The postpartum body

[sal_amanda]

I've never really had to lose weight before.  I gained some while I was on the pill, but it mostly went to my boobs and face, still haunting my wedding pictures with a really round face, but that pretty much dropped almost instantaneously when I went off the pill.  I still had a few lingering extra pounds, but they got redistributed with some muscle strengthening and I was fine with that because it wasn't much.  

This whole postpartum weight loss business, though, is something altogether different.  Those of you who saw that last belly shot know I was HUGE at the end of the pregnancy.  I gained a lot in the first trimester because if I wasn't eat constantly, I'd get nauseous.  I generally kept my constant munching to healthier fare (except during the October Storm when we ate way too much from Dunkin Donuts) as much as I could, but that was still a lot of food intake.  Then we discovered the glucose intolerance, which I've been told may have caused my body to absorb more carbs than it normally would, leading me to keep on gaining.  Being on the diabetic diet got me gaining more at the rate I should have been, but by then, a lot of damage was already done.  

Judging by what dropped off of me in the first three weeks, about 30 lbs was essentially Nora and water.  Since then, I've been at a bit of a stand still.  Yes, I know what they say.  It took 9 months to gain it so it should take at least 9 months to a year to lose it.  And yes, the first two months, I couldn't do a whole lot of physical activity and it probably took another month before we were settled enough for me to find any time, no matter how little, to work out on a fairly daily basis.  I realize I should cut myself some slack, but I've only been able to lose a couple of pounds over a couple of months and this is not a good rate.  

I also have very little discipline.  Like I said, I've never really had to do this before and I like food.  I don't eat so much that I was gaining regularly or anything.  I always maintained my weight pretty evenly, but to cut back in order to lose weight is a new thing for me and I'm not good with the whole self-control thing.  One interesting thing about having a small frame to begin with is that it seems to be easier to hide the extra weight.  My mom keeps telling me I'm thinner every time she sees me, but in the meanwhile, I have a limited wardrobe as most of my pants don't fit right about now.  That does create some motivation for me, but apparently not enough.  I don't need to have washboard abs.  I didn't have that in the first place.  I just want my clothes to fit.

As for other postpartum joys, my pristine skin that allowed me to easily quit using Proactiv during the pregnancy isn't quite that pristine anymore.  It's not as bad as when I started using the Proactiv and I refuse to start using it again since I got so sick of it bleaching everything, but I haven't found a good cureall for my occasional breakouts.  I have that whole postpartum shedding thing going on.  It's not coming out in clumps like I've heard other people complain about, but I do find single strands pretty much everywhere and it's annoying.  I'm getting to be as bad as the dog.  And of course there's the joy of those stretch marks that will forever be with me.  At least my belly skin is starting to get less doughy, but those marks are mine to keep.

Comments

[kristyfrey.livejournal.com]

At least your holding steady - that's good. If it makes you feel any better I lost 30lbs within 5 weeks of giving birth BUT I've gained 10 back. And while I gained the 10 pounds, I was paying for a weight watchers membership and not going. I just canceled the membership. I guess I'm just not motivated to lose weight right now and the vegan diet isn't really helping either because you can eat a lot of bread and peanut butter - which I love!

As for the skin - I noticed mine was really nice when I was pregnant but the random blemish has reappeared. This week I got the "third eye" - the one right in the middle of the forehead and of course I'm growing out my bangs, so hiding it with hair is not an option.

[sal_amanda]

I really want to lose. I'm just not motivated to do as much about as I suppose I should to actually lose the way I want to. I'd like it to just magically go away.

The third eye - nice.

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

All I can give advice on here is the skin stuff, as I too refuse to go back to Proactive's bleaching evil. The best I've found is Neutrogena stuff and Clique's toner for oily skin. I've got three different Neutro face washes, because I wanted to try a few things out. The plain old orange tube of acne wash is nice to keep in the shower, then there's some kind of anti-stress face scrub that is blue and smells good. The scrub is not too harsh and I use it at night. I also have this clay-type wash that I bought because it can be used as a face mask. And my old standby after the toner is always the Neutro. anti-wrinkle anti-blemish lotion. Actually, I use a lot of stuff because after putting on the lotion I'll throw the wal-mart zit creme on places that normally break out to dry them up and since I'm old I also put Nuetro. eye cream on my eye wrinkles. So I guess it's a five step process, but at least it seems to work most of the time.

[sal_amanda]

Yeah, Neutrogena seems to have the best stuff, in general, though I am all about the Olay Clarity face wash. I have the Neutrogena anti-stress lotiony stuff and I use that during the day because it really cuts down on the shine that my other lotion had. Then I use that anti-blemish anti-wrinkle stuff at night. If I'm going hardcore on the zits, I bust out the witch hazel. My problem is that whenever I find something I like, it gets discontinued so when I buy it, I stock up.