The Truth on Body After Baby + Sweet Potato Protein Smoothie

It’s almost Friday folks!! This week has whizzed by, while seeming to drag. I don’t understand how this happens to me. The whizzing is because of my long to do lists and appointment after appointment, and the dragging is the lack of sleep and the need for the weekend when sometimes it seems my life will slow down a little bit. Tis the season….

This may not be the typical “body after baby” post. My struggles through pregnancy and postpartum are different than the vast majority of women. I am often asked why I don’t post postpartum pictures and transformation Tuesday photos or the updates from month to month. To be honest there are many reasons I don’t think this is necessary and I am about to share them.

First, I am tired of the constant obsession with body image. The posts of women after their workouts flexing or baring skin. It’s tiring and sometimes sickening. This obsession has to stop. I don’t feel the need to document every run I do, like I used to. I run 6-7 days of the week, but might post once or twice, three times if I am feeling it sometimes not at all, and this doesn’t make me a sloth and couch potato. Toddler parents are not couch potatoes and a run DID happen even if the social webs don’t know about it.

Second, I struggle physically during my pregnancies and have a hard time gaining weight, much less keeping it on. Both with my first and this time around, I lost more weight than I gained after birth within a week. I looked sickly and spent the next few months after baby consuming lots of calories and eating fatty foods, some healthy some not, to try to gain back my pounds. I don’t feel the need to post photos of my body after baby, because frankly it doesn’t look healthy and I know that. I try not to be self-conscious about it or obsess over it.  I don’t need to make other women feel inferior and ashamed of their postpartum bodies. There’s no need to glorify my lack of needing to lose weight and not fitting pre-baby clothing not because they are too small, but too big.

Thirdly, women hate me for not gaining any weight. Some are lighthearted and more joking about it, while others aren’t very kind. I get comments that can cut deep. Although, my struggle of gaining weight doesn’t seem comparable to not being able to lose weight, it’s still a struggle and can be just as damaging to one’s health. I got enough stares during my pregnancy and comments, I don’t need even more afterwards.

Pregnancy takes a toll on my body, and I don’t want others to idolize me for looking thin. Thin isn’t always healthy. Even if my babies are healthy weights and healthy upon birth, that doesn’t mean my body was. I may have looked fit to some, but I was skin and bones and begging the scale to go up every time I stepped on it. There were appointments I was asked to step off and than back on to see if the scale was reading right. My body was under major stress.

So my body after baby story is probably not common. I focus on gaining weight after having my baby, but I don’t obsess over it. I don’t feel the need to brag about my “fit” body (as others put it). What’s more important to me is that my baby is healthy and I am healthy. I am getting enough calories and supplying my child with the nutrients he needs. I don’t need a scale to determine if I love or hate my body, or if I am fit or not.

He took everything from me while I was pregnant, not leaving much for me, and after I had him, my milk came in like a race horse. I was pumping for relief, and freaking out as the scale kept going down. I am almost back up to pre-pregnancy weight, so close!! With running it makes it a bit tough, so I was mindful of this and returned to running slower this time around.

So that’s my story, love me or hate me for it. End of RANT!!

Sweet Potato Protein Smoothie

Nutrition is important to me, so I try to find wholesome meals I enjoy and my family enjoy. Now that I am nursing again, I take even more special care. I want to keep my calories up and my calories from whole sources. This smoothie is great!!

Don’t you just love how versatile sweet potatoes are? You can have them for dessert, breakfast, lunch or dinner. In salads or brownies, and now in smoothies!! If you don’t like pumpkin smoothies this time of year, than you’ll enjoy a new flavor, or if you are just tired of all the pumpkin recipes (my bad 😉 ).

I simply used some sweet potatoes, protein, oats, cinnamon and peanut butter to make a protein packed smoothie that’s creamy and thick. I like my smoothies more thick, they feel more fulfilling this way. Protein is always welcomed after a run and it helps give me energy for throughout the day. R loves my smoothies and this one is no different. Sometimes meals don’t have to have weird ingredients to be healthy.

It’s sweet without added sugars, vegan &  YUMMY!! Cinnamon is great for fighting inflammation and regulating blood sugar and blood pressure, while sweet potatoes are high in beta-carotene, a powerful antioxidant. Both perfect this time of year!!

Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit