APPENDIX VIII: LOSING BABY WEIGHT

Bye-Bye Baby Weight

Every mom wants to look good after pregnancy. I remember how I savored each utterance along the lines of, “Wow! You don’t look like you just had a baby.” (No matter that I had exerted maximum force to button those jeans and was wearing a strategic black T-shirt to hide the muffin top.)

When the time comes to drop the weight —six to eight weeks following the birth for most women —start off slowly. Remember that if you are breast-feeding, you still need to be consuming an additional 500 calories a day. And if you’re working out, you also need to replace those calories. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) suggests no more than one pound of weight loss per week while breast-feeding.

Here’s how a few moms said good-bye to the baby weight:

After giving birth to three boys in four years, I had gone from my pre-pregnancy weight of 140 to almost 200 pounds, the heaviest I had been in my life. As a stay-at-home mom, I was tired all the time. I decided to make a change. I joined a gym and found a time when my husband could watch our boys each day. Four days a week I took classes I enjoyed. The gym is the best for me because I need to be motivated by other people.

I also changed my diet to include filling foods that were lower in calories. I lost sixty pounds in nine months, and I’ve kept it off for over a year. I feel better, have more energy to play with my boys, and am more sane because I get some time to myself.

 —Min

My friend, who had a baby a few weeks before I did, started a sixty-day challenge group for moms trying to lose weight. We communicate on Facebook and encourage each other to eat healthfully and work out consistently.

Being new mothers, there’s no condemnation when one of us is up all night with a baby and skips a workout. Losing weight has made me feel a lot more like myself —like I’m getting back a part of me, and focusing on part of my life that’s not all about the baby.

 —Jennifer

I developed a thyroid disorder during my pregnancy and rapidly put on more than fifty pounds; only nine came off when my son was born. Despite following a strict diet and taking high doses of expensive medication, the weight wouldn’t budge. One of my girlfriends, a mom of eight, started a low-glycemic eating plan and had so much success that I was inspired to try it as well.

After three months of having level blood sugar, I was down to the minimum dosage of thyroid medication, had much more energy, and had lost twenty-nine pounds.

 —Jaime