Without Starving Myself, Losing My Milk Supply, Or Making Myself Absolutely Crazy!
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When it comes to postpartum weight loss, slow and steady is the name of the game! It takes time and more importantly- consistency- to regain strength, tone and flexibility after a pregnancy. Each of my recoveries have been different, with my return to baseline taking longer with each child I birthed. This is what I’ve learned along the way!
Let’s get into what worked for me to get strong and lose pregnancy weight after each of my three pregnancies!
Health and wellness have always been a priority for me. When my body doesn’t feel good, it takes a huge amount of effort to maintain an optimistic, motivated, problem solving state of mind. With 3 kids, 2 step kids, a couple family businesses and what feels like a million moving parts, there isn’t much room for me to be achy, grumpy and unmotivated!
Each of my pregnancies had their own set of challenges and I quickly gained weight- between 40-50 lbs- each time. I think back to how tired I was while pregnant, and no wonder! That is a lot of extra weight to be carrying around everywhere I went.
After each pregnancy, my number one goal was always to get back to feeling good, having energy, a pain-free body, and balanced moods. This aligned with regaining strength, flexibility, and losing excess fat until I returned to my happy and healthy weight range.
I am not one to do anything extreme or crazy, and I am committed to treating my body with love and acceptance, no matter its size or shape. But I also am not willing to wait years until time magically opens up and I have extra time and space to focus on my own health!
By focusing on improving my health and fitness soon after having a new baby, I have been able to show up better for my family and myself. The positive energy I have when exercising and eating nutritious foods is invaluable in helping me manage a big busy household, run a couple of small businesses, stay connected to my husband and friends, and still feel good doing it all!
Each of our bodies are different, and I’ve experienced an ever-evolving learning curve of understanding what works best for my body and mind to feel good.
Here I’m going to share the most transformative tools that have helped me steadily and moderately lose all the baby weight after each pregnancy, keep it off, and not lose my mind in the process!
Tool #1: Eating Whole Foods + Meal Prepping *As Much As Possible*
For the love of God, MEAL PREP!! I know too well how appetizing all the packaged junk in the pantry looks when you are starving, breastfeeding, and exhausted. Do yourself the biggest favor and take 20 minutes today to chop up a bunch of veggies, rinse off some fruit, and shake up a salad dressing. Eating whole foods will keep you energized, satisfied, and is superior in all aspects to packaged, pre-made meals and snacks.
It does take more effort to eat whole foods but a little planning will go a long way. When you cook dinner, double the batch and have the rest for leftovers tomorrow. Make a big batch of overnight oats, banana muffins, and soup on Sunday evening and you will thank yourself all week long.
It seems daunting until it’s done, and this is one of the changes I wish I had implemented sooner. It has made life so much easier to cook A LOT a few times a week instead of a little a few times a day. As your kids get older, get them involved in the meal prep and it will make feeding them easier, too!
Tip #2: Learn To Balance My Blood Sugar and Eat For A Stable Blood Sugar
I have always had a serious sweet tooth and felt like my body is sensitive to blood glucose fluctuations. Low blood sugar on me looks like a raging, confused, decision-paralyzed mean-mom and too much sugar makes me restless, depressed, and unable to sleep deeply. It took a long time for me to get a grip on how exactly to manage my blood sugar so I don’t feel those swings so dramatically.
One of the biggest resources has been implementing the Glucose Goddess Method hacks. I can’t even begin to explain how life altering this has been for me. Not only do the hacks balance out my blood sugar all day long, they have practically eliminated my sugar cravings. I went from thinking about eating all day long, to eating 3 meals a day and not obsessing about hunger much at all.
The hacks are easy to implement with very little planning- and I don’t have to change what I’m eating, just how I’m eating it. GENIUS! Check out The Glucose Revolution and The Glucose Goddess Method books to learn this transformational method.
Tool #3: An All-Inclusive Fat-Loss Program That Works
If you’re the kind of gal who just needs a program, I’ve got you.
Adjusting to motherhood is a huge feat, and sometimes it’s just way too overwhelming to create a nutrition plan, hunt for workouts on Pinterest, and make time to actually do those workouts without help and support!
If you want to feel in control of your diet, have an effective and challenging workout program spelled out for you, and loads of resources and community support- this is for you.
I’ve completed the Faster Way to Fat Loss 6-Week Program 3 times now, and each time I lean more and more into the concepts of intermittent fasting, carb cycling, macro counting, and focused workouts.
I love that this program never left me hungry! During one of the rounds, when my middle son was breastfeeding and going through a growth spurt, I started waking up in the night hungry. My coach immediately increased my macros to provide enough nutrition for BOTH of us. I never felt weak, depleted, or undernourished.
The program is focused around whole foods (no supplements or shakes to buy!), and is 100% breastfeeding friendly. Each time I went through, I let go of 5-8 pounds of fat and increased muscle mass, strength and flexibility. All while keeping my sanity.
For these reasons, this is the only weight loss program I ever recommend to my Acupuncture clients, friends and family, and I HIGHLY recommend it!
Learn More About The FASTER Way to Fat Loss HERE
Tool #4: Apps and Programs That Make Movement Easy To Do At Home
When I’m in maintenance mode, I love going to local group fitness classes when I can. Being in a crowd with an in-person instructor is so motivating to push myself harder than I do at home.
But, there are many times when I don’t have a sitter, my husband is busy, or a kid is home sick- and I’m just stuck at home. I never use this as an excuse to not workout! At home workouts can be just as effective. I have a set of adjustable dumbbells and I use the SWEAT app. I’ve been following Kayla Itsines for the last 10 years and her app has a great interface and the workouts deliver!
It has dozens of program options, from beginners to experts, yoga to weight lifting, to HIIT and Cardio focused programs. This app was a lifesaver after my 3rd pregnancy when I had a hip injury. I started back at step 1 in Kayla’s Postpartum Program and slowly, week by week, I regained my strength and stability, reduced my pain, and now I am powering though the challenging PWR Strength Program with confidence!
Tool #5: Work Movement Into Daily Life With Kids
I know too well how easy it can be with a new baby to sit around the house with the TV on, napping and cuddling with that sweet baby. There is nothing wrong with this! But I found that I needed to balance the lazy, cozy, slow times with movement, energy, and fresh air.
Load the baby in the stroller and take a walk, take the big kids on a bike ride, park a little farther away from the store, put on a yoga video, and try to get your body moving in the little bits of the day where it is possible. I find that getting my movement in first thing in the morning sets me up for a better day with a sense of accomplishment and endorphins.
Losing the baby weight took time and effort! It took 9 months to gain and grow my big, healthy babies, and it took about that long to feel like my body was my own again after giving birth. It took flexibility, positivity and commitment to reach my goals. These tools gave me the framework and commitment to get there!