I wrote earlier about men my age who without explanation suddenly lose a lot of weight - see Hat Trick. Women have been doing this for years, its called having a baby.
Here is the problem. During pregnancy women tend to eat more often and in greater quantities. In terms of eating, and I do not believe I am alone here, we have established previously that I share certain characteristics with my dog, i.e. if I see you eating it makes me want to eat, and the more you eat, the more I want to eat. In that way you could call me a sympathetic eater, or just pathetic.
How are these two phenomenon related? When I saw my wife eating more when she was pregnant, I, too, ate more. When I gained a few pounds it was okay because she was gaining weight too. Now here is the tricky part, even though she gained almost 30 pounds during the pregnancies, after a few hours of pain and strife, boom, she had lost 85% of it. Then, in the aftermath of delivery, she was so busy being a mom she lost most of the rest of it in a few weeks.
Unlike her, I had no signature event to lose the extra weight. While I had not gained 30 lbs, what I had gained was much harder to come off, and in fact I do not believe it ever did. You would think I learned after my first child, but with the stresses of parenthood, I did the same with the second. Mind you, I am not blaming my weight gain on our having children, but when I look at the photographs of before and after those times, it likely was a contributing factor.
One final note, post-partum depression for men is a term that I just started to hear bantered about recently. I think it is a real issue. Although you are happy to have your child, it makes sense in the following ways: 1) you are suddenly faced with an enormous responsibility unlike any you have ever had before (especially with the first child) 2) you are likely severely sleep deprived especially if you are trying to share parenthood duties as much as possible with the mother and 3) you have lost (hopefully temporarily) the attention of your spouse that made this all possible.
Conclusion and advice for younger men: During the pregnancy pass on the extra helpings of chicken wings dipped in blue cheese and instead, train like you are going to run a marathon in 9 months, because in many ways, you are.
Consumption:
Cheerios and skim milk
Grilled flank steak
Hummus
Grilled vegetables
Ratatouille
Half a protein drink
12 almonds
1 beer
Portobello grilled mushroom salad with gorgonzola cheese
Pistachios
Orange
Here is the problem. During pregnancy women tend to eat more often and in greater quantities. In terms of eating, and I do not believe I am alone here, we have established previously that I share certain characteristics with my dog, i.e. if I see you eating it makes me want to eat, and the more you eat, the more I want to eat. In that way you could call me a sympathetic eater, or just pathetic.
How are these two phenomenon related? When I saw my wife eating more when she was pregnant, I, too, ate more. When I gained a few pounds it was okay because she was gaining weight too. Now here is the tricky part, even though she gained almost 30 pounds during the pregnancies, after a few hours of pain and strife, boom, she had lost 85% of it. Then, in the aftermath of delivery, she was so busy being a mom she lost most of the rest of it in a few weeks.
Unlike her, I had no signature event to lose the extra weight. While I had not gained 30 lbs, what I had gained was much harder to come off, and in fact I do not believe it ever did. You would think I learned after my first child, but with the stresses of parenthood, I did the same with the second. Mind you, I am not blaming my weight gain on our having children, but when I look at the photographs of before and after those times, it likely was a contributing factor.
One final note, post-partum depression for men is a term that I just started to hear bantered about recently. I think it is a real issue. Although you are happy to have your child, it makes sense in the following ways: 1) you are suddenly faced with an enormous responsibility unlike any you have ever had before (especially with the first child) 2) you are likely severely sleep deprived especially if you are trying to share parenthood duties as much as possible with the mother and 3) you have lost (hopefully temporarily) the attention of your spouse that made this all possible.
Conclusion and advice for younger men: During the pregnancy pass on the extra helpings of chicken wings dipped in blue cheese and instead, train like you are going to run a marathon in 9 months, because in many ways, you are.
Consumption:
Cheerios and skim milk
Grilled flank steak
Hummus
Grilled vegetables
Ratatouille
Half a protein drink
12 almonds
1 beer
Portobello grilled mushroom salad with gorgonzola cheese
Pistachios
Orange
Exercise:
10 minutes of weight lifting and crunches
10 minutes of rowing machine
30 minutes of running on treadmill - 10 minute miles
My Fitness Pal calculated I was well within my daily calorie goal after factoring in the exercise.
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