When I was growing up, I was always a little bit heavy. Not enormously, but enough to feel self-conscious, and certainly enough to get teased.
When I went off to college, and suddenly found my diet in my own control, I dropped a lot of weight--more than I should have initially, but then it stabilized pretty soon and I stayed within 5 lb of the same weight for about ten years.
Then came the tail end of my grad school career, and all the stresses that came with it, and I gained about 15 lb. I moved to New York, joined a gym, did Weight Watchers, and lost it all by my wedding; then, um, I was married, and gained it all back.
By the time I got pregnant with Barak, about five months after I got married, I was at a weight that horrified me at the time but at the moment would look pretty great. Let's call that weight X. X, for the record, is the maximum "healthy weight" for someone of my height, according to the charts.
By the end of my fourth month, I was at X + 13.
When Barak was born, I was at X + (gulp) 41.
By the time Barak was 1, I was back down to X + 5. That was pretty good, but a few months later, before I got pregnant with Iyyar, I was back up to X + 10.
Then I was pregnant with Iyyar, and got up to X + 46.
I never lost all of it--the lowest I got to after Iyyar was X + 15.
Then I got pregnant with Avtalyon, and managed not to gain quite as much weight--probably because I was carrying so much extra to begin with. Final weight with Avtalyon was also X + 46.
By the end of my maternity leave, I was at X + 25. When we left for Israel, I think I was at X + 22.
When we got back, I was at X + 14. As of last week, I'm at X + 11.
Let's be clear--X + 11 is not a great, healthy weight for me. But it's the thinnest I've been since before Iyyar was born. I'm fitting into clothes--I'm wearing a skirt now, in fact--that I haven't worn since before Iyyar was born. I categorically do not look pregnant. My face isn't as round. It feels pretty good.
I'm really, really hoping I can keep it up all the way back down to X. I have no aspirations right now to get down past that, and in fact gave away my whole size 6 wardrobe last year. But I'll admit it. I've got my eye on those 8s.
4 comments:
Good for you! That sounds healthy. How are you doing it? Is the simple constant running of having 3 kids your weight loss strategy?
I need to do the same sort of thing. I was always about 5 - 10 lbs short of what the Army considered my weight X (that is, the maximum acceptable weight for my height). The last 3 years I went up to weight X, and the last year kept going till I was at X+20 when I got off active duty! (and you think you're going to get in shape w/ the Army.) That's the heaviest I'd been when pregnancy wasn't involved: I was at about X+30 right after Robbie was born, but managed to melt most of it off during his first 2 years.
After some hard work at the gym once we had a home here, I got down to X+10. Then we got a new trainer that pissed me off, and then I got unmotivated, and, well, I think I'm over X+20 now but I don't dare see by how much. My diet is still pretty good but it's simply down to not enough exercise to burn up the excess stored fuel.
I'm going through my storage and giving away pretty much all the clothes from before getting called to active duty in 2004. That was another me, another life, even if I could fit in them. But I have some clothes I bought during that time with the Army that I really, really want to get back into. I didn't actually have the chance to wear them, hardly, on post, and now they'd be just right. But they're too tight.
6, 8, those are tiny clothing sizes! ;-)
I can say that, because I was a 16 or an 18 when I got married. (I had also lost weight in college, but only about 15 lbs, and once I had my own kitchen and was actually eating again, I regained it.) You're making me feel fat.
But after 8 kids and a lot of up (only during pregnancies, but still!) and not nearly enough down in-between, I'm finally approaching my pre-first pregnancy weight. (I think I'm about 9 lbs away.)
I have no idea what the highest "healthy weight" for my height is, but it currently feels unachievable, so I think it's great that you're almost back there!
Oh, to be an 8 again. I don't think I have been an 8 since...middle school?
I am about ideal weight + 20. You'd think this post would motivate me to lose weight. All it's motivating me to do is move to Israel.
For the record, I am here visiting and she really does not look pregnant and is now down to X+7!
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