Photos © 2012 Brian Adams
Another week and another Tummy Tuesdays post! I can hardly believe that it has been 8 weeks already since Elliott's birth; it feels like yesterday (and somehow, it feels like a year ago, too). That said, the bump has come a long way in a relatively short time:
Hi Ashley,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your posts. This is very interesting to me because I have not yet had a baby. I was wondering if you could share roughly what you are eating and how much exercise you are getting in the first few weeks after pregnancy. I am sure this has a lot to do with how women's bumps shrink after birth...
Thanks!
Rachel
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! I think I will probably write a more detailed post on diet and exercise next week or the week after (potentially the last post of the mini-documentary), but roughly, here is the daily diet:
*First of all, I need to mention that I am always dairy-free due to an allergy, and that then on top of that, while I'm breast-feeding I am also soy-free and gluten-free (soy and gluten gave Elliott painful, terrible, scream-inducing gas, but I will try to reintroduce these into my diet after month four when his digestive system is more fully developed).
While I don't eat the same things every day, I'll list the things most often in rotation:
*Breakfast:
Delete1 bowl of oatmeal (from 1/2 cup 1-minute oats) with a splash of almond milk and half of a banana
or
1 piece light tapioca bread with 2 poached eggs and fresh baby spinach
*Brian and I do not eat lunch in the traditional sense; we typically just graze here and there on healthy things until dinner, like:
baby carrots with guacamole
cup of leftover rice with veggies
fruits (applesauce, fresh strawberries, apples, and grapes are our usuals)
banana with peanut butter (or anything with peanut butter, really--carrots, celery, rice crackers are all fair game)
*Dinner
1 cup cooked brown rice with steamed veggies and tuna, halibut, or salmon
Brown rice and bean tacos
Scrambled eggs with steamed veggies and tapioca toast (we call this "breakfast dinner," appropriately), and sometimes gluten-free dairy-free soy-free pancakes
brown rice pasta with red sauce, broccoli, and Daiya cheese shreds (dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free cheese)
quinoa noodles with a creamy soy-free dairy-free sauce based in almond milk and coconut milk, and veggies
I usually have a 100-calorie-ish snack somewhere around our last feeding for the night (between 10-11pm), and then usually have another after our early morning feeding (around 5) before going back to sleep for a couple of hours.
And: dairy-free dark chocolate. Brian and I each have a square or two each day.
As for exercise: since the birth, I've walked about 4-5 miles/day everyday. Around week 3, I started jogging 2-3 miles about 2 days a week. Around week 5, after being encouraged to do so by my midwife, I started doing 30-40 minutes of yoga or pilates everyday. Brian and I walk and do yoga/pilates together (for runs, I'm on my own), so these are easy to keep in the schedule everyday.
Basically, I do what my body tells me. I eat whenever I'm hungry, but only when I'm hungry, and I stop when I'm full. I drink a ton of water, and only water, really; no sugary drinks. (If I drink juice, I fill a glass with 1/4 juice and 3/4 water). I only do as much exercise as feels good to me. Walking always feels good to me, so I can always tack on another mile here and there; during pregnancy, Brian and I walked 8 miles each day, including the day we went into labor.
I honestly am not sure that my exercise/eating regimen has a whole lot to do with how my bump has changed; if you look at the photos, it was changing pretty rapidly by just the second week. I think two things probably had more to do with it than anything: 1.) exercise during pregnancy--keeping legs and abs as strong as possible 2.) genetics--the biggest thing I have to deal with right now is skin, and waiting for it to shrink. It does this slowly, so in the meantime, I'm just trying to stay fit and keep on keeping on! :)
I also need to mention that my pre-pregnancy weight was very low and underweight. (I'm still 20 pounds away from that weight now, even though I've lost 25 pounds since the birth.) While I thought I'd just bounce back down to my underweight self, now that I'm breast-feeding, I know that while I will get "in shape," I won't be that thin again, at least while I'm breast-feeding. Having a healthy baby is way more important to me than fitting into those little jeans again. ;)
Like I said, I'll write something a bit more formal and detailed in one of the posts to come, but I hope this helps give a little insight into the bump!! :)
Are you expecting or planning to expect sometime soon?
Cheers!
Ash