Why Moms Get Fat

I know why moms get fat. It's pretty much a cliche that women gain weight with pregnancy--maybe too much--and then can't lose the pounds afterward and thus remain heavy, never to regain their once-slim figure. I used to think derisively of moms on TV or in magazines or ones I knew who got heavy after having kids. "Weakness." I thought.

But suddenly I understand how this happens. How the pounds creep onto you when you're home with kids and before you know it, you're way overweight.

Ok, I'm not way overweight. But eight weeks after Estelle's birth, I feel as though I've plateaued. I'm not dropping baby weight anymore, even thought I'm breastfeeding. And the realization has hit me that if I were to continue at the rate I've been consuming chocolate, cookies, treats, and desserts, surely I'll be fat before long. I'm caught up in the grip of a massive sugar possession. Needing sweets throughout the day to cope with tantrums; feedings; changing diapers; getting kicked and hit at the changing table; wiping up stuff all the time, rushing to get a load of laundry done; vacuuming and dusting here and there, but the house seeming dirty all the time anyway; one crying, then the other crying, then both crying AT THE SAME TIME. It's the all day obligation to others' needs and no time for yourself that drives one to seek some little pleasure, a little taste of joy.