How I lost the baby weight!

How I lost the baby weight.

I think that when most women get pregnant one of their biggest fears other than the health of the baby is how their body is going to change and how much weight they are going to gain.

If you have been on a weight loss journey before the pregnancy I feel that the feelings and fears are far worse. When I had my first two pregnancies I gained 65 and 70 pounds and no one told me different with my first pregnancy. People just let me be with my first pregnancy and I honestly, I PROMISE YOU I HONESTLY THOUGHT that I would go back to 105 pounds after the first baby. I was pregnant by myself meaning I was the first of my friends to get pregnant so I was riding this one solo. My mother told me that I was all water weight and I had no reason not to believe her she to me, was an expert. She was right but not completely. I was left with 30 pounds after I lost the water, baby, etc. My second pregnancy went back down to 135 within 6 months of beating my butt at the gym doing the Body For Life program and eating a ton of chicken and broccoli. I actually hate chicken and broccoli now that I am more educated on healthy choices.

With my third pregnancy, I was well educated on health and fitness and had my healthiest pregnancy. I gained 45 pounds and had to work for 10 pounds of weight loss. I was scared that I was going to go back to my old ways and that I was going to get to 135 again and stay there. My body set point must be 135 because when I lost the weight that is where it stopped and I had to start fighting my body to get the weight off.  I can tell you that it was a journey and it was frustrating but worth getting back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. I am now at my pre-pregnancy weight 127 but I would like to get back to my 120 pounds that I was before I went on this binge at a wedding I went to the year I got pregnant with Molly. I never bothered to lose the weight because I knew I was going to get pregnant and that I did 2 months later.

How did I lose the weight??? 

I ate real food. I am not one to label myself to anything but I ate mostly Paleo. The only times I strayed was for my weekly pizza happy meal habit with occasional breadsticks.

So what did my meals consist of?

Chicken wings, chicken thighs, steaks of all kinds, seafood, homemade broth, all kinds of vegetables, sweet potatoes, potato, rice occasionally, pork of all cuts but mostly tenderloin it’s the most juicy cut and an occasional chicken breast thrown in there but I am not kidding when I tell you I hate chicken breasts. I did also eat chips and candy but in moderation and NOT every day. I also threw in some popcorn there. **I would have rather lost weight eating the things that I enjoy than depriving myself for however long and being miserable** That my friends is the secret to weight loss slow and steady = stress free long lasting weight loss

I did Beachbody workout programs. I did do Crossfit as well but only for about a month. I was getting exertion migraines and had to stop. I did Body Beast right after but, my arms started to get REALLY big (I am a super petite person and my arms were nearing 11 inches while the rest of my body was shrinking LOL) and I didn’t like that so I started the 21 Day Fix Extreme recently and I am loving the portion control and workouts and for the first time doing the 21 Day Fix I am not hungry! I feel that I am fine tuning the last bit of my weight loss.

I allowed myself time.

There were moments when I got really frustrated. Here are a few memorable ones! 

I couldn’t do all the moves to my workouts because of my Diastsis Recti.

My running sucked, I started back at a 12 minute mile from running a 9 minute mile.

I couldn’t lift 20 pound weights anymore.

I was doing Body Beast and my inches and weight were stuck for three weeks. With the exception of my ever growing arms I was stuck at a plateau.

**I didn’t realize what pregnancy did to a fit body because my last 2 pregnancies were lazy**

After you have a baby you must remember that inside things are happening and your body is healing. As much as we would all like it to happen losing the baby weight is not as easy as some super celebrities make it out to be. I wanted to have all the weight off by Christmas but I found that to be too soon for a goal time even though I was close, I was putting too much pressure on myself and changed it to a year after the baby was born. I did that because realistically that’s how long it takes for the body to recover from pregnancy. Now here I am at 8 month post fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans but also knowing that I am not finished yet. I need to create the buffer I had of 120-125 to better suit my body.

This is pretty much how I succeeded. I took my time I was patient for the most part with plenty of impatient days and when I least expected it………last night, my pre-pregnancy clothes fit. No matter what journey you are on patience is the key and keep remembering why you are doing this which I hope is optimal health.

I realize this was a long post but I certainly hope that you read through it and if you need help please ask. I would love to help you out in any way that I can as long as you have the motivation to push through.