Pre-pregnant weight does not equal pre-pregnant body

My pregnancy weight gain goal was no more than 35 lbs. The Sunday before Shaylin was born I made it to 34 lbs. So close enough.


The first 20 lbs. just fell off. It was the coolest thing getting on the scale everyday & seeing the number get lower & lower.


But after about 2 weeks it stopped. 14 lbs. to go.


I started running at 6 weeks post-partum & thought that would get the rest off. But eating too much bad food didn't change things. I'd lose a couple pounds & put them back on.


Finally in May I cut out sodas completely. That finally did the trick. The weight started falling off. It also helped that by the next month I was running 20 miles a week. You run that much & you'll drop weight fast.


Just last month I got on the scale & I had made it! Pre-pregnant weight! I can wear all my jeans again. My face is thinner.

But my middle hasn't changed much. Granted, I never had a perfectly flat tummy with an awesome six-pack. But it would be nice to not look in the mirror some days & feel like I look about 12 weeks pregnant.

I'm happy that I at least lost the weight in 6 months. But it's frustrating when you look at magazines of celebrity moms in little bikinis bragging about how they lost the weight in 3 months or sometimes less. Seeing these pictures never bothered me that much till now. It puts unreal expectations on women.

At this point I'm not trying to lose anymore weight, although I probably will. I'm happy with the number I'm at. But I'm hoping all this running will help get my stomach back to something more pre-pregnant.