Starting with this spring, I started noticing quite a few news stories about new moms who are showing off their new bodies and how "perfect" they look and their baby is less than a year old. They talk about how they were able to exercise at least 3 times per week. Just last week I saw a news story about a mom of 3 boys, the youngest is 8 months. She was showing off her perfectly toned and the caption read "What's our Excuse?"
Good for those mom's who are able to take the time to workout and get that great looking post-pregnancy body. But what I want to know is how in the world do these mom's find time to exercise? I've been noticing that quite a few of these weight loss pressure come from famous stars who make millions, so they probably can afford a nanny to watch baby when they workout. I also question how many of these new mom's with the perfect post-pregnancy bodies are stay-at-home mom's or only work half-time. Where's the mom who works full-time, takes care of the house & meals and the only gets 10-15 mins to herself each day?
I try to find time to workout even 2 times per week, but it's really hard to find it right now. I work outside the house. I come home, feed my baby, make supper, play with my baby until it's time for bed. I don't bother cleaning up until after baby is sleeping. Sometimes I only get 10 mins per week of good exercise right now. And when I do get to actually workout I tend to get interrupted. Currently my exercise is now chasing and playing with baby. When it was warmer I would take baby out for a walk most evenings. Sure I don't have the time to do a lot of muscle toning exercises right now (except for daily "weightlifting"...I'm up to 17 lbs), but I also don't sit on my butt for 4 hours every night either. I'm down almost 10 lbs from my pre-pregnacy weight, but I'm not as toned as I once was. Yet, I feel like the media is saying that I'm not good enough.
I'm proud of what I've accomplished. Sure the weight didn't melt off of me like it does other people. But considering I gained 60 lbs during my pregnancy, mostly due to the extreme swelling I experienced, and I lost almost 70 lbs in 1 year. And I don't get the time to go to the gym to workout either. It takes a woman 9 months to gain the weight and she's carrying a 2nd person at the time. So, if it takes you 9 months to gain the weight, why is there so much pressure to loose all that weight and then some in 2-3 months? It's hard enough trying to sleep, eat, shower and clean the house in those first couple of months. Why do people feel like we all have all the time in the world to live the same way before we were pregnant?
I think the important this is that you are taking care of yourself and that you're staying active, whether that's going to the gym or going for a walk or getting down on all fours and chasing your baby around the room. Don't feel pressured to have the perfect body right after you have a baby. Love yourself and love your husband and love your children. Enjoy life!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Solid Foods
The transition to solid foods have been a struggle. Not only is it hard to get my baby to want to eat solids and wean off nursing, but it's also hard trying to make sure she's eating healthy. At first I told myself no sweets until she's at least a year old. I wanted to feed her only healthy foods.
Lately, I've thrown my whole way of thinking out the window. My baby wants to eat whatever we are eating. Because I want her to eat healthy, I have found myself trying to eat healthier myself. However, I'm not going to lie, I love my ice cream and occasional fast food.
Last week I stopped at Taco Johns to grab a quick bite to eat. There I was at Taco John's feeding my baby a potato ole and a couple bites of my burrito. I felt like such a bad mom. How could I be feeding my baby this junk? How could I be eating this junk? But it was so good. It was a treat. However, at the same time I was feeling like I was being judged by others for feeding her a couple potato oles. Then last night I came to the realization of something. Instead of trying to keep my baby from sweets and fast food, I need to teach about moderation.
I don't want her to one day go extremely overboard when presented with sweets or junk food. Temptation is always going to be there. I know. I experience it myself. We can't protect her from the food that she will be presented with 24/7. So, I've decided that I'm not going to deprive my child from the occasional bite of ice cream or cookie or french fry however, I also think it's very important to teach her how to limit her intake.
I know some people will judge me for not offering only the healthiest of the healthiest of foods, but I'm learning to be ok with that. I feel like way too many people out there judge and throw a fit for how people feed their children. Yes, I do believe that there is a line that can be crossed. When you're feeding only processed and other forms of junk food, I don't think that's acceptable. But when your giving your child a well balanced diet, I think people need to back off. So what if my baby doesn't eat the healthiest of healthy foods. So what if I choose to use frozen veggies over fresh, don't you care that I'm at least feeding her veggies? I just need to keep telling myself that my baby is happy & healthy and is getting a taste for a wide variety of food. She's still getting feed healthy foods every day and she's hardly had any sweets and only at fast food once.
Through all of this God has been convicting me of my eating habits. I've been finding myself wanting to eat healthier too. I want to be a good example. I've been trying making more conscious decisions on what I prepare for meals. I've been more proactive making sure to increase our fruit & veggie intake. For years now I've tried to be conscience about the foods I eat and exercising regularly but I feel like I'm now starting to bump it up a notch. Now only if I could get back into a regular exercise regimen.
Some of the foods my baby has tried (and wanted to try) within the past month.
1) Spaghetti
2) Chili
3) Tacos
4) Stir Fry
5) Chicken Noodle Soup (homemade of course)
6) Eggs
7) French Toast (her favorite)
8) Hot dish
9) Salsa quesidillas
She loves her tomato based foods and she loves to try whatever it is we're eating. She's somehow figured out if I'm trying to feed her something different.
Lately, I've thrown my whole way of thinking out the window. My baby wants to eat whatever we are eating. Because I want her to eat healthy, I have found myself trying to eat healthier myself. However, I'm not going to lie, I love my ice cream and occasional fast food.
Last week I stopped at Taco Johns to grab a quick bite to eat. There I was at Taco John's feeding my baby a potato ole and a couple bites of my burrito. I felt like such a bad mom. How could I be feeding my baby this junk? How could I be eating this junk? But it was so good. It was a treat. However, at the same time I was feeling like I was being judged by others for feeding her a couple potato oles. Then last night I came to the realization of something. Instead of trying to keep my baby from sweets and fast food, I need to teach about moderation.
I don't want her to one day go extremely overboard when presented with sweets or junk food. Temptation is always going to be there. I know. I experience it myself. We can't protect her from the food that she will be presented with 24/7. So, I've decided that I'm not going to deprive my child from the occasional bite of ice cream or cookie or french fry however, I also think it's very important to teach her how to limit her intake.
I know some people will judge me for not offering only the healthiest of the healthiest of foods, but I'm learning to be ok with that. I feel like way too many people out there judge and throw a fit for how people feed their children. Yes, I do believe that there is a line that can be crossed. When you're feeding only processed and other forms of junk food, I don't think that's acceptable. But when your giving your child a well balanced diet, I think people need to back off. So what if my baby doesn't eat the healthiest of healthy foods. So what if I choose to use frozen veggies over fresh, don't you care that I'm at least feeding her veggies? I just need to keep telling myself that my baby is happy & healthy and is getting a taste for a wide variety of food. She's still getting feed healthy foods every day and she's hardly had any sweets and only at fast food once.
Through all of this God has been convicting me of my eating habits. I've been finding myself wanting to eat healthier too. I want to be a good example. I've been trying making more conscious decisions on what I prepare for meals. I've been more proactive making sure to increase our fruit & veggie intake. For years now I've tried to be conscience about the foods I eat and exercising regularly but I feel like I'm now starting to bump it up a notch. Now only if I could get back into a regular exercise regimen.
Some of the foods my baby has tried (and wanted to try) within the past month.
1) Spaghetti
2) Chili
3) Tacos
4) Stir Fry
5) Chicken Noodle Soup (homemade of course)
6) Eggs
7) French Toast (her favorite)
8) Hot dish
9) Salsa quesidillas
She loves her tomato based foods and she loves to try whatever it is we're eating. She's somehow figured out if I'm trying to feed her something different.
First Words
I've had the joy of hearing baby's first words. The first word we've determined is "Mama". Honestly, I have no idea when she's actually first said "Mama" because she would babble and say "mamama..." It's starting to become more obvious that she's saying "Mama" which is exciting.
Then this past weekend I had the privilege of hearing "bye bye" for the first time. I was nursing Anna on Saturday and she just looked up at me, waves and said "bye bye." At first I didn't believe it but she kept doing it over and over again. It was so exciting!
I'm also learning her language as well. I figured out that when she holds her hand up in the air and says "ha da" she's trying to say "high five." It was about a month ago when she was done eating and she held her hand up in the air and said "ha da". That's when I realized "oh high five!" It only took a week to figure that one out. And the only reason I figured it out was because we always do high five when she finished her food or did a good job during the diaper change. And she even used the same pitch we use too. That was super exciting to figure it out.
This has been such an exciting time. I love it!
Then this past weekend I had the privilege of hearing "bye bye" for the first time. I was nursing Anna on Saturday and she just looked up at me, waves and said "bye bye." At first I didn't believe it but she kept doing it over and over again. It was so exciting!
I'm also learning her language as well. I figured out that when she holds her hand up in the air and says "ha da" she's trying to say "high five." It was about a month ago when she was done eating and she held her hand up in the air and said "ha da". That's when I realized "oh high five!" It only took a week to figure that one out. And the only reason I figured it out was because we always do high five when she finished her food or did a good job during the diaper change. And she even used the same pitch we use too. That was super exciting to figure it out.
This has been such an exciting time. I love it!
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