Oh no! The day has finally come. My points value will be changing very soon to the standard 29 per day rather than the 43 per day that I have been enjoying as a nursing mom. Even though I have been pumping several times each day at work, before I go to bed, and in the morning after I nurse my son, my milk supply has been slowing dwindling down to almost nothing. I managed to provide milk for my first son until he was almost 9 months old, but my second one is not as big of an eater, so my milk isn't lasting as long. With all of the milk I have stored in the freezer, I probably have enough to last until he is almost 8 months old - not too bad, considering I went back to work when he was four months old and have been pumping since then.
The funny thing is, although I will miss the bonding I experience while nursing the baby, and it is really convenient to be able to nurse him to sleep if nothing else will work, the thing I am going to miss the most is those 14 extra points I get through Weight Watchers. Those points have spoiled me during the past several months. I am used to eating a certain amount and having plenty of points for dessert or an extra snack after dinner. I feel like now I will have to re-adjust my entire eating strategy as though I were starting WW from the beginning again. It is almost as though I weren't really on a "diet" before - I was just eating a little healthier. Now I feel like I am about to start a true diet, which I am not looking forward to.
The good thing is, I only have about 10 more pounds to lose until my goal weight of 145. I have been stuck at 154 for a month now, and I am pretty sure the reason is that I am still using the higher points allowance for nursing moms even though I am not producing as much milk. I definitely need to reduce my daily points allowance, but I have been putting it off because I know I will have to eliminate several of my daily snacks and reduce my meal sizes. I mean, 14 points is a lot of food! It is about half of the 29 points that I will be allowed to eat soon.
I am giving myself this week to stay at the 43 point level, but starting Sunday, I will be changing my daily points allowance to 29. This will give me a week to mentally prepare myself for the change in diet, as well as mentally prepare to stop nursing. I am just not making enough milk to satisfy my baby, so I know it is for the best. With all the pumping I do, I am only getting one bottle's worth of milk - a lot of effort for not much return. I am happy with making it almost 8 months, though, which I know is more than most working moms are able to do.
I will definitely NOT miss the pumping, though, or having to wash all the pump parts every day. So, this week, I will say goodbye to my 14 points, goodbye to my breastpump, and hello to more bottles to wash! Oh, and hopefully hello to a skinnier me!
You're that close to goal? That is fantastic! Surely your new daily points will spur you on to your goal. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWow! That is a drop in points. When the new PointsPlus program came out last November, I felt like it was Christmas every morning because I'd only had 18 points on the old program. I don't use the extra points though. :)
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