Body After Baby

There is no mystery in the fact that your body changes enormously once you are pregnant. The mystery, however, is how you get your pre-baby body back. My body has not been the same since early 2005 when I first became pregnant with my son. At the time, my assumption was that I would have the baby and bounce right back into my pre-pregnancy clothes. When that didn't happen, I told myself that it takes time. Yet before I could blink, there I was pregnant with #2. Now two years later, I still struggle to see that number on the scale that I saw circa 2004. But it is not just the number… Though the clothes fit now, they never quite fit the same way they used to.

As if the pregnancy, childbirth and care-taking of these little creatures for 18 years isn't hard work enough, we women have to worry about losing the weight that our children insisted we put on during their time in the womb. That's right, I never even liked ice cream until I had a Ben & Jerry's connoisseur living inside of me. Like Pavlov's dogs, the ice cream truck's bells used to summon me outside, enticing me to waddle over to where the ringing was coming from— go figure!

Before kids, I used to work out four to six days a week. I occasionally exercised after my son was born. However, I have not entered a gym since having my daughter. For starters, 90 percent of the time once my children go to sleep, all I want to do is relax, preferably with a nice bottle of wine. Adding to the issue is the fact that a gym membership is so expensive, and living as a stay-at-home mom with my husband being the only one who brings home the bacon really makes me think about how we spend money.

Yet recently, I have found an inexpensive solution: I have started to regain my love of running. The only problem is that the only time I can pound the pavement is 5:30am. Every day, weather permitting, I have taken one hour out of the day (a most ungodly hour, but what can you do?) just for me. Though it has been tough, it has proved exhilarating in many ways. It is the only time of the day that I am completely by myself. I have forgotten how amazing that can be—just you and your thoughts. It also starts my day in a positive and energy-filled way.

Does anyone have any tried-and-true post-children weight-loss methods that worked for you? Raising kids is difficult. What parents have the time and energy to focus on themselves? Apparently, that is just another thing we as mothers have to put on our list.