Over the hump

I have been feeling kind of icky these last few days. Not sick icky, more like down in the dumps icky. Typically for me, that stems from weight. I gained just about 33 pounds when I was pregnant. I was so proud of myself for not gaining more. I never had one of those crazy pregnancy related cravings that sent my husband to a drive though at 2 AM. (Robbie wants me to point out that he would not have gone for me anyway... nice guy). I ate when I was hungry and although that was more often than normal, I gained less than the max of 35 my OB recommended. I also went to a weekly prenatal yoga class and Robbie, Tillee (the dog) and I walked about 3 miles almost every night.

My recovery after having M was pretty easy. I was out walking again very quickly and in no time, I was back doing my 3 mile neighborhood loop, with M strapped to my chest at least once a day. The weight just fell off. By the time M was 3 months old, I had lost all of the baby weight and but the time she was 4.5 months, I had lost an additional 10 which put me back to my wedding weight! I can give lots of the credit to breastfeeding as it burns somewhere between 500-750 calories/day.

But now, M is almost 7 months and I have plateaued. I should be proud that I have not gained a bunch of it back. Instead however, I am frustrated with myself that I am not taking full advantage of this opportunity. The weather got yucky (cold and rainy) and I took a break from walking. In addition, I seem to be hungry all the time. I know that I am supposed to be eating more because of the nursing but I feel like I need to eat all day long! The two combined are creating the issue. So yesterday, I got my tush back out to the pavement and walked. Today, I did the same. I feel good but know that I need to keep it up in order to see some progress. I figure if I can walk daily and just adjust my eating a tiny bit, I should be able to see some progress.

I will keep you updated.