by Whitney Barthel posted in Parenting

Want to know the worst feeling in the world" It?s this: stepping on the scale after a hard week of dieting only to realize you have gained two pounds. Outraged, I vented to my family and co-workers, "I just don?t understand, I did the nasty protein shakes just as instructed! I even got my Fitbit out of storage."

My sister offered up the explanation, "Well, weight just naturally fluctuates." Duh. But considering I'm actively trying to lose weight, I should be "fluctuating" in the opposite direction.
Then a co-worker quietly asked me, "Did you make sure you went to the bathroom before weighing yourself"" Of course! The only time I will ever weigh myself is immediately after a massive poo. And while I may have written that I have chosen to embrace my mom bod, that was before I packed on an extra seven pounds onto my 5?0? frame this winter. I was thinking that getting into shape after four children might actually be kind of fun. Instead, I'm worried I might have to resort to exercise and near-starvation.
Knowing there will be more babies in my future, I?m wondering if it would be wise to just postpone the whole getting-into-shape thing until after I?m done having kids. Is it really wise to actively try to get into the shape of my life shortly before gaining 25 pounds on purpose"

I understand there are amazing women who work out during pregnancy, but I vividly remember reading somet...