I was a member of Slimming World before I found out I was pregnant. My first reaction was that I was now eating for two and, of course, I wouldn’t want donuts followed by sticky toffee pudding but the baby would! So, there’d be no point going to my group every week. But then I thought, if I find losing weight hard enough that I have to go to Slimming World anyway, why add another three, four or five stone on to what I’ve got to lose?
I had a choice – do I speak to my local takeaway about what I, sorry, baby, wants with its donner kebab or do I speak to my Slimming World consultant about what my options were. My consultant was great; really helpful and supportive. She explained that I’d need to get the OK from my midwife to carry on at Slimming World and get a signature from her at every appointment. That was a pain because I saw a different midwife every week, I should have recorded the story on a dictaphone because I was sick of explaining by my third appointment.
My consultant gave me ideas on eating through the sickness so that the baby was still getting what it needed while I was just getting tooth erosion from the acid. Admittedly there were times when I would say “baby wants KFC” but they were much less frequent than if I’d been left to my own devices. If I’d not had the extra help, I’d have shares in Galaxy and a Burger King Black Card by now.
In total, I gained 9lbs throughout my pregnancy (I attended Slimming World from week 1 to week 41). I went back to class two weeks after giving birth and had lost 27lbs in the three weeks since I last attended. I even stuck to Slimming World as best as I could in hospital. Why Heat magazine didn’t come knocking at my door I will never know. Bollocks to Katie Price being back to her pre-pregnancy weight after a month, I was 18lbs lighter than mine after two weeks. I’d never have done that without going to the weekly classes, I’d still be here 17 weeks post partum and five stone heavier. And not once during pregnancy did I feel deprived. I had a bit of a craving for salt and vinegar Chipsticks at first and I probably ate a sharing (ha, who shares food?) bag of them a day but I made sure that at mealtimes I stuck to plan. When I felt sick I’d make vegetable soups that I could warm up after a ten minute vomit break. And when I started feeling better, but was tired, there were loads of speedy meal ideas I could make.
Eating healthily during pregnancy obviously isn’t for everyone for one reason or another – you might be too tired to cook, too ill, have too many cravings or even just think “sod it, it’s the only time I can eat whatever I want” and that’s fine. I just wanted to show anyone reading that if you do still want to be on ‘a diet’ while pregnant then you can be – my baby was a very healthy 10lbs 1oz when he was born so he didn’t suffer at all!
mymummytales 