Comments on: Battling the Baby Bulge

By: Getting off the Dieting Roller Coaster – Wine Country Mom - Santa Rosa Mom - Santa Rosa, CA - Archive

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:26:30 +0000

[...] more on weight loss, be sure to check out my previous blog titled Battling the Baby Bulge) Share and [...]

By: WineCountry.Mom

WineCountry.Mom — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:54:27 +0000

I made a personal goal for myself to get to a certain weight by the time my next birthday rolled around. My birthday is 3 weeks away, and I am 5 pounds from attaining that goal. I tried on clothes yesterday and realized I had lost two sizes when I thought I had only lost one. Needless to say, I’m stoked! My approach? Portion control. My meals are light, especially in the evening, but I’m not starving myself. I know that if I get too hungry, I’m liable to grab foods that aren’t the best choice. I’m not killing myself by keeping away from foods I love, but for things like dessert I limit myself to one bite just to enjoy the taste but not to gorge on it. And I keep foods that I know will trigger a binge out of my house. Chocolate could never stay in my house! The biggest challenge recently was when the kids made me store their Halloween candy in my room. I stayed out of it, but I reminded myself constantly what was more important – that little fun size candy bar or continuing the hard efforts I was already putting in. With the holidays just around the corner, I know the challenges still exist. But I also know that with discipline, anyone can still maintain or lose weight.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:28:50 +0000

I had a baby in October 2008. By May of 2009, I was within 10 pounds of my pre-prgnancy weight. I was sure I’d be back to normal size within a couple of months, AND THEN… pregnant again! I’m six months along into my 2nd pregnancy in two years. At 6 months along I’m the weight I was when I was 9 months along last time. I haven’t yet gotten rid of my size 4 jeans, but I fear the time for me to wear those again will never come. Someone throw me a lifeline, please. Chocolate is evil.

By: Str4y

Str4y — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:17:59 +0000

From everything I know, deprivation diets do nothing but lead to an eventual breakdown and binge, which puts you in a worse place than where you started, because your body grabs onto the bounty you finally allow it to have with a death grip and stores it away for a rainy day.
Not only that, but almost all those things that get cut out on trend diets are things your body actually needs–carbs are your body’s first source of energy and are used for brain function, among other things…fats are super vital for a bunch of things, from lubricating joints to building hormones and neurotransmitters…even saturated fats are necessary to some extent–if you don’t have them in your diet, your body forgets how to process them. And cutting calories works, but if you do it too harshly, your body will believe that you are in a famine situation and will hold onto every ounce of fat you ingest that much harder, to keep you from starving. Sugar, sadly, I can not make a case for. There is enough naturally occurring sugar in so many places that we never have to worry about running low…HOWEVER, eating sugar releases serotonin, which makes you happier, and reduces stress, which is good for both your mind and your body…Bob’s your uncle!
In my experience, the very best thing you can do is to eat a balanced diet that is high in stuff like veggies, whole grains and light proteins and low in large amounts of fats and sugars (but not entirely without them) and get regular exercise — one of the big problems with keeping weight down in our culture/time period is that our lives are much more sedentary by necessity. The stuff we have to do (jobs, school, etc.) keep us very busy and are both physically and mentally exhausting…but don’t include much physical activity–and even worse, take up so much time and energy that finding extra time and energy to get exercise is very difficult–and it doesn’t help that the foods we should be eating are expensive and exclusive, while the the stuff that is the very worst for us is super cheap and readily available.
Basically, after yet another super long ramble…sorry about that…your best bets are making good balanced food choices, exercising AND not depriving yourself. If you really need some chocolate ice cream, you really need some chocolate ice cream. And if you let yourself have a small bowl when the craving sets in, you are less likely to polish off an entire quart to yourself when you have had no fat or sugar for 3 weeks.

By: Erica

Erica — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:49:56 +0000

I think you hit the nail on the head with those two little words, “conscious effort.” So often it’s the unconscious eating that does us in…a bite of the kid’s cookie, a taste of the potroast we’re cooking, one cracker with cheese for the toddler, two crackers with cheese for the mom. As a mom at home, it’s hard because I’m next to my cupboard all day long and if my energy is lagging during that 3-5pm lull, I really really want to have a piece of chocolate. Or cake. Either one, really. What has worked for me? Every day, I go to the gym before my husband wakes up. I cut out junky processed food over a year ago and now bake with organic unbleached flour (often whole wheat), and use olive oil instead of butter (most of the time). We eat a ton of vegetables and fruit and natural, free-range animal products. If I hit the afternoon drag, I make iced tea with lemon instead of sugary sweets. Little, conscious efforts to change my bad habits over a span of 12 months has led to some weight loss, sure, but more importantly, more energy, more enthusiasm and better health. Because dieting and deprivation are no way to live. Moderation, natural food, and exercise, so we can still enjoy the finer things in life? Sounds good to me!

By: Shawn

Shawn — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 03:14:51 +0000

I have no pearls of wisdom. Except I try to be conscious of what we eat when we’re together. I know, how can I say anything when i’m on the seafood diet — I see food and I eat it. I keep trying to keep pace and gain what you lose- but to no avail— for now I think I’ll have dessert.

By: Matt the Bat

Matt the Bat — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:38:15 +0000

You got the right idea in your last paragraph, Crissi. I think the most important ingredients is simply consistency and discipline. Myself, I don’t battle the baby bulge, I battle the Flupova Syndrome; my belly flup’s ova my belt, see Not so much if I’m being disciplined, but that’s the aspect I fight EVERY SINGLE DAY.