So after my wonderful one month of what felt like a nice victory, I have worked so hard and lost nothing. What could possibly be happening? My baby started to eat solid food. Yes, that could be part of it, but there must be more. I am learning so much more about postpartum this time around. This is the longest I have gone without getting pregnant in three years.
My newest lesson is, when one loses some weight, then it is time to revise the diet again. Lindsey Brin's diet is in three phases for a reason, you BMR changes. I just did not focus on the meals because I do not eat things like shrimp and pork. When all of last month's work was complete, I did still lose an inch around my waist and hips, but the scale and I are no longer friends.
What am I going to change? I have had to be really honest with myself. Dominic's birthday cake was the beginning of many cheat days. One cheat day a week is not as big of a deal, but every other day does not work so well. I started to miss chocolate and sugar. I do not even eat that much sugar, but that seemed to be all I wanted. Oh and salt. I basically hate salt, but that craving kicked in too.
Routines of similar snacks and meals put me in a food rut. Now I am adding more to my life. What foods do I almost never cook, but wish I could come up with something fun to do make? My latest discovery. Sweet potato. I love it now. This has helped my sweet cravings. A couple of days ago our dinner was baked sweet potatoes, with ground turkey, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, chives, garlic, and feta. I am already thinking about making it again. The kids even liked it because it was fun to scoop the sweet potato out of the skin.
Then there are calories, a word I hate to talk about. If anyone has ever tracked calories then one knows that something like a glass of milk adds quite a few calories. I kept a journal during month one of everything I ate and looked up all the calories, but by month two I just figured my tummy had some idea of what it would be like to be full. It was not so good at this. This month I am holding myself accountable using caloriecount.about.com. This website allows you to sign up, count calories of foods, add your recipes to find out calories, add your workout routine, and then there is a complete analysis of everything. One can even see what key nutrients are missing from a days worth of food. It is great. I have added around 200 calories from what is expected of me to account for breastfeeding. These calories need to include protein.
All I can say is my calorie bank adds up faster than I would like. I must of been eating a little too much last month. There is actual hunger and then desire to eat because I am bored, tired, sad, and often lonely.
Hey Marion, I recommend taking a high quality multi-vitamin and looking into what your cravings might indicate in terms of nutrients you might need. I found with proper nutritional supplementation, cravings and wacky eating can resolve itself. =) I think you still had a victory month! being healthy and moving your body is sometimes more important than dropping pounds, especially in the beginning!
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