One thing I've been kind of reluctant to write about has been my ever changing body image, specifically my weight ever since having my baby. I'll admit it, my previous posts about my body over on the Bravado blog have been sort of .. well... vague. Ughh, I hate that word. I mean, if you're gonna be vague just don't say anything. Either be direct or shut it up that's my motto.
I guess it's been kind of hard to put my thoughts together because let's face it, when it comes to my body image I am definitely insecure! When I stand at the checkout in Duane Reade and see magazines with new moms like Miranda Kerr (who is all kinds of gorgeous) I feel like -- "why don't I look like that?"
I'm pretty tall - 5'8 to be exact and on my wedding day 3 years ago I was 135 pounds. For me, that put me in a size 2 jeans, sometimes a 4 depending. This is my "skinny" weight. Granted, I have hips and a derriere so I will never be truly skinny, skinny. But that's fine with me... I am Puerto Rican and that's just how we roll :) Here is a picture of me from my honeymoon. I love how even though it's "from the side" my tummy looks nice and flat... ahhh these were the days:
Yea I don't know, I was just posing (not really playing the video game) Lol!
A few months after my wedding, I put on about 10 pounds and remained pretty consistently at 145 lbs until I got pregnant. This put me at a size 6 in jeans which is where I feel the most comfortable. This is me at my pre-pregnancy ideal weight of 145:
A bit more around the middle and the legs but overall I feel pretty cute at this size.
Okay so then, I got pregnant... and throughout the pregnancy I was really good at not gaining too much weight. In general I am a healthy eater and always aim to just eat the simplest, most natural ingredients. I don't care about calories and I hardly ever weigh myself. I will take the REAL sugar over the fake aspartame stuff any day. At about 7 months pregnant, I had my maternity photo shoot and I felt fabulous. Here is a pic from that shoot with some tummy action:
7 months pregnant with Aiden :)
Up until this point, everything was smooth sailing and I felt great. Then during months 8 and 9 I don't know what happened to me! I started to just want to eat everything... especially cake! And anyone who knows me, knows I am not even a cake person. I love cookies and ice-cream but for some reason I wanted CAKE. My birthday was only a few weeks before I gave birth and I had two different cakes and ate two slices of each... yep, that's 4 pieces of cake! I also started to retain mad water... like, my cheeks swelled up and my ankles just went on vacation. Here is a not so flattering pic of me just 2 weeks before I had the b
aby: This is my friend Nai (short for Naomi, well actually Noemi in Spanish) who would blow dry my hair for me and come over to do dishes or whatever I needed while I was preggo. She's awesome and I have a feeling I will be doing lots of manual labor when it's her turn =)
But as you can see my dear reader - puffy face, puffy arms... puff the magic dragon.. yea I don't know. Overall, I gained about 40 pounds during my pregnancy. And yes, a lot of it was the baby, placenta etc. and water weight that came off over my first two weeks postpartum... but a lot of it was still there and NONE of my jeans fit and I started to live in my yoga pants! I don't have pictures for this period of time because I did not allow a camera anywhere near me. LOL but here is a picture of me 5 weeks postpartum during a trip to the Botanical Garden. I love that the stroller is blocking my mid-section ... it's safe to say I was about 157 pounds here. Because by this point, I had started weighing myself on the Wii Fit.
I really do like this picture though :)
I know I shouldn't be so hard on myself... after all, I brought a child into this world right?! And it's the most happy thing I've ever experienced in my life ... but I am just admitting it right here and now -- I felt bad about myself and that coupled with postpartum hormones wasn't always easy to deal with. I can hear my husband now saying: "You're so Vain"... whatever Dude, you have no idea what it's like for a baby to take over your body! Anywell, I also need to mention that after having a baby, my skin was super loosey goosey and I needed to wear a girdle to feel good in my clothes. That's right I said it, a girdle!
So now, Aiden is 5 months old and I am happy to report that I've reached my pre-pregnancy weight of 145! Woohoo! I wear my size 6 jeans again and even a few size 4's. That's thanks to eating a balanced diet and breastfeeding.
So here's my problem -- the distribution is totally different now after I've had a child. I definitely carry a lot more weight around my mid-section and yep, I have cellulite on them thighs now. The only way out of this one is if I work out! But I am lazy... like, really, really, lazy. I'm good at eating right... I have no problems skipping out on dessert (though lately coffee ice cream has been my weakness) and I actually enjoy healthier foods. But when it comes to exercise I am just a lazy bum...
I have a gym membership and my gym is across the street from my office AND another one walking distance of my apartment. Trust me people, I have no excuses... I'm just lazy and I can think of about 1,000 things I'd rather be doing than running on the elliptical or lifting weights.
Finally, I come to the suggestions part --- do any of my lovely readers have suggestions on how I can tone up, get some exercise in a way that is fun and not so darn tedious? Have you done anything creative like a dance class or hypnosis? LOL! Help me before I go get plastic surgery!
~A
I'm catching up on your blog and just now reading this! Good for you! I'm with you on the mid-section bit and sorry, but I'm TOTALLY getting plastic surgery when I'm done having kids. LOL! In the interim just do what you can. Walking is good, and if you can just basic sit-ups, push-ups and stretching at home is great for muscle tone which is SO important as we age. Maybe doing them during commercial breaks is a good idea (emphasis on IDEA!). At least that's what Uka tells me to do . . .
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