How did u do it after having a baby

[Gigi]

the only thing i can think of, is that i breastfed, that really helped.

i had PND and post labour complications, walking around the block with a pram never happened for me, i was too unwell to do that. leaving the house was really hard. physically and emotionally.

i realised that i was not going to look slim quickly, like the celebs on the magazine covers do, as that is not realistic. i kept wearing my maternity clothing, until it was falling off me, then i started wearing my pre pregnancy clothing again.

but i didn't put pressure on myself to 'Hurry up and fit into skinny jeans' or anything.

with sleep deprivation, recovering from complicated c-section that went pear shaped and caring for a nb who didn't believe in sleeping for more than two hours 24 hours a day, weight loss was not huge on my agenda. i knew it would happen sometime, and it did. (took about eight months for me).

i know other people who were walking their baby round the neighbourhood in the pram, days after giving birth.

we all experience labour differently, our recovery times are different. some of us get PND, some don't.

just don't let those unrealistic celeb photos get you down. we'd all look like that, if we paid gazillions to all those personal trainers, etc.

the other thing is, my child's father did not put any pressure on me, to look a certain way. i think if i had to listen to him criticise my appearance, after just having had a bub, that would have made things awful. we are our own worst critic, but it's the pits when relatives/loved ones make jibes about "baby fat" etc.

oh yeah, something i thought of to do AFTER i should have been doing it for myself (i was too tired at the time to think straight really) was this
i wish i had
packed a divided lunchbox, full of snack type / eat with one hand type things each morning.
like packing yourself a lunch for the day
so when you have a spare moment to yourself, not long enough to prepare anything, but long enough to eat a few mouthfuls, you can just reach your lunchbox in the fridge and have a pick at something healthy.

i ate SO healthily from 4 - 9 months of pregnancy (when MS had stopped) but when baby arrived, my healthy eating stopped. i didn't go food shopping (too ill to drive), i coudln't stand up long enough to prepare a sandwich, so therefore ate rubbish food, anything i could grab quick.

in hindsight, i should have grabbed a carrot, stick of celery, cucumber, cutting board, knife
sat at table and cut it all into sticks
container of dip for the veggie sticks
made a sandwich, even if only vegemite
a bowl full of fruit would have been fantastic
so i would have had a lunchbox of healthy snacks in the fridge for me to graze on thru out the day
esp when on the couch breastfeeding

when visitors said "do you need anything", i should have asked them to go buy me a week supply of fruit (i would have given them the money for it)
apples, bananas, grapes, stuff that doesn't need cutting up and can be eaten one handed (so you can eat it whilst feeding baby). then i would have filled up on good stuff, instead of the crap i ended up eating, due to desperation.

[Laranna]

I find myself eating rubbish too alot of the times. It's just so easy to grab a biscuit so now I just avoid buying them. I try to have all the fruit easily accessible and visible so I reach for that instead. Grapes, apples, nectarines...anything you can eat with one hand really while you're feeding. Just as quick as grabbing a biccie.

As for meals, we've been eating really quick and easy ones. I've had the odd occasional "good" evening where I've managed to cook up a yummy fancy meal, but 99% of the time it's either spag bol, spag marinara (use the mix from the fish monger), tuna bake, curries. When I get a few minutes through the day, I chop the veggies and get the ingredients ready so at dinner time all I have to do is cook it.

Lunches are very simple as well. I just eat sandwiches and fruit with DS. As DD is getting older and her feeding patterns are falling into place, I prepare things when she's sleeping.

DS still has one day sleep so as soon as he is sleeping, I lay down on the bed with DD while she feeds and I snooze. Getting this extra bit of sleep during the day really, really helps with my energy levels.

I try to go for a big walk (30 minutes) once a week. I use to walk almost every day but just once a week is what I aim for and I'm happy with that for now. Will start to increase it as we all settle into routines.

Just getting out in the backyard for some fresh air helps as well. I feed DD there while DS plays in his cubby house or sandpit. Then I'll potter around and pull some weeds out, etc.

Remember your body is still recovering from the birth, so it's ok to take it easy for awhile. I feel so unfit but one step at a time and I know soon enough I'll be back into the swing of things. You will too. Just aim for one or two walks a week if that's what you feel like doing and take it from there.

Oh and I have found this second time around, drinking water has made a huge difference to my energy levels. Make sure you drink LOTS especially if you're breastfeeding. I find I feel really sluggish if I haven't had much water to drink so I have 5 of those 600ml water bottles in the fridge and make sure I drink all of them by the end of the day. It really does help.