Losing My Baby Fat

As a mother of six, I've definitely gained my share of baby fat.  It seemed that with each pregnancy, I gained about five pounds, so that by the time I was pregnant with my last, I was about thirty pounds heavier than I wanted to be. 

I was determined while I was pregnant the last time that I wouldn't gain any more weight than I had to.  Of course, it helped that I got a bad case of heartburn during that pregnancy and had to eat smaller, more frequent meals.  This kept me from overeating.  I started listening to Jonathan Roche's blogtalk radio show, which is free on iTunes and www.blogtalkradio.com/noexcusesweightloss .  From him, I learned some simple changes that could help me lose weight.  Most importantly, I learned that any movement can count as exercise.  This was a huge concept for me because I was always too exhausted to "exercise" during pregnancy.  Now that I could count mopping or shopping or taking out the trash as exercise, I was "exercising" more often. 

I gained thirty pounds during my pregnancy, but six weeks after I had my nine-pound baby, I weighed ten pounds less than I did before I got pregnant.  (No, I'm not recommending having another child as a weight-loss method.)  Around this time, my insurance sent my husband and me a letter about a free health coaching program.  Since it was free, I signed up immediately.  I figured I could use all the help I could get to lose the rest of my baby weight.  Having a health coach helped me stay motivated to complete my goals.

One of the things I discovered about weight loss is that it has a lot to do with attitude.  Back before I started losing weight, I would think things like, "After I lose all this weight, I'll buy myself some new jeans."  My new attitude became, "I want to look great now--no matter what I weigh."  I didn't spend a lot of money on clothes, but I did put more effort into how I looked every day and I did buy myself jeans that fit well.  I also decided I was never going to diet again.  Whatever changes I was making I was going to make for the rest of my life.  I also accepted that sometimes I was going to make mistakes.  If I ate too much one day that didn't mean I should give up and eat even more.

One of my favorite quotes is by Karen Lamb:  "A year from now you will wish you started today."  I often thought about how I would feel in a year if I quit eating dessert every night and just ate it once a week.  I made myself a list of all the reasons I wanted to lose weight, and as I lost weight, I found more and more reasons to add to my list.  For example, I love having enough energy to run with my kids, shopping for a smaller size, and not having to worry about heartburn anymore. I also got a great deal on my new life insurance policy.

I've lost about twenty-eight pounds and have a few pounds left before I reach my goal weight.  I weigh myself once a week, do cardio intervals three days a week, and strength train two days a week.  I actually spend less time exercising than I did back before I started losing weight but, because of the intervals, I'm in better shape.  I have slowly taught myself better health habits over the past 2 years like drinking water and eating vegetables.  I am still a work in progress.  My goal right now is to not eat anything after 8 pm at night.

Comments

  1. I think you look great! I even commented to your husband how beautiful and classy you looked on Sunday. So even with or without the weight loss - you look great - you dress very beautifully and look so classic!

    I am still working on my ideal weight. I lost about 15 pounds when I was really good at not eating dessert very often. I've put about 5 back on, but I am also content with how I am. I am healthy, active and can do pretty much whatever activity I want to - especially keeping up with the kids.

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  2. Thanks, Amy. I think you always look so pretty, and I love the way you dress.

    On Sunday I was wearing a dress I got at the clothing swap last year. I was kind of nervous to wear it, but several people told me they liked it.

    You're right about health and energy. We women can obsess about the numbers on the scale and the size we wear. If we focus on feeling healthy and energetic, I think we're a lot happier.

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