Long term maintainer finding motherhood the biggest maintenance challenge ever!

[sacha]

Yeesh, and to think I thought it was hard when I was cooking for 1??

Fast forward almost 8 years and 2 pregnancies/1 child later + a husband, it's bloody hard!! First the baby weight was a nightmare, but all he did was drink his milk Now I'm feeding him all day long (he is a very very big hungry toddler, size of a 3 year old) and oh boy is it difficult... I don't give him crap, but it's a lot of full fat cheddar, yogurt, avocados, full fat ground beef etc... oh man

Tips, ideas, support from mothers maintaining??? Exercise is not a problem for me, my father in law babysits in my house so I can train, but the food, yeesh!

(At least I don't have to worry about alcohol/restaurant/social outings, LOL)

[silverbirch]

sacha! Nice to see you.

Where exactly do you think the difficulty lies? Is it having all those foods you mentioned in the house? Or is it the permanent focus on food? Is it that different people are eating different things?

I wasn't maintaining when my DB was this age but I was trying to lose weight. My focus was on ensuring that he ate proper food not kiddie junk food. Also that he saw how it was made and helped to make it. So I tried (and often succeeded) to focus on the amount I ate. I still do this and I'm usually much better at it now. I also try not to eat outside my planned meals/snacks (5 per day). Here I often fail and it's usually because I'm tired and there is still a lot to do, or because I just have too much to do and I do not want to do it.

I hope this helps a little. It's great to hear your boy is eating such good food and laying strong foundations for his future.

[sacha]

Thanks! It's just having the foods around I think He eats very well, no junk really, but it's having all the full fat cheeses, avocados, peanut butter etc lol. things that I would easily demolish 1000 calories worth in 1 sitting Perhaps it's best just to premake meals for myself...

[ncuneo]

I feel your pain, but my DS does eat junk - he is a carbaholic. I try my best to keep all the crackers and cereal and granola bars to the highest quality, but it's tough. So our house always has that stuff around. Not to mention DH is a junk foodie so there's that to deal with as well.

I think what has honestly help me is really trying to move myself to a place where I associate eating healthy and being a runner/athelete with my identity. I can't eat that stuff and continue to perform well on my runs, I can't eat that stuff and continue to wear my skinny jeans and preach my health advice to my coworkers, I can't eat that stuff and come to 3fc and try to motivate others to change their life. And when that doesn't work and I do induldge I try very hard to know that 1 serving is enough. And when that doesn't work and I dive headfirst into one of my binges that I'm know to have, I just say - ok, that happened and will probably happen again, but tomorrow is a new day and I can try again.

I also still calorie count and weigh and measure everything, so it is possible to keep the portions under control. The question is - is that stuff triggering you to a binge or otherwise over eat or are you just not paying attention to the portions. I guess I need to know a little more about the situation. Is your issue emotional, like it's leading to a binge or you're thinking - oh gosh I just ate full fat cheese the whole day is ruined might as well eat poorly the rest of the day. Or is it just eating too much of those healthy more calorie dense things. If it's the later, just start weighing and be sure to stick to appropriate portions. There's no reason you can't have some avocade or full fat cheese, I eat that stuff all the time.

[neurodoc]

It is indeed "bloody hard." I wish I had more great ideas for you, but I struggle with this all the time and don't have good answers. I have 3 boys, two of whom are super-picky eaters and all 3 of whom eat some variation of starch+cheese 2 days out of every 3. I do a lot of what the "experts" tell me I shouldn't- make 2 separate meals for adults and kids. Like ncuneo, to some degree I've learned to make "their" foods invisible to me, most of the time, by force of will. I also allow myself to snack on raw veggies when I'm preparing their food. And (because my boys are older), I have quite a few arguments with them, where I insist that they eat at least a bite of everything on the table- even the horrible green things- hoping against hope that one day one of them will actually ASK for a bowl of vegetable barley soup, low-fat vegetable lasagna or quinoa-wild rice pilaf.

[bargoo]

Andrea, there is hope, when I was a child I hated potatoes and asparagus, I like them both, now.