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Definitely wait until your 6 week appointment to get cleared for exercise. I was okay to exercise but i couldn't do anything strenuous like running/spinning for 3 months while seeing a post-partum physiotherapist. I wanted to die!

I know how you feel though, especially if you were in awesome shape before pregnancy. I sometimes felt like i looked better in clothes DURING pregnancy than i did afterwards because at least back then i didn't have love handles!

Be patient..especially the first 2 months. The last thing you want is to get injured and not be able to do ANYTHING for a couple of months because you jumped the gun. I'm sure you're looking great right now!

1) 5 weeks pp and only 8 lbs to go is amazing.

2) Don't call yourself fat. You look amazing.

3) You really should be wait to be cleared before we exercise, and probably shouldn't jump into the deep end. I wasn't actually cleared until 12 weeks pp, and even at 8-10 weeks walking could be too much.

4) I can't empathize with having an ED, but I do think that you should see someone. You're very negative about yourself, and you might think it's fine/funny, but someday soon Harper is going to start paying attention. Think about what it will do to her to keep hearing her Mommy call herself a fat wife. You need to be her role model, and yes it's important to stay active and healthy, but I worry you'll be setting her up for a future ED if you're so negative about your own amazing figure.

5) Seriously, 5 weeks is nothing. Cut yourself some slack.

@PrincessBaby: I totally sympathize! I also struggled with an ED for several years, and now that I am no longer pregnant, I find it scarily easy to slip back into that mindset ("Hmm how many meals can I skip today?' "Maybe I"ll have another coffee instead of a sandwich" etc). I also worked out throuhgout pregnancy and didn't gain a ton of weight so I kind of thought the weight would just fall off. And a lot of it has, but our bodies are just DIFFERENT after having babies! I actually find this post partum period harder than being pregnant and having a belly, because now that I'm thinner than while preg, I feel like I should be back at my pre preg body, but I'm not. Bottom line, we need to cut ourselves some slack. I honestly just avoided mirrors for the first 8 weeks, or whenever I felt especially down about my body. I'm now trying to focus less on my weight and more on building strength and muscle, while I"ll need to chase LO around! Also, you're BFing right? According to this, the greatest weight loss due to BF occurs during months 3-6!! So you might see a greater loss in the coming months. http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html

Just hang in there, hun--you're also still dealing with those fun pp hormones, which for me made a lot of things seem really really bad. It will get better and you will start feeling more like yourself and way less frumpy (not that you could ever be frumpy! You are a MILF fo' sho'!). And I also agree with pps who said think about when Harper is older--how do you want her to think about her body? She's going to learn from you, and it's never to early to start practicing what you'll be preaching. As someone who grew up with a mom who also had/has an ED, I can tell you it has a hugely negative effect, and I know you only want health and happiness for little H!

I'm only 2 weeks post partum, so my body is still all out of whack. I just wanted to chime in and say to not be so hard on yourself. I also agree with everyone saying to think of how it will affect your daughter. Growing up, my (thin) mom was always noting how "fat" she was, and how pregnancy specifically changed her body for the worse. It really affected my own relationship with my body while growing up, and even when I became pregnant I often had this refrain going in the back of my mind that pregnancy would ruin my body. My mom never ever had anything bad to say about me or my weight and was actually very encouraging, but seeing her beat up on herself had a profound effect on how I viewed my body and my weight.

I'm 16 days PP and am pudgy. I really want to start doing crunches or something, but am refraining until I get my all clear. Physically I feel fine, and am actually at a lower weight than I've weighed in probably 10 years, including all of pregnancy, but I just feel icky. I know that I need to wait, but it's hard. You have to take care of yourself, especially mentally!

@PrincessBaby: just wanted to add that I think feeling frumpy is the curse of the new Mom. Like someone else suggested, getting so,e cheap temporary clothes that fit will do a world of good. I weigh less than I did now at 8 months pp and STILL feel frumpy in yoga pants and a tshiry day after day. Also, regarding the flat stomach, my midwife told me it can take months for your uterus to shrink back down to the size it was before baby. So while you may see it as pudge or whatever, it is your body still physically recovering from having a baby!

I have to admit I didn't read all of what the PP said because im in my car parked at the bank, but, @PrincessBaby: although body image is not everything, I do believe being in shape is beneficial obviously for physical health but also for emotional health. I feel better when I'm thin -ill admit it. Come on, who doesn't. Lets be real here. I can be a better wife & mom if my self esteem is high. Sure-myhusban loves me either way but I want to be "me" again!
I started the 3ds about 5 days ago and I can feel things tightening up already and yesterday my husband (who thinks my body is still super sexy even tho it's totally not) said he can me getting "tiny" (his words!" Again. So that def encouraged me to keep going.
Oh and as far as your current body- stay away from skinny chicks and the mirror for a few weeks;) I almost cried when my sis came to visit me 1w PP while wearing my old PPreg jeans that I had lent to her;) you will get there! I can be your workout buddy if you want;) we can text before after pics and even bitch about Jillian together;) I'm determined and I refuse to allow people to make me think being a mom is enough and getting in shape or back to Pp body is impossible or unimportant.

@TurtleDoves @RachieCakes: Agree! While what you look like does not define who you are, it is an important part of who you are. I worked very hard to maintain my figure pre-pg, and to the extent possible, I plan to get it back! I also agree that even though I understand that my LO is so much more important than how much I weigh or how flat my tummy is, I am a happier, more relaxed, more confident person when I am happy with my physical state.

@PrincessBaby: I just want to add that I did not intend for anything I previously posted to imply that this was not a vitally important issue and that you should just *settle*.

@PrincessBaby: You are gorgeous, lady. H's daddy is a lucky dude, and I'm sure he counts his blessings every time he looks at his hot mama wife!