baby back pain body aches body after baby body changes body image breastfeeding cardio fitness gym hiking Injuries knee pain Losing weight losing weight after pregnancy physical therapy postpartum Pregnancy running staying motivated weight loss

A Different Body

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

Related Posts

9 Comments

  1. Lori

    This is your new normal now. Your body went through a huge thing and it’s still learning how to adjust. Just take it one day at a time.

    I love that picture of you and Logan with your glasses. Those are super cute on you!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      That’s what everyone says, my doctor included, that there’s a “new normal”. I guess I am finally realizing that!

      Thanks! Those glasses are new. 🙂

  2. Marcia

    Congratulations on Logan. Thanks for sharing your experience with your readers.

  3. Jenn

    If it makes you feel better, mine turns 8 months on Saturday, and I’m just now starting to feel like I have my act together with all this. I’ve started/stopped regularly working out I don’t even know how many times since February. It’s been a real struggle to give myself the leniency I need.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Yes! It’s hard not be too hard on yourself. In a lot of ways I felt like my “old self” and expected to go back to the gym and do the same intensity and same activities I could do pre-pregnancy. While working out through my pregnancy helped a lot, I guess I didn’t really realize that it WAS different and I couldn’t just go back to “normal” after the baby!

  4. Jen Johnson

    You’re so inspirational. I have never been very motivated to work out, or even be healthy and I really need to. I haven’t had a baby and can’t really relate to much of this, but I can relate to changes & body image. I’ve always been pretty small, but it’s all fat and my weight fluctuates about 20 pounds up and down. I got stretch marks when I hit puberty. They covered (well still cover) my hips and went down nearly to my knees. My gigantic size A boobs were even covered. I guess my skin just sucks! This last year they have now connected along the sides of my stomach, from hips to boobs. I’ve gone up 20 pounds in the last year and a half or so and I’ve been in a bit of denial. The fact that I have grown out of all my clothes, including the larger sized ones that I bought when I found something I liked, apparently wasn’t enough of a wake up call. I often buy 3 sizes when I find something I like, because I do yoyo so much, unintentionally. So a year ago I was wearing a six, but also buying an 8 & 10 because I was at my lowest weight since 9th grade. Now I am a 12. Oops :/ The problem is that it’s an unhealthy weight gain from eating a lot of crap and not being active enough (walks just aren’t enough). And the cellulite and stretch marks are now a permanent part of me. I don’t really have body mirrors in my house. I have one that I lean against the wall sometimes, but it doesn’t give me a very good idea what I look like. I thought that would be good for me and my body image, but it really wasn’t. I was just denying/avoiding reality and that hasn’t done me any favors. Not seeing myself enough has caused me to get quite upset when I am out somewhere, or at a friend’s house, and I see myself in the mirror. I often kind of freak out and have to leave. I am shocked and disgusted because I convinced myself that I looked better than I really did. I actually dropped out of school and quit jobs before because I glanced in the mirror before going in and just couldn’t handle being seen.
    I’ve been at my parents’ house, dog/house sitting, for the last week and they have a full size mirror in their bathroom. I was pretty disgusted when I first saw myself in the buff, as I undressed for the shower, but I think I needed that dose of reality. I’m actually more comfortable with my body now though, after seeing it every day for a week. I’m no longer in denial about what is happening there, with the less than ideal changes that have taken place, but I’m not depressed about it. I think it’s a healthy awareness and I’d like to put a mirror in my bathroom at home. I don’t want any more surprises when I am out in the real world 🙂
    I know my blog isn’t related to this at all, but it asks for a URL, so I’m going for it 🙂

    1. Lisa Eirene

      Awww Jen you are being way too hard on yourself! Seriously!

      I understand what you mean, though. It’s really hard to be kind to ourselves and not judge the stretch marks and cellulite etc etc. As for the dose or reality, I know what you mean and I think that awareness is good. There have been times in my life where I was in denial about my body, too, and didn’t think I was that bad but then I had a reality check–like trying on clothes I packed away from last year or something. When they didn’t fit I was like, oh yeah I’ve still got some work to do. It’s kind of helped me a little bit when I am tempted to have that second cookie or something.

  5. Karen P

    Eating real food and doing low impact exercises, with strength and core all = long time benefit ( the number of exercise addicted, high impact, chronic cardio peeps in the weight loss space frightens and saddens me, trading food addiction for exercise addiction is still a problem).

    I follow a Primal approach (from Mark’s Daily Apple) exercise- low intensity walking & hiking as much as I like (5-6 miles), with 2 days of high intensity short sprinting and lifting (we are talking 15 mins tops) Super awesome time wise and my genetics and age also thank me I’m not out there beating myself up over NOT doing hours of cardio.

    Whatever you do, it’s way beyond calories in and calories out. Whatever frustrations you have now will be worth the finding what works for your genetics, age, and hormone status.

    Onward and if this gets you off the calories in, calories out mode then, it’s worth the struggle and victory you will see a few years later. I’d love to apply to 24 hr fitness to get my hours of chronic cardio back post baby, sigh!

    I’m excited for you and the key learning you’ll do in the first year post baby, and I know you’ll get to your fitness health and happiness spot. Don’t let stinking thinking send you on any food binges.

    Onward, cheering for you.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I agree, it is easy to replace food addiction for exercise addiction. That is one of the main reasons I enforce a 2 rest day a week rule and have for years. In the early days I definitely made that replacement and didn’t take rest days and it was NOT good!

      As for the food, finding what works for you is great. And sometimes it has to change. Doing the same thing doesn’t always work for people. Switching it up is good. For example, I sometimes go through phases where I eat a more vegetarian type diet. I don’t want to be a vegetarian (I was for a decade a long time ago) but sometimes taking a “Break” from eating meat is good for me.

Leave a Reply