Tuesday 12 June 2007

Weight a minute..

God I'm slow. It's taken me 8 weeks and 3 days to work out that the cake-eating breast-feeding weight loss phenomenon is actually an urban myth spread by NCT devotees to encourage vain new mums to feed au naturel! Or so I reckon.

There was I, assiduously devoting myself to post-natal cake and chocolate eating, and waiting for my extra weight to miraculously vanish. I was ready. My jeans were ready. My fingers poised over my old dress size on my next online order. But no, I have remained at stubbornly the same weight for the past 3 weeks.

Actually, last week I did lose 2 lbs, although to be honest this was mainly due to missing meals while playing foot chauffeur to my daughter. The bored anorexic demons inside my head leaped for joy at this promising start ("yay, miss more meals, miss more meals", they urged...), however my sensible self knew this couldn't last, and I was reunited with the missing lbs yesterday morning.

Hmm. So, on to the next phenomenon then. I took my new MBT trainers on their first outing last Friday (for the uninitiated Masai Barefoot Technology, or as I like to think of it, [new] Mum's Bottom Trimmers). Pacing round Dulwich Park with a slightly smug bounce, I felt sure I was on the road to muscle recovery. Unfortunately my bounce wained somewhere between the ice cream van and the pond, as I limped to a bench with a fine pair of blisters (and yes, ok, a Lemon Sparkle).

I haven't felt this over-nourished (I'm resisting the 'F' word) since I was recovering from glandular fever at 16 and self-medicated with carob peanuts. A little over-zealously.

Right, time to dust off the gym ball, swap the cupcakes for ricecakes and get a bit more realistic about my body prospects. Yep, any time now. Very very soon.

Er, Minstrel anyone?

8 comments:

beta mum said...

I breastfed both my children and waited in vain for the weight to fall off - twice.
Not only did I forget the pain of childbirth between one chld and the next (a period of just two years) but I also forgot that I had to make AN EFFORT to lose the baby-weight.
My excuse was that you need to eat well when you're breastfeeding...

New Mum in Town said...

Hi beta mum - my excuse is that the chocolate compensates to some degree for the sleep deprivation - not wholly scientific!

Nice to know it's not just me that missed out on the weight loss magic...

Pig in the Kitchen said...

NMIT, be kind to yourself! how much sleep are you getting? You need sugar and fat to keep going! and 8 weeks?! You can grow into the sofa for at least another 8. And Beta Mum is right, if you don't eat well (chocolate counts as 'well') then your milk will be rubbish!

As you like online purchasing, you could invest in a three-wheeled jogging pram?! I have used mine with all four, it cuts out the 'breaking them in at the creche' part, you just strap them in and run...or jog. Or walk on bad days! They're quite cheap on ebay...
Pigx

Lucy Diamond said...

You definitely need to be kind to yourself! Eight weeks is nothing (well, it is to Iris, clearly, but in the grand scheme of things...)

Can't offer any advice, I'm afraid, I just got pregnant again quite quickly, saved all the hassle of trying to lose weight... Maybe that was a bit extreme, though!

New Mum in Town said...

no, I am drawn to that idea too - kind of like hanging a 'do not enter, cleaning in progress' sign on your body for three years. Although, I have to say I am enjoying my reunion with an evening glass of wine again...

MommyHeadache said...

Oh yeah, that business about 'breastfeeding will make the weight just drop off' is one of the evilest myths out there. No it doesn't because it makes you starving the whole time. I lost the pregnancy weight only after I stopped nursing.

Motheratlarge said...

I'm still struggling with this - lost no weight while breastfeeding, but that might have had something to do with the cafe Nero pastries. When they say you need extra calories to b/f, I don't think they mean croissants and chocolate every day, like I was having.

Frog in the Field said...

Dear New Mum in Town,
Lsing weight after babies is awful. But even worse I've just discovered that after successfully being very slim (youngest is almost 4 now), I have gained masses of weight and am now reaching the same waistband I was in after no. 3 child! I hate rice-cakes, detest tea without sugar and biscuits! I'm off to Waitrose to buy a ton of fruit and start juicing again. I've got out of the habit, but found it the vey best way to lose weight and feel really good. Oh, and good old fashioned porridge mid-morning, honestly!