The Dreaded Post-Pregnancy Belly

Everyone has something about their body they hate and something they love. I hate my skin (prone to breakouts) and dark circles under my eyes. I love my arms and my stomach. So naturally getting pregnant, could totally change what I loved about myself.

While I was near the end of my pregnancy, I looked at my belly and thought, “There’s no way my skin will ever stretch back.” Even with that negative thought, I never once got upset, down with myself, or discouraged. I just accepted the fact that my stomach might never look the same again. I thought creating life is far more important than how my stomach appears. It selfishly took me a few years to think this way, one of the MANY reasons we held off having a baby for a while.

Often times People magazine will show the latest celebrity bounce right back after having her baby. We have to realize they have nannies, a private chef, a private personal trainer, and it’s their job to look good. Even so, I was in amazement that they were able to get their bodies in such good shape after having their baby. I thought, that would be a nice dream.

One person in particular who got a lot of publicity recently was Maria Kang (see pictures here). She got slammed for posting a picture of her with her children setting up unrealistic expectations for moms. However, when I looked at her, I saw a woman with motivation, determination, and probably some good babysitters and nannies to allow for time to get to the gym and prepare real meals. What people failed to recognize is that she comes from a background of eating disorders after being involved in beauty and fitness competitions. There was NO WAY she was going to “let herself go” after having kids. That makes me wonder what drastic measures she went through in order to get her body back.

I was unable to find many posts of average healthy people getting their 6-pack back soon after having their baby. It was because of this that I learned to not stress out about it. And I didn’t. But miraculously, 2 weeks postpartum, my top ab compartment was starting to become defined from my second ab compartment. I looked in the mirror in utter amazement and thought, “Maybe this is possible.”  2 months later, I had my stomach back. I mean, besides my new boobs, it wasn’t obvious at all that I just had a baby. I know I’m going to have some haters out there. But this is the type of post I craved when I was pregnant. I needed a REAL person telling me it was completely possible to get your stomach back, in good time, and without drastic measures.

Now, I’m not going to sugar-coat things. I have a few things that worked to my benefit including good genes and an easy delivery and recovery. I also always have had motivation to be healthy including daily exercise and eating healthier options. I never got completely off track with my diet and I still indulged almost daily.

As requested by a couple of people, here was my average weekly diet during pregnancy:

• Breakfast #1: Banana and tea (before workout)
• Breakfast #2: 4-5 egg whites, sometimes mixed with spinach and salsa and toast
• Lunch: Salad. (Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, blue cheese, chicken, shrimp, or salmon, and balsamic vinaigrette dressing). Usually another piece of fruit (apple, grapes, or banana). Sometimes some dark chocolate.
• Dinner: Varied drastically – pasta loaded with vegetables, homemade vegetable based soup, simple large sweet potato with butter or plain Greek yogurt, the occasional homemade vegetable pizza, etc.
• Dessert: Dark chocolate covered almonds, dark chocolate Hershey kisses, or dark chocolate chips straight from the bag. Basically ANYTHING chocolate.
• Bedtime snack: Sleepy time tea and possibly some whole grain crackers and cheese.

I tried to only eat meat for one meal whereas prior to pregnancy, I was only eating meat a few meals/week or only on weekends. I know my body required more protein and I wasn’t good about getting it solely from beans, shakes, or vegetables. I also was drinking mostly water and tons of it.

After pregnancy my diet changed. I was breastfeeding, so naturally I had to watch what I was eating. My baby became gassy every time I ate vegetables. I loved vegetables, especially broccoli, so this was hard for me. I also wanted to start drinking coffee again (lack of sleep is a killer) but I didn’t want to have too much caffeine because I noticed she wouldn’t nap well after I indulged in coffee. I found myself starving in the middle of the night as I was up about 3 times with the baby. I’ve never felt so out of control and I embarrassingly had to hide wheat thins in her bedroom so I could snack when I was up with her.

Breastfeeding around the clock exhausted me and I was burning so many extra calories. I needed to eat more often that I was used too. I made sure to eat somewhat similarly to what I was used to, but I ate more of it more often and made sure I tried to snack on healthier options. I also never drank more water in my life. I didn’t want to get a UTI (as it’s common in pregnancy and immediately afterwards and I had a long history of UTIs) and mom’s need to stay hydrated when they are breastfeeding.

Here are my suggested post pregnancy snack ideas:

• Whole grain crackers with hummus
• Nuts
• Whole-grain cereal
• Hardboiled eggs
• Carrots
• Peanut butter and an apple
• Greek yogurt with berries
• Homemade oatmeal cookies – I used a lactation recipe to boost my milk supply

I never counted calories. Every now and then I stopped to reflect on what I had eaten for the day to make sure I stayed fueled both pre and post-pregnancy. The WORST thing one can do is to drastically diet immediately after having the baby. Your body needs to heal and requires plenty of nutrients throughout the day, especially if you are breastfeeding.

All in all, I gained 23 pounds during my pregnancy and I lost 21 pounds within 2 weeks. The last 2 pounds were probably milk weight!  I was able to get my weight down quickly because I ate well and I began exercising quickly after giving birth. Everybody heals differently. I was fortunate to heal very quickly. Two days after having my baby I was walking her around the block in her stroller and 5 days later I was back on the elliptical. This obviously helped me recover and lose the weight faster. I would bring her downstairs in her bouncer and she slept while I exercised. It also helped that it was Spring and I could start walking outside. I started slowly and by 6 weeks postpartum, I was ready for more challenging workouts. I enrolled in bootcamp classes nearby and attended 3x/week. This helped me gain my endurance. And all the jumping in those classes reminded me know how important kegal exercises are. I never really did them during pregnancy, but let me tell you, KEGALS ARE IMPORTANT! I know someone that went up to a trainer at a gym and asked where the kegal machine is. If you don’t know what kegals are just google it.

So with all this said, I just want to let people know that it IS possible to get your body back. I was truly blessed with good genes, good motivation, and control. Losing weight in general is HARD WORK. And it can be incredibly challenging postpartum. If you have a cesarean, you won’t be able to do intense workouts for at least 6-10 weeks post partum, but in the meantime, you can get your diet under control. I know the OB doctors can be in and out of the room so quickly, but please discuss a diet and exercise plan with them or the nurse. They have knowledge of a proper diet and they should have the latest information on exercise during pregnancy, it’s just unfortunately not a part of your regular check-ups.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions.