June 15th was the last day of week 8. June 16th I found out that I was 10 weeks and 5 days pregnant. So if you do the math, you will see that I pretty much started this latest weight loss push at the same time that I got pregnant. Like me, you may find it slightly funny to go back and look at my results posts and search for the signs that there was a growing baby inside of me. My instant energy from the first couple of weeks disappeared rapidly and was met with fatigue. I was starving, so I added in about 300 more calories, (incidentally, they say a baby requires 300 more calories at first.) I believe I journaled about sugar cravings that I just could not fight. Even my blood pressure drop was a sign. Ah, hindsight.
So in Week 8 I was honestly so confused. If I was doing all of this exercise and eating so well, why did I just have to take a 2 hour nap every day? Was I eating enough iron? Was I pushing too hard? I decided to just let my body do what it felt was right for the week. At this point I was so fatigued that I didn't really have another choice. But in Week 8 I lost 2.8 pounds. I didn't track anything else that week, so that is the only stat a have to share. Obviously, I quit the next day with a total weight loss of 11.4 pounds. I met my 10 pound goal and was only 2 pounds away from my real, overall goal... Not too shabby considering that I also had a growing baby inside of me already.
Did I feel guilt? Yes. I was worried at first that I had done something wrong to the baby. I started to go back over what I'd done to think about whether I'd been starving us or exercising too hard. As I was doing this thinking I lost another pound. (Once I knew I was pregnant, I felt more entitled to let my symptoms take over - including morning sickness, which struck me at night.) I lost 12.5 pounds in my first trimester. Would the baby be alright? "Yes, your baby will be just fine," was the reassuring answer from all of my doctors. And, when I asked about the exercise that I'd been doing, "All of that is perfectly safe for the baby."
When I thought more about it, I realized that the timing was fortunate. I greatly improved my diet and my exercise habits just in time to help Little Bit grow and, as my friend Angie keeps saying, "stick". Considering I wasn't taking a prenatal during this time, my diet adjustments were probably just what my body needed. Don't worry - I had been taking vitamins, and I started taking prenatals the day I found out. A few days later my doctor also put me on folic acid therapy, so now I take 5 vitamins a day.
My conclusion? Think whatever you want, but I believe this baby is a miracle. And I believe the fact that I decided to take better care of my body exactly when it was really needed was inspired. I'm quite happy now that I actually came within a pound of my goal, and I am no longer worried about how this impacted Little Bit's health. I'm just so grateful for the timing of it all and committed to reaching my goal sometime next spring. (Or summer.)
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