Losing the (twin) baby weight and setting goals

I'm not fat. I will admit it. I can eat (mostly) what I want, and I don't gain weight. But I'm not tiny either. With the twins, I gained 46 pounds during my pregnancy. It was a healthy weight gain for a twin pregnancy. With Connor, I gained 32 pounds. Again, totally normal. (Not like that what's-her-name from Grey's Anatomy who gained a whopping 10 pounds while pregnant and was so proud of herself for going up a pant size. *insert eye-roll here*)

And I'm not motivated either. I mean, after having Connor, I went to Kohls and bought a few new shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and figured I will lose this weight when I do. It was right about the time McDonalds was having $1 cokes and I just can't say no to those! ;) At that point, I was probably 10 lbs over what I was when I first got pregnant. And around the time I actually got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, someone had to go and get knocked up again. With twins, no less.

Nine months later. 46 pounds heavier. Twins. Life changes with one baby. It really changes with two. The almost two-year old I had at home didn't help with the stress level either. Plus with nursing them for 6 months, I wasn't really able to diet. I went back to work when they were about 2 months old, so there was no time for exercising. I just went back to Kohls, bought a few more shirts (luckily the pants still fit!) and went on with my life.

I weaned the twins when they were about 6.5 months old. I was tired of lugging my pump into work, day after day, and honestly, I wanted 'me' back. I thought 6 months was a good goal for twins. Weaning was hard of course, especially since someone swears he is deadset against anymore kids, so knowing these would be the last two I get to share that special bond with was hard. But I did it.

And then it was time to focus on me for awhile. Well as much as a working mom of 3 can focus on herself with all the other crap going on in her life. Last March, I signed up at self.com and logged in my weight. I did a modified version of the Special K and Slim Fast diets, mainly because I just can't give up pop. ;) Between March and August, I got down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost 16 pounds. Right around the time I started celebrate my weight loss, the twins got active. Really active. Running around after 3 toddlers helped me lose another 6 pounds.

I'm way excited. Now I weigh less. Although with every pregnancy, bodies change. I read somewhere recently (can't remember where or I would link to the blog...) that when you are pregnant, your rib-cage expands like your feet do while pregnant. And it doesn't go back. Bummer. No wonder my shirts seem shorter. And just because you lose the pounds, doesn't mean everything on your body turns into beautiful muscle and you are ready to run around in a bikini.

So yesterday, I logged back on to self.com. I'm going to do their challenge, not to lose weight because I am pretty happy where I am. But rather my new goal is to tone up. I'm focusing on my arms and my thighs. Due to my diastasis recti (aka abdominal separation), I'm not focusing on my tummy area now, but just doing a lot of wishful thinking that I will wake up one day with a flat tummy clean of those beautiful stretch marks. (It could happen.)