Not Quite The Biggest Loser

I’ve said before that I put on huge amounts of weight each pregnancy, and it doesn’t really bother me because I expect to lose it – eventually (thought losing it gradually might be healthier). Last time (looking at photos) I think I took about 5 months of not doing too much extra to lose around 23 kg (tried to hang on to the last 5lbs because I thought I was too skinny going into the first pregnancy but eventually lost it during a heavy bout of work. Story of my former life.) It took up to 18 mths to fit back into some of my boots though, and even then I ended up giving away an almost brand new pair.

Mildly interesting also was the formal-ish email apology I received from an Aussie mum I occasionally chat with over dog walks – still pregnant then, I’d said I put on 25kg when pregnant with Rockstar and was probably going that way with Baby Rockstar, and she hadn’t been able to hold back on “That’s really a lot!” It then bothered her over a weekend and enough so she went to look up my email and sent an apology for it! Which was very nice and thoughtful of her, though my first reaction was Wow, you really thought it was that bad a remark? OK Note to self: Never say anything like that yourself because to some it is that bad. But really…. 25kg is a lot, what.

Anyway this round I decided to pay more attention especially since I couldn’t really remember when other mums asked me about weight/ weight loss during the Rockstar pregnancy, so I’ll put a little note in green with my weight on it at the top of my posts if I happened to weigh myself recently:

Pre baby weight: 53kg 
Pregnancy weight: 73.1kg
When I first got back from hospital a week ago: 67kg
Just weighed: 64kg

As with post Rockstar, no soft drinks, cake or other sweet deserts and fast food (never been super strict, just except for french fries cutting out the rest is not difficult cos I never really ate much of those when not pregnant anyway) post Baby Rockstar. Basically, eat how I used to when I wasn’t pregnant (when I was pregnant I could eat real scary). There’s always Perrier. Except my parents had to then remind me carbonated isn’t good for your teeth especially as you get older. Humph. Carry on like that and it just feels like you live longer. Cos all the fun is gone.

Anyway. I don’t like juice. Or fruit <sheepish> except maybe these large apples our nanny likes to boil with a bit of ginger til soft. That’s “desert” for me. 2-4 eggs most days for breakfast, often with a little cheese (my breakfast is usually pretty heavy) lotsa green veg and carrots, some rice or noodles, tofu, fish (Gynea advised me not to eat any fish with no/ small scales.) Some meat when the nanny nags me, mostly a little chicken, but she also made me have pork the other day. I rarely eat pork on my own. Actually I rarely eat meat on my own, just lotsa seafood and eggs (had myself checked about a decade ago re what kinda food my body could handle particularly well – turns out I can have as many eggs as I want but I don’t handle meat very well). Oh, and I currently LOVE 5-grain (reduced sugar) Cheerios – snack on them all the time between meals… (btw I don’t like artificial sweeteners either)

You can tell as my c section wound heals I rejoice in having more “control” over my body again. So many little discomforts I now realize were part of the pregnancy. Yippee. Happy like bird. (Can start singing!) Would trade any or most hard work associated with a new baby for not having all the little pregnancy discomforts. <very small voice> Please let me not have to eat these words someday.

So happy I actually get motivated by these pictures:

There is hope! (Victoria's Secret) Angel's choir singing!

That pic is from Msnbc.com, an article titled “Celebrity mamas fuel post-baby body blues. Stars who are bikini-ready right after birth inspire fury in many new mums.”

Oh. It’s like when you sit in the audience of some talk show they’re filming live and when it’s time to laugh/ gasp/ whatever they hold up a sign telling you to laugh/ gasp/ whatever. “Thanks to celeb moms who show up on the red carpet svelte and perfect weeks after giving birth, regular women are faced with a ridiculous standard to meet,” the same article quotes a commenter on Jezebel.com.

This one above is from an article on examiner.com titled “Alessandra Ambrosio works out four days a week for annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show.” Uh, I don’t want to work out four days a week for annual Victoria’s Secret fashion show.

“Last year, because I had a baby and I had to lose pounds, I did a lot of cardio,” (Alessandra) said to the online mag. Yech. I hate cardio. To me cardio is two 3km walks with the dog on the Peak every Saturday. No idea how much ball-chasing during the week but not much when the weather isn’t comfy.

(Ok, so if one of these models goes “Oh, I sat on the sofa and played with my beautiful baby – she never cries – while inhaling eclairs and foie gras all day and somehow the pounds just melted off. I’m just lucky, I guess,” then feel free to go You Bitch.)

So here’s the thing. It is a ridiculous standard. So Don’t. Meet. The Standard. Celebs have lots of help, but even more than that – it’s their job to look that way in the show. (Come to think of it, it’s their job to prance about in light-up bra and panties and be judged by their lack of jiggle rather than their sunny and very intelligent personality – but are they bitching? Ok, maybe when no one’s looking.) And it took a lot of work. Thank God I don’t have to do cardio to keep my job. If I still had a job.

I had a job I was once good at, and that wasn’t it. I was not required to look like that. (In fact looking like that would probably give me credibility problems. Don’t even get me started about angel wings and light up underwear. I mean, Victoria’s Secret is a show. I’d rather be on the sofa with my kids popping Cheerios and looking f-airly attractive (by my own standard) watching the show. Rather than say, drop-dead gorgeous working out like crazy to be drop dead gorgeous, and going to work in light-up underwear and feathers.)

Besides, I didn’t look like that before I got pregnant, I don’t suppose I’m going to look like that after <snort>. What I liked about those pics is knowing the models really do balloon when they’re pregnant too. (There are other pics of further along Alessandra la.) You’re gaining the weight for a very good reason. (After my sugar test came out fine my gynea actually preferred me to keep putting on that weight rather than not). And IF – if, if, if – it had been my job to lose it fast and I had that much help AND I wasn’t such a slug about cardio then there…… Is….. Hope yet!

See? Sometimes the world is fair. (Though… you should never hold your breath about that, you know that, right?). But I couldn’t be bothered to do that much work so will settle for something less. So. Fair. Shut Up. Told you I was in a crazy ass happy mood today. Today would’ve been my scheduled c-section day. Today I’d just be going in to get my abdomen cut open and the whole bit, but instead Baby Rockstar’s doing great, I escaped two extra weeks of uncomfy pregnancy symptoms and am well on the road to recovery. Praise the Lord, for He is good. Ain’t no one gonna rain on my parade today. Or, you could, and I’d just dance about in it.

La la la kersplash.

Baby Rockstar is taking about 80% breastmilk (all expressed – long story for future blog post – what is with all the people who get on your back to breastfeed and direct?!) except for one heavy-as-she-can-take-in midnight feed which I requested while we were in hospital should always be with formula, and which we now follow at home… Because I wanted Baby Rockstar to sleep as long as possible in the wee hours when neither Kings nor I would normally be awake, after the nanny leaves (Kings being a night owl and me a disgusting morning person by nature, we hope to be able to handle the baby feeding f-airly comfortably if we can just get her to sleep 5 or 6 hours in a stretch…)

At 13 days old Baby Rockstar is up to 90-100ml formula around midnight, before a next 4-5am ravenous feed which I’m already super grateful for… During the day on expressed breastmilk which everyone tells me goes thru the baby’s digestive system much faster she feeds in much shorter spurts of 1.5-3 hours… Please Lord, let her not turn into Original Rockstar (superhard to handle baby) when she gets older… They’re breathing the same air in the apartment……. 😀