Who ate all the pies? Well, apparently me. I somehow managed to load on close to 25kg when I was pregnant. I know. Shocking. After being so sick for so long with hyperemesis my body was in state of shock. When I was able to eat it just held onto every morsel and stored it on my thighs, arms and face. I waddled instead of walked, I had cellulite on my cellulite. I started to fear sitting in chairs, worried I’d never make it out again! Generally I was a big round mess.
“Not to worry,” I would cheerfully console myself, ‘It’ll all melt away when I’m breastfeeding.” After all, that is what this weight gain is designed to be for. Om nom nom, pass the pancakes. But I was in for quite the surprise. My baby weight most certainly did not “melt” away when I was breastfeeding. It stayed put.
It stayed put for so long that it took me close to, how old is Leo now? 18 months. Yes, that long to be back to proper normal. I just have one of those bodies. Some women drop weight like Kim Kardashian drops husbands– fast and painlessly. Others, like me, hold on to it.
We are all different. But I wish I knew that earlier! I did feel pressure to slim down fast, partly because as you know I’m in the public eye. And partly because I didn’t feel like myself. I’d bump into people I’d not seen in ages and have to start the conversation with a sort of apology for my appearance.
“I’ve just had a baby,” I’d blurt out. I was happy of course, but I did want my old body back. I’d haul myself to the gym, all milky-bosomed and sleep-deprived and stare at my reflection in the mirror. The sight was both motivating to get back in shape and depressing because it seemed so far off. But more than anything I felt disappointed with myself for feeling that way. The most significant event of my life had happened and instead of enjoying my body for all it had done and thanking it for growing an amazing precious little human, I was berating it, comparing it to other new mum bodies and telling it that it looked out of shape. What was wrong with me? Turns out, I was a normal woman. Just like Miranda Kerr. No! She is not normal. Do not look directly at her. Step away.
Now I’ve had time to reflect on what’s actually important, I think I’ll do things differently the second time around. If there is a second time… Now if you’ll excuse me, there is a sale on Tim Tams at the supermarket, I need to stock up.
Reader Question:
Did you struggle to lose weight after pregnancy?
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