I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm sick of hearing pregnancy being used as an excuse for obesity. For instance, has anybody heard of the Dugger family? They're the family with the TV show on cable, the ones with the 18 or so children. Guess what? She's not obese! OK, so she's got a couple of extra pounds, but with as many children as she's pushed out, she gets a pass for a few pounds.

There are two women who live across the street from me, a couple of houses apart, who further put the lie to the pregnancy excuse. One has a 6-month (approximately) old baby, and I just saw her this morning - she looks fine, real fine. The other has 3 children, the youngest being about two (saw her over the weekend). She's smokin' hot.

Sorry, but it's just another excuse. A few pounds? OK. Some tummy stretching? Kind of comes with the territory. But obesity? No way. That's just gluttony and laziness.

it's the cheapest and easiest way out of excuses

Well, I know for me after 2 kids in 2 years and half of a thyroid sans meds, I am at the thinnest I have ever known for myself. I've never had my waist this small, seen my clavicles, or have such nice biceps..and I just turned 30.

Well, I guess everyone is different, I'm trying to keep up on myself and get dirty looks from the dumpy wives (and some teens/young adults) for it!!

Oh, well, to each their own, I guess.

I gained 70lbs when pregnant. Largely thanks to my husband's insistence that I eat more for the baby (including plenty of so called "healthy" empty calorie items like fruit juice.)

However, in the same time it took to put on that obscene amount of weight it all came off (and some more) and with only moderate diet and exercise. It wasn't hard, I was just consistent with my approach.

Now I have a flat, firm tummy again and I am nearly the weight I was when my husband and I met.

All the other moms I know who are still carrying their baby weight want to know what I did. This isn't rocket science I tell them, its just a matter of regulating your calories in vs. your calories out.

Their excuse is the belief that "any weight you don't lose after 6 months postpartum will stay with you." Thats just not true, there is no magical fat that is immune to diet and exercise. If the fat is still there 6 months later, it isn't the fat it is you.

So folks should stop bemoaning the 35 baby pounds they added during the pregnancy. I put on 70 and lost it even though I couldn't even exercise for 2 months thanks to a cesarean. If I can do it anyone can (excluding those with valid medical reasons for their difficulties)

I think maintaining a healthy weight during pregnancy is the best thing a woman can do for herself and her baby. I know I made the mistake of gaining so much weight during my first pregnancy; however, I learned my lesson and gained well under the max for my 2nd (20), 3rd (30), and 4th (21) pregnancies.

When I talk with women who are at the point of considering motherhood (generally friends), and especially if they have the notion that "eating for two" is a free-for-all, I really encourage them to seriously consider changing their view. I use myself, and my 1st pregnancy, as a perfect example of what not to do. I share with them how, when a woman is taking care of a newborn & the long days and nights can be taxing, her healthy body/body image, & the ability to "bounce back" physically, will provide her with a sense of normalcy during a time that is rather uncertain (meal times, shower, cleaning, visitors, etc.).

This whole notion that "you are eating for two" has to go.

The challenges and business of motherhood make it hard to lose weight. IMO, that has more to do with it that pregnancy itself.

QUOTE:

The challenges and business of motherhood make it hard to lose weight. IMO, that has more to do with it that pregnancy itself.

I have never given birth myself, but I know several women who have managed to go back to the pre-pregnancy weight fairly effortlessly. Pregnancy changes the shape and firmness of the body, but doesn't automatically result in obesity.

Being the mother of toddlers is hard, but so is running a business, planning military maneuvers, solving the financial crisis... Being stressed out, overworked and overwhelmed does not translate into overeating, unless you have an unhealthy and abnormal attitude to food. If you do, this attitude needs to change or you will overeat every time you run into rough spots in your life.

C.Ricci wrote:

QUOTE:
Well, I know for me after 2 kids in 2 years and half of a thyroid sans meds, I am at the thinnest I have ever known for myself. I've never had my waist this small, seen my clavicles, or have such nice biceps..and I just turned 30.

Well, I guess everyone is different, I'm trying to keep up on myself and get dirty looks from the dumpy wives (and some teens/young adults) for it!!

Oh, well, to each their own, I guess.B)

Three cheers to you!! God I love seeing women like you walking around with your kids and seeing the "sour looks" the dumpy moms give. They can't stand the reality and you can almost hear them mutter things like "gifted genetics", "lucky", " I bet she has a personal trainer", etc. Keep up the good work and hopefully the hugelings will put down the fork and snap out of it.

Chris wrote:

QUOTE:
This whole notion that "you are eating for two" has to go.

The challenges and business of motherhood make it hard to lose weight. IMO, that has more to do with it that pregnancy itself.

This seems to be most prevalent in our country because you don't see most other mothers blimping up and staying there after having a kid in other countries. Ladies like Mary and Sunshine are often looked at as crazy for not advocating the eating frenzy so common these days.

The best thing a woman can do for her baby and self is eat healthy, exercise in relation to trimester, take prenatals, and follow her doctor's advice.

On the postpartum thing I got my ass chewed out from my wife because I thought it was rare and that it was another drama excuse. Turns out I was half right. Statistics from the CDC say its around 10-15% in the U.S.

Source:http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=PostPartum+depression&spell=1&ie=cp1252

Chris wrote:

QUOTE:
This whole notion that "you are eating for two" has to go.

The challenges and business of motherhood make it hard to lose weight. IMO, that has more to do with it that pregnancy itself.

So true! A pregnant woman only needs roughly 300 extra calories a day. Also, during pregnancy, the female body is naturally more insulin sensitive, so it's definitely a time when women should be really monitoring their sugar/carb - even healthy carb - intake, and not consuming cakes, cookies, candy, or loading up on tons of carbs.