Hello dear Happy Eaters!
I don’t know whether some of you remember me, but I was active on this forum a few years ago.
It helped me find balance and I was in a really good place with food (no restrictions/ no obsession/ no binges) and exercise (barely any exercise) for years!
Everything was going well, I got marrie in September 2021 and a few weeks later I got pregnant. We were super happy! But then, the pregnancy started messing with my head. I started gaining weight despite eating to my hunger cues as usual and it freaked me out! It was like I could not trust my body anymore. Clothes started feeling tight and my body image went downhill as my belly started growing.
I am currently 7 months in (due at the end of May) and it’s getting harder and harder to accept myself with this huge belly. I also went back to weighing myself every couple of days and the number on the scale keeps going up, up, up (obviously).
I want to be 100% transparent: I have not gained that much weight objectively (5-6kg in 7 months, which I think is like 11-13 lbs). My gynecologist keeps telling me that I could be gaining more and it would still be really healthy. I was also thin (not underweight but slim) to begin with so maybe I’m supposed to gain more. I am not restricting per se, in that I always eat something if I‘m hungry because I don’t want the baby to suffer from my craziness, but I am definitely focusing a lot more on what I eat and also not really allowing myself as many “fun foods“ as I was before.
So I guess I was not as much of a “happy eater” as I thought! Or rather, I was a happy eater because I was still maintaining a figure that I liked.
So this brings me here: is there anyone who experienced something similar during pregnancy? I know I should not be focusing on my body but I can’t help it. I am afraid to look at myself in the mirror and I can seem to find a way to accept this new body
Feeling a bit low so I thought I would journal a bit.
I have been feeling really good physically lately, since I started working with a dietitian. She gave me some amazing advice which I have been implementing since june. Essentially, more fats and more protein, and also working on balancing my hormones through stabilizing blood sugar levels and eating slightly differently depending on the phase of my menstrual cycle. I have also been doing acupuncture and breathing exercises to manage my anxiety/ stress. I feel great, I have energy and I am motivated to work out again. I still look the same, I just have less muscle definition. My clothes still fit and some even fit a bit better (more booty in my jeans , ha!). Buuuut Im still not getting pregnant, which mean there are probably issues that are beyond my control. I thought it was just due to improper nutrition or something similar, which would have been easy to fix because I just had to eat more. It’s good because it’s not “my fault” (I thought it was my fault because I wasn’t eating properly) but it’s bad because it means I can’t really do anything about it.
But on the bright side: I am no longer obsessed with food/ thinking about food all the time! I forgot how nice it feels to have brain space for other things:) Only a few kg made a huge difference. I need to remember this next time Im catastrophising and thinking I need to “get fat” to achieve food freedom. Its simply not true, I just needed to gain 2-3kg and Im already feeling way better !