It’s been two weeks since I vowed to go paleo with my diet, following the very upsetting refusal of my body to lose either scale weight or consistent body fat weight. And considering that day one of paleo-me was the Monday prior to Christmas, I’d have to say I’ve done pretty damn well! I allowed myself one meal off for both my family Christmas and my partners, and another meal off for my sister’s birthday, which is on the 27th (poor her). And even at those meals I didn’t go crazy. I’ve even managed to keep a large chunk of my Mum’s devil-food cake (amaaazing) in the freezer for a future treat rather than scoff it down the very day she brought it over.

The best part? Cutting the fat (well, the carbs and sugar) from my diet has been surprisingly easy. Astoundingly so. I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner (straight after birth). And to be honest I don’t think my hesitation was totally about fear of whether I could be that strict again, although that was definitely a huge factor. But a large part of it also had to do with wanting to perceive myself as someone who could ‘get away’ with being only 80 or 90% ‘good’, and still get back into great shape. I guess it’s a pride thing – wanting to feel that my metabolism is working for me (good dog!) rather than against me. And it’s born from the fact that that has been the case for the past 2 or 3 years at least. It’s hard to stop (wanting to) see myself this way. Which is partly why I cracked it yesterday because my waist measurement had only gone down 1.5cm after my 12 almost-sugar-free-days, and proceeded to scoff 3 cinnamon donuts with the excuse that eating well isn’t working anyway! Yep, it’s true. I can’t always follow my own advice, and – despite knowing how illogical it is – I do expect instant results when I do something right. Anyway.

Here’s the good news (for both of us) -

Every proper workout you commit to and complete, every smart eating choice you make, every time you follow through on all the small and little things that will powerfully transform your body, you’re putting money in the bank of you. You’re slowly but surely changing not only your basal metabolic rate, but the way your body is programmed. As women particularly, it’s in our nature to store fat faster than we shed it. And I don’t need to tell you that skipping meals, following low-fat or low-cal diets or even doing excess amounts of cardio can all speed up that fat-storing process. But it’s just as much of a cert that doing the opposite of all that can and will get your body working for you, which is where I was prior to falling pregnant.

So even though I have to face facts as they are, which is that I’ve lost that edge, I do have the advantage of remembering what it was like, and the belief that I’ll get back there. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s already proving far harder physically, and psychologically more challenging than I thought possible but the battle ain’t over yet.

Body plus baby? Easy!*

Kat

*(We hope)

**PS – I was supposed to have my measurements and body fat taken this morning for the first time in 2 weeks. Particularly scary given the importance I’ve built up into it these past few weeks which is now magnified by my expectation that the last 2 weeks better bloody well have done something. Anyway, my trainer canceled on me so I’ve been granted a reprieve of sorts. Am on the way to doing my own workout now and I guess I just have to decide if I can face the fear and hit those scales ….

Are you currently on your own ‘body after bump’ journey? I’d love to hear from you. One of my main reasons for starting this blog (aside from keeping myself accountable) was to form a community of like-minded women. Women who refuse to become a dowdy mother figure and instead choose to embrace their new role with the exceptional health and energy that comes from being in control of their body from the inside out. If this is you then make sure you drop me a line in the comments section below!

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