baby weight

DrSugar is in the house! This week she's discussing mommyrexia and the implications of eating disorders during and after pregnancy.

I recently read an article from the New York Post on "mommyrexia," a phenomenon garnering a lot of public attention recently. Mommyrexia describes pregnant women obsessed with staying skinny during pregnancy and then doing whatever they can to get back, as quickly as possible, to their prepregnancy weight/size after delivery. According to the article, these women count calories, exercise excessively while pregnant, and sometimes even forgo breastfeeding after delivery to free their schedules for tons of personal training and exercise. Society today is so obsessed with celebrities and body image, and in my opinion, is placing unwarranted pressure on women to maintain their slim physique during pregnancy, like Victoria Beckham and Rachel Zoe, and to be bikini-ready three weeks after delivery like Bethenny Frankel. As if there isn’t already enough pressure on the general population to be ridiculously skinny, this pressure now extends to the sacred time of pregnancy?

I feel compelled to write about eating disorders and their potential implications in pregnant women. However, I must add that there is a large spectrum of what can be considered normal regarding weight gain and activity during pregnancy. Every woman is different and will gain differing amounts of weight. Both activity and weight gain in pregnant women depend on multiple factors and should be determined on a case-by-case basis between a woman and her OB-GYN. By no means am I here to judge anyone on how they behave during their pregnancy. The purpose of this week's DrSugar column is to provide information on how eating disorders can affect pregnancy. To learn more, keep reading.

Healthy mamas know pregnancy is a natural process that usually packs on the pounds, but that doesn't make the experience of gaining and losing weight any easier or more comfortable. Some ladies eat for two while pregnant and aren't surprised when the scale tips in a not-so-favorable direction, while others retain water, which accounts for some of their excess weight. But what's a new mom to do once that baby is delivered? Here's a look back at some of our most popular baby weight coverage for tips and support shedding those pesky pounds.

The Next Nine Months: Postpartum Exercise Time Line	Pregnancy Weight by the Pound: A Helpful Breakdown	Celebrity Trainer Provides Postpartum Exercise Tips
Nine Ways to Lose the Baby Weight	Probiotics Help Melt Postpartum Belly Fat	Catch Some ZZZs to Lose the Baby Weight
Do You Agree With the New Pregnancy Weight Guidelines?	Tell Mommy: How Much Weight Did You Gain?	Did You Decide Not to Know Your Pregnancy Weight?

At first glance, you wouldn't think that Bethenny Frankel gave birth to a baby girl less than a year ago. But the glow she's sporting on the October cover of Health gives it all away. The reality star shares with the mag how she lost the baby weight, her anti-diet diet, and a flat-belly workout that can be done anywhere. Here are the highlights:

• On losing the baby weight: "I gotta attribute it to being healthy before and healthy during [pregnancy]. I just weighed myself for the first time — I don't have a scale — but I'm probably three or four pounds more now."
• On having an unhealthy body image while growing up: "I always was obsessed with wanting to be thin. I knew about every single diet — the five-day diet, the flight attendant's diet. I was obsessed with being thin. Obsessed."
• On low-carb diets: "It's moronic. The only reason it works is that you're eliminating 75 percent of what's going on in your diet! Any diet that says watermelon is bad and a protein bar made with 500 ingredients you can't pronounce is good is idiotic. I can't believe so many people bought into it."

Photo courtesy of Health

Bethenny Frankel received a lot of attention after giving birth, but not all of it was good. Three weeks after delivering baby Bryn, she dropped 29 of the 35 pounds she gained while pregnant. Critics commented that she didn't gain enough while pregnant, and also that she lost the weight much too quickly. Bethenny responded by saying that she didn't diet after giving birth, but dropped the pounds through healthy eating and going on walks. Well, it definitely worked. Just three months after giving birth, Life & Style has the first postpregnancy pics of the Skinny Girl chef in a bikini.

Bethenny told the magazine that she didn't do anything drastic to get back in shape. She stayed active outdoors, practiced yoga, and worked out to her own fitness DVD, Body by Bethenny. She also made sure to practice portion control: "I've really been eating, just not like a crazy person." The 5'6" reality star now weighs in at 135 pounds.

"I try to break a sweat every day. It doesn't always happen that way, but that's the goal."

— Rebecca Romijn shares her workout regimen with Us Weekly. The star says that losing her pregnancy weight hasn't been easy since giving birth to twins in December 2008. Rebecca, 37, gained 60 pounds while pregnant. The star says she tries to work out for at least 30 minutes every day, and also keeps active with her family. She and husband, Jerry O'Connell, stay active by going on tandem bike rides and playing badminton.

Oh, brother! Healthy mamas know pregnancy is a natural process that usually packs on the pounds, but that doesn't make the experience of gaining and losing weight any easier or more comfortable. Some ladies eat for two while pregnant and aren't surprised when the scale tips in a not-so-favorable direction, while others retain water, which accounts for some of their excess weight. But what's a new mom to do once that baby is delivered? Here's a look back at some of our most popular baby weight coverage for tips and support shedding those pesky pounds.

The Next Nine Months: Postpartum Exercise Time Line	Pregnancy Weight by the Pound: A Helpful Breakdown	Celebrity Trainer Provides Postpartum Exercise Tips
Nine Ways to Lose the Baby Weight	Probiotics Help Melt Postpartum Belly Fat	Catch Some ZZZs to Lose the Baby Weight
Cut the Baby Fat! Three Tips From Postnatal Trainer	BabySugar Diaries: Weight Watchers Worked For Me!	Battle of the Baby Weight: Invest in a Postnatal Trainer