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Health & Exercise
ToughMudderX2
member
trouble letting go of control...
ToughMudderX2
member
I posted this in first tri, but this might be a better place for this:
I knew before I got pregnant that I would struggle with the realization that I can no longer control how my body feels and looks. I have spent the last 6 years on South Beach food lifestyle, picked up long distance running, and have been doing Insanity/Asylum pretty hardcore for the last 9 months. I was a gymnast, so I think the weight and body image root is deeply embedded. That sport can really mess up your mind.. 
I have finally got my body where I want it, definition in my abs, much leaner legs and so much stronger when I do races...
Now the problem is that I have to shift my mindset from dieting and using exercise to lean out and lose weight and it's been a really hard couple of weeks! I redid myfitness pal goals because I had my calorie count set for a deficit of 500 cals/day so basically continue to lose weight. When I found out I got pregnant, I added those 500 cals back in to "maintain" my current weight and am still exercising (thankfully, no nausea yet!!). I feel like I have packed it ON in the last week, sheesh. My belly is jigglier, don't get me started on the chest (holy boobs!) and I haven't done anything different. It's like my body is storing away every bit of fat that I am consuming right now for a long hard winter or something (or a baby, duh).
For all of you out there that have been living a diet and exercise life for a while, how did you get through this and "let go" and be ok with the body changes? I have so much anxiety about the pregnancy weight gain and being worried that it will never come off once it's over. Especially because I feel like I have ballooned in the last 2 weeks. My friends all joke with me like "we can't wait to see how you handle this pregnant, because you will have NO time to exercise when you have a newborn" YIKES.
BFP 9/1/12, EDD 5/11/13; heartbeat 9/24/12, heartbeat gone 10/2/12; D&E 10/5/12
This discussion has been closed.
Re: trouble letting go of control...
First of all, You can and will loose the weight if you set your mind to it like I did. I was in the gym 5 days a week 6 weeks pp and on. My mom or DH would watch DD while I went to the gym. My current gym has a kids club and I take her with me 3 times a week. A couple of my friends think its weird to leave your kid at kids club but I don't see the big deal. I never had to work out to keep my weight before I was pregnant. you have no control over how much you will gain. I gained 76 and would never have imagined I would gain that much. went from a size 6 to 14. Not saying that will happen to you. Since it seems you already are active you can keep that up and stay on top of it, but i was so sick the entire pregnancy I couldn't work out. It's hard to let it go, but with pregnancy you will just learn to go with the flow...one day at a time. it's the craziest thing I have ever been thru.
I'm crazy like you are now. I do the ab ripper x, hip hop abs, run, lift weights, etc. I KNOW how hard it is to get your body back and I'm still not 100% satisfied. I honestly don't want a 2nd kid because I don't want to gain all that weight again and see all my work go down the toilet, but DH does want another so I told him 5 years from now....thing is I told him 5 years this time last year.
I feel the same way... I have been into exercising and eating healthy for a good bit and have kept the weight off for a good while now. My husband and I are both in the military and enjoy training and lifting weights. I'm about to be 15 weeks and just now starting to have a better attitude about it. When we first found out it felt like everything had to change... from what I ate to how I trained changed the moment we found out. This so far has been hardest transition for me. The mandatory weight gain and eating more carbs has been a lot harder than I thought it would be.
My plan for my pregnancy has been to continue to workout and maintain. I can't go as hard as I used to or lift as long, but I am still at it. The most important thing through out all of this is to not give up and keep your outlook positive. I don't know how your diet is - but that could play into this. Also you will be bloated too. My first trimester I was nauseous and had food aversions from all the healthy foods I used to love. I've gotten my energy back and can actually eat normally now and I don't feel as fat as I thought I was. I do think that body image and weight will always be something that I will be conscious about though, because that is a way of life.
It's nice knowing there are other women out there feeling the same way!
First of all, you gain weight because you are growing a CHILD inside of you. Always remember that. It's not like you are gaining weight because you got lazy and decided to eat cheeseburgers the rest of your life:) Always, always remember that this extra nutrition is for the health and safety of you and your baby.
As far as losing the weight, eh. It ain't that bad. Just don't think about it so much right now! I'll just say this - I have 4 girlfriends who aren't all into working out or anything like that, and they are ALL smaller than they were before they had 2 kids. Just because they are busy, they all work full time and have two children, and I don't know, the weight just kind of fell off. Breastfeeding helps, too.
Me, on the other hand, the weight came off after my first baby in a matter of 12 weeks or so. It seriously was so easy. This time, not so much. Maybe because I'm 33 now, I have less time to work out, but it's taken longer than I would have liked. But I just hang in there, take one day at a time, and it is slowly coming off. I have about 10 pounds to go, after 10 months.
I wouldn't say I've ever been hardcore with workouts, but weight gain has never been an issue for me. I am a runner and cyclist (though more running than cycling since I had #1 in '08). With my 1st pregnancy, I gained 40lb (my pre-pg weight was 113). It was the 1st time I'd ever seen the scale over 150 which kinda freaked me out. I did continue running until about 25 weeks or so. At first, the weight gain and body changes really bothered me, but you gotta realize that you're gaining the weight to keep baby healthy. And, keep in mind that it took 9 months to put the weight on... it may take that long to take it off. For me, I was back to pre-pg weight at 5 months post partum. Breastfeeding helped, and I was able to get back into running (DH would watch baby) in the neighborhood probably 3 months after giving birth. I was 38 at the time. Presently, I'm 42 and pregnant with my 2nd. I'm hoping that the weight loss will be similar after I give birth. (Crossing fingers!).
You just need to assess the situation and learn to live with it. It's perfectly OK to gain in this case. As a pp said, it's not like you're 'letting yourself go'. You can continue exercising as long as you're comfortable with it. Just pay attention to what your body needs. As time goes on throughout the pregnancy, you won't be able to go as hard/fast as you might be used to. Just roll with it and do what you can. Anything you can do will contribute to a faster recovery at the other end. And, you can work exercise into your new life. You just need to reconfigure your thinking and get DH on board.
Good luck!
I can't relate to your situation because I'm a fatty. I just wanted to chime in and say this was completely true for me.
If you look at my ticker you can see how much I've lost in 7mths (although probably 15lbs of that was baby/plcenta/fluid). I've done that basically through good diet, and running around after 2 kids. I can't imagine how skinny i'd be if I actually exercised.
I really admire your dedication to your good health, but being healthy and skinny aren't the same thing. Focus on giving your body/baby good nutrient and your body will do whatever it needs to do.
I also just wanted to say that i really struggle with how I look immediately after baby is born. With my stomach all stretched out and flabby. A lot of women look 6mths pregnant for couple of weeks, so I guess I just wanted to give you a heads up if you weren't aware of that already. Maybe try and have a couple of pretty tops that will cover your belly and make you feel cute immediately after baby is born., because obviously gettingout to clothes shop with a 2 day old baby won't be high on your list of priorities.
Good luck.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
This is what I needed to remember in the beginning- that it was not about me being lazy or not having self-control. It was about creating a new life, a HUMAN inside of me. I found out I was pregnant about 10 days after running a full marathon. I was looking and feeling great. I stop using My Fitness Pal after I found out I was pregnant; I wanted to eat when my body was hungry and not feel controlled by calorie counts. I have continued to run (albeit, not the 45 miles per week that I was running) and it has honestly saved my sanity! I watch what I eat, eat when I'm hungry and I don't push myself to run too hard or too fast. It was tough for a while, but now I feel much more comfortable with my pregnant fitness level and weight gain. It'll come, but I do recommend trying to maintain a healthy relationship with eating and exercising. IMO, it's not about YOU, it's about YOUR BABY.
Good luck and enjoy the ride!