Tillie is about to be 2 months old (that’s 8 weeks in geeky parent talk) as I write this. She is delicious and everything she does we think is cute, including when she blows out a fresh diaper and spits milk through her nose.

One thing that’s not so cute is that I’m not really losing the baby weight despite incredibly clean eating.

I’m eating super clean for a few reasons:

1. Something happens when you start breastfeeding and you become obsessed with your boob milk. How much you pump, what you are eating, how much you have stored up, etc… it’s weird and maybe this happens to take your attention off of how badly your crotch still hurts.

2. Before even losing the weight, taking power back over your food choices makes you feel empowered, which is an emotion I’m always focused on feeling.

3. Everyone kept telling me the weight was going to melt off of me from breastfeeding, so I figured eating clean would speed up the process. Get me back in my clothes right now!! I miss my skinny jeans!!!

I gained 40 pounds for this pregnancy, which is pretty average. Two days after I gave birth 16 of those pounds came off of me. Wahoo! See ya, sweethaat.

In the last month, I’ve lost 2 pounds. Two. Pounds. T-W-O, ok you get the point.

This brings up two aspects of weight loss that people forget about. You have probably struggled to lose weight because of this too at some point…

I’m not losing weight right now partly because I’m taking in a lot of healthy calories to make sure I make enough liquid gold, and I’m not exercising because I’m still healing.

What this means for you: calories in versus calories out is not the only component of weight loss, but it is one of them. If you sit at a desk all day, do one hour of exercise a few times a week, and eat relatively healthy, it may not be enough movement (or too much food) that is causing your stubborn weight loss.

My hormones are still balancing and my body’s wisdom has decided it’s not yet time for me to drop the fat.

What this means for you: You can move more and eat less, but if your hormones are not balanced, that fat isn’t going anywhere. You need to look deeper at what could be causing your imbalance. Are you emotionally or physically stressed? Do you have inflammation and/or pain? From a spiritual perspective, is there something you need to accept about your body and your true self before this weight comes off?

So, I’m going to be easy on myself, just as I always ask you to do. I’m going to do my best, work hard when it’s time to exercise, and put my cooking and self-care as a priority (most days at the very least. Motherhood is a real self-care suck, y’all). I’m going to be humbled by this extra 20 pounds and appreciate my body even more, now.

Do these weight loss obstacles apply to you? If so, what is the one next step you need to take to move past it and see results?

The rest will come. Xo

Some cute pics of Tillie as promised:

Are you following my personal page on Instagram (@carlypollack)? Get some new recipe inspo plus see more cute pics of Tillie :)