I think most mums go through a ‘mummy guilt’ stage if we are doing things away from our babies – I know I still do and I get it even more as my bub gets older and I want to be with him every second of the day.
But I know there are things I have to do and me having time to do them makes me happier and more energetic for when I play with my tiger.
And where weight loss is concerned it is common for us mums to think we are being selfish to focus on us and a lot of mums we talk to at Lose Baby Weight do find it hard to put themselves first – which we can all relate too.
But this morning an email came in from Andrea Carrington who had suffered from the ‘Mummy Guilt’ and was letting it effect her well being and health – but who managed to change things around after falling into a bit of an unhealthy slump.
Andrea’s email is below and I hope she can inspire anyone in a similar position to look after themselves too. Thank you for sending this in Andrea!
Andrea’s Story
“I had always thought I was relatively healthy but after I had my baby everything went out of the window. I had gained 20kg of pregnancy weight and unlike some mums who seem to lose the weight from breastfeeding, I gained a couple of kg instead as my appetite was crazy and admittedly I ate the wrong foods 🙁
I was so tired all of the time that I just didn’t have the time or care factor to eat properly and for around 3 months I was living off a combination of cereal (for breakfast, lunch and dinner), biscuits, bread, coffee and foods that I knew were not the best for me. But I honestly didn’t care. I felt like a shadow of my former self. I felt my body was crippled and I had no strength – and at the end of the day I just collapsed onto the floor.
And I felt just staying awake during the day was an effort. Plus all my clothes were still my maternity clothes and I HATED how much fat was on my body when I got naked or changed but instead of doing anything about it I just layered on the clothes and pretended it wasn’t there – and didn’t allow my husband near me as if he touched my body and could feel the fat then it made it real and I was happy living in denial! But that is not to say I wasn’t totally in love with my baby – I was – I just felt really tired and unhealthy and I couldn’t get myself out of my rut.
Then after continuing on like this for a few months I had a bit of a breakdown one night with my partner and we talked about why I felt so bad and how things could change.
And what we discovered was that I just wasn’t putting me first. Everything was about my baby and I didn’t want to leave her with anyone – even my husband as I worried he might drop her or do something silly – so I had zero time for me at all and even taking a shower was hard to do and I just wanted to have my baby with me all the time – plus I love cuddles with her and her little face and my hear hurts when I am away from her for a second!
But it had got to a stage where I thought that I didn’t matter any more as everything was about my baby and because of that I wasn’t looking after myself. But that night what I then realised was that if I wasn’t happy and didn’t feel good then I wouldn’t be giving the best to my baby – which made me look at everything from a different perspective and I stopped feeling guilty about wanting to do something for me
That was 8 weeks ago and I feel a million times better already! I have got over the guilt I was feeling about doing anything for myself and which meant I was being taken away from my baby and every morning my husband looks after Ayla for 1 hour so I can do exercise. Then I make a smoothie from the Lose Baby Weight plans and I have now started using online shopping so I can always have healthy foods on hand. I also have found the 28 Day Diet & Exercise Plan really fits into my life – it has made a big difference
I have so much energy now, my milk supply has increased and in 8 weeks I have lost 7kg. I am proof that if you do look after yourself then your health and mood will reap the benefits and I would love for you to share this with other mums who maybe in a similar position. I have found your daily tips and website information to be invaluable and your videos are a great source of inspiration if I get lazy – which I do sometimes and I do have bad days but all in all I am good mostly
Still got a long way to go on the weight loss but I now feel I can do it and I am so glad I am out of my slump and I have made a promise to myself never to let myself get down like that again.
Thank you so much for your constant support and motivation – it has really made the difference to be succeeding at this :)”
