A lighter side of me

I have to admit that I've always been conscious of my weight and when I was pregnant I wasn't prepared for how I would feel about my changing body.  That being said in the early months of pregnancy before I had established a "bump" I found the changes to my body increasingly hard to deal with and often felt "fat".  It didn't matter how many people said to me "you are not fat, you're pregnant", I couldn't shift the negative feelings about my body.  I have always been happy with the upper part of my body but I was very conscious of having a larger bum and hips (unfortunately something that runs in my family) and I often felt out of proportion.  It wasn't until I had developed a proper bump at around 7 or 8 months that I started to enjoy my body, and stopped wondering whether other people thought I was fat or pregnant.  Also at this time I could feel Olivia kick and move on a regular basis, and realising that I was soon to go on maternity leave and meet my baby girl I began to feel comfortable in my body and enjoy being pregnant.

During my pregnancy I didn't want to feel stressed about putting on weight so I made sure that the bathroom scales were hidden away.  I wanted to eat what I wanted and focus on the health of the baby and not about my weight.

Fast forward to 7 weeks post partum and I now have new body issues to contend with, the prominent one being do I still look pregnant to others and how can I lose the weight I've gained.  I know I shouldn't care about what other people think but unfortunately I do and I can't help it.  Like I've said I've always been conscious about my weight and perhaps I will delve into this in the future in a different post. 

Before I got married in 2009 I wanted to lose about 1 stone which I did by joining Weight Watchers.  I actually lost about 1 1/2 stone and managed to reach my goal weight and became a Gold member.  I knew that Weight Watchers worked for me and helped me to lose weight sensibly and healthily so this Monday I went to re-join.  I was very nervous about being weighed as I hadn't even gone near any scales in over 9 months but as soon as I saw my weight on the monitor I knew that I'd made the right decision as I had put on just over 2 stone.  With a holiday booked in July (it will be Olivia's first and I can't wait) I want to ensure that I can wear a bikini with confidence and get back into all my summer clothes as I really don't want to have to buy a new wardrobe even though I'd like to.  The best thing about my re-joining was discovering that as I am a Gold member and as I have just had a baby, I don't have to pay for 6 months which is another incentive to lose the baby weight as I can get the help and support I need for free.

Usually I wouldn't stay for the meetings but Weight Watchers has changed with the introduction of the new Pro Points system and as this was new to me I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was doing.  Plus now that I'm on maternity leave it was nice to see and meet new people.  I also bought the Deluxe Starter kit for £19.95 which includes a calculator which you can use to work out the Pro Points of any foods (very convenient) as well as an Eat Out guide, Shop book, Journal, highlighter pen, money off vouchers and a shopping list pad.  I also bought a pedometer (although I've yet to try this out but I thought it would be useful when I go on my walks with Olivia) and some food menu cards which contain 20 recipes.  Some might say I'd gone a tad overboard but when I'm determined to do something, having things to help are always handy.

So, I have 6 months in which I am going to try and get as close to my goal weight as possible.  I'm not quite brave enough to post my actual weight but I will post as to whether or not I have lost any weight at my weekly weigh-ins and how much.  Wish me luck as I know I'll need it!