the way I need to and I am proud. Fitness is my lifestyle, it is a journey, not a sprint and I will continue to work no matter what the number on the scale says.
Thank you for sharing you story, Hollie. First of all, you look fabulous! I appreciate how real and honest you are in this post because I think post-pregnancy weight loss is something a lot of people don’t feel comfortable talking about. My daughter is 3 months old and I gained 60 lbs during
My pregnancy. I lost the first 30 fairly quickly but I still have 25 to go. It’s tough to balance everything being a mom. Our bodies just went through an amazing journey and we really owe it to ourselves to allow us the time we need to return back to normal (our new normal).
Thank you for reading and for the compliment Lindsay. Be patient, take care of yourself and it will come.
I’m not good at rewarding myself after reaching goals. I finally came up with a workout schedule this weekend after having finished Body Beast; I didn’t like randomly selecting one of the DVDs to do each day.
I love rewarding myself with a new workout top.
I Just had my first son and third child 3 weeks ago. I hate the new stretch marks and body changes that have happened with this last pregnancy. I was at a scale tipping 285lbs with my big boy. He came at 10lbs 11oz!! 40+5 weeks pregnant! Anyway, To start on a more positive self reflecting journey, and to stop obsessing about my weight, I began looking for inspiration and I came across your blog. Thank you for your honesty and showing us that it is normal to have tough moments along the journey. I look forward to following your blog, to be inspired and keep me motivated.
Thank you, Brianne for following. I am so glad I could provide some inspiration. I’d love to have you “like” me on Facebook too. Let me know how I can help.