How I Lost My Baby Weight
Disclaimer: Because weight loss is a very controversial topic, I gotta hit you with a disclaimer. I am not a doctor, dietician, personal trainer, nutritionist, etc. I’m just someone who does a lot of reading and studying on topics that interest and benefit me. Staying fit and healthy is one of them. Most recently, losing baby weight became a priority—especially since I’ve never gained this many pounds at one time. Everyone’s body is different and you have to do what feels good in yours. The following blog includes all the things that really worked for me and my body.
How much did I weigh before? Now on to the good shit. I guess I should first tell you my stats. I’m a little shy of 5 feet 8 inches tall. Before I got pregnant, I weighed 138-ish lbs. During my pregnancy, I gained about 39 lbs. When it was time to get down and dirty losing the baby weight (month 4 postpartum), I weighed 157—so I had 19 lbs. to lose. I’m currently 10 months postpartum and I weigh 139 lbs. It took me about 6 months to shed my unwanted pounds. At this point, my focus has shifted to maintaining my weight and toning my body back up.
(This photo was taken a couple months before I got pregnant)
What is crucial to losing weight? I’ve learned that the weight only stays off when you incorporate ways of eating, certain foods, activities, and habits into your lifestyle for the long term. When you do something that isn’t sustainable for your everyday life to lose the initial weight, you’re already at a disadvantage. This is because you will typically go back to your regular shit. When this happens, you can’t expect the weight to stay off . . . because it most certainly will not. Doing things that you can’t maintain will literally lead you to fall back into the same habits that got you there in the first place. Making permanent changes to your diet and exercise routine is the only way to keep it off. I personally feel that the following 4 things used together is why I was so successful rather quickly. Also, I must mention that I’m as consistent as it comes when faced with a goal. My husband, Bobby, doesn’t call me the “the task master” for nothing. If you want to lose weight, you MUST be consistent. Not perfect, but consistent.
One. Intermittent Fasting. I was already doing this for 2.5 years before I got pregnant. For obvious reasons I had to press the pause button. I was itching to get back to it because it makes me feel INCREDIBLE. It provides early morning energy, keeps me from late night snacking, and allows me to consume less calories overall throughout my day (because I’m only taking in water for the first part). There is TONS of data that shows how beneficial intermittent fasting is for your body.
Here are some possible benefits:
Blood levels of insulin drop significantly (facilitates fat burning)
Blood levels of human growth hormone (HGH) may increase dramatically (facilitates fat burning and muscle gain)
Cellular repair
Beneficial changes in several genes related to longevity and protection against disease
Weight loss
Visceral fat loss
Reduces insulin resistance
Enhances the body’s resistance to oxidative stress
Fights inflammation
May be beneficial for heart health
Improves brain health
Check out the following 2 articles to learn more:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting#The-bottom-line
How do you do intermittent fasting? Now that you know how beneficial it can be, how do you do it? Basically, you abstain from eating or drinking anything outside of water for X amount of hours. The fast begins after you consume your last meal or beverage that isn’t water (yes, this means wine) and stops the following day after your chosen number of hours has passed. There are 3 levels (for lack of a better term); 12 hours, 14 hours, and 16 hours. I began at 12 hours and worked my way up to 16. For me, it often looks like this: I finish eating supper by 8:00pm at the latest. Moving forward, I do not consume anything other than water until noon (16 hours) the following day. Caffeine can personally make me jittery without food, so I don’t drink any until after I eat lunch (I don’t need it until then anyway). If this isn’t you, you can have plain coffee or tea—no cream or sugar—without breaking your fast.
Yes, you have to get your body acclimated to it. Yes, you do have to fight through hunger pangs in the beginning. No, it does not take a long time to get past this point. If you know me, you know I did countless hours of studying on this topic before I decided to try it. It’s not for everyone, but it works really well for me. Please do your own research from trusted sources before you make the decision to start this yourself.
Two. Cut out (or significantly limit) most processed carbohydrates. First, lemme say that THIS is the hardest one to incorporate. Everyone loves a carb! However, this one thing leaned me out so quick when I started doing it years ago. Second, everyone has a different relationship with food. Personally I’ve spent years redefining mine. It took me a long time to stop denying that what I eat has a bigger impact on staying fit and losing weight than actually working out does—yes, they’re both important, but abs start in the kitchen. I now understand how important REAL food is. By real food, I mean “not processed”. I mean fruits, vegetables, and meat (for me). I mean food that does not come from a bag or a box. This also means I have to spend most nights cooking and preparing my food. Yeah, it sucked at first, but it’s now a part of my nightly routine. Eating real, fresh, whole foods is a priority for me so I make the time to do it.
I started cutting out most processed carbohydrates several years ago. Once I did this, I was able to see just how terrible they made me feel after consuming them. They were making my blood sugar spike and drop dramatically. This led me to feeling shaky, lightheaded, and anxious. I found myself searching for something to eat immediately to make me feel balanced again. Did you hear me?? I had to eat more to stabilize my blood sugar. THIS IS NOT NORMAL.
The following paragraph from Dr. Nicole LePera’s book, HOW TO DO THE WORK, sums it up. “When we eat processed, sugar-laden foods, we’re hungry all the time because our body is starved for the nutrients it requires. This nutrient depletion continues to send hunger signals to our brain, causing us to feel the need to snack more often and, for some of us, to engage in overeating or bingelike behaviours. We eat and eat yet never feel satisfied, because nutritionally our body is not getting what it needs.” That last sentence, y’all.
What are some examples of processed carbs? Also known as refined carbs. Bread, pasta, tortillas, and bagels containing white flour. Pastries, white rice, and sugary breakfast cereal. Most snack foods; cookies, chips, crackers. Things made with whole wheat are still processed, but less processed. I personally steer clear of most of those as well. Hint: if it’s in a bag or a box, it has a higher chance of being processed.
I do eat processed carbs . . . come on, I’m not a monster! They’re just not a regular part of my diet. And I do get plenty of carbs in my diet, but mostly natural ones from fruits and vegetables. These are the ones our bodies were truly meant to digest and process.
How can cutting carbs lead to fat loss? Other than making me feel like shit, the other reason I keep them out of my diet—especially while losing weight—is because I prefer to set my body up to burn my excess fat for energy. Let me try to explain this (as I understand it) in the quickest way possible. Fat is a source of energy for your body. The other main energy source? Carbohydrates. But you see, it’s your hormones that dictate which source you use. Glucagon and insulin are 2 hormones in your body that help with fat burning. They’re like opposites; when one is high, the other is low. Your goal is to get your glucagon high and your insulin low because THIS is when your body is burning fat. When your insulin is high and your glycogen is low, it means your burning carbs.
Every food has a different effect on these 2 hormones. High carbohydrate meals usually make your insulin levels spike so your body can burn off that meal. Your body is always going to burn carbs first if they are present. What if you’re not active enough to burn off all the carbs you ate? Well, the rest gets stored and your body doesn’t have the opportunity to burn off the other calories you ate. If you have a meal that’s lower in carbs and high in fiber, fat, and protein, your insulin levels don’t spike that high. This means it doesn’t take long for your blood sugar to stabilize, your insulin levels to drop, and your glycogen levels to spike—which means you’re back to using (burning) fat for energy. And if you’re fasting like I am, you’re not consuming any calories when you first wake up, your body has had time to burn off the small amount of carbs it had last night (from vegetables), and you’re burning fat for an extra 4-5 hours. AND if you’re eating meals with less carbs most of the time, your body becomes a fat burning machine!
Lastly, when your insulin levels stay low (because you’re not eating a lot of carbs, especially processed ones), you’re less hungry, have less cravings for sugary and salty things, are less cloudy mentally, more focused, and have more physical energy. If I eat a larger number of carbs, I try to do so during the day when my body has more time to burn them—although I do expect that I will feel more sluggish. Most of the time, unless I’m splurging, I don’t eat processed carbs (only natural ones from vegetables) at night. Tah-dah! My body is burning more fat.
*Fun fact—carbs also make you retain more water weight. Every 1 gram of carbohydrate requires 2-3 grams of water to process and store it.
Three. Exercise 30 minutes a day for at least 5 days a week. This will be short because the human body is an amazing organism that works BEST when it’s active. Period. We were meant to move! You have to get your heart pumping to circulate all that blood in your body. I was on bedrest for 5 weeks after I gave birth so I wasn’t cleared to really get back into physical activity until about month 4. I had a lot of healing and pelvic floor therapy to do! It was really hard for me to just be. I had to remind myself often that my only job (outside of loving on my baby) was to allow my body to rest and heal. I didn’t want to get back to it and injure myself only to go back on bedrest. But lemme tell you what, I felt so bad not actively moving my body. I’m no Judge Judy, but I seriously don’t know how some of you don’t exercise in some capacity. I’m telling you that you’re depriving your body.
I read this great article that offered a shift in perspective. It said, “Further proof that the human body was designed to move, are the consequences of not moving. Physical inactivity leads to deterioration, such as:
Loss of bone density
Stiffening of joints
Weakening of muscles
Weakening of the heart and lungs
Degeneration of the cellular energy systems”
To read more: https://www.acefitness.org/resources/pros/expert-articles/5282/proof-that-the-human-body-was-made-to-move/
What kind of exercise was I doing? Because just jumping up and running to the yoga studio isn’t an option for me right now, I had to pivot. There’s this little thing called YouTube. Did you know they have thousands (if not millions) of free workouts?? Almost anything you want to do, you can find it on there . . . and a lot of them are quality! Don’t forget to show your thanks by subscribing to their channel and liking the workout. This is how they make their living.
I currently only have about 30 minutes to spend on a workout, so that’s what I do. I switch up between yoga and workouts with small weights. I try my best to do it 5-6 times a week. I always listen to my body. If I need a break, I take it. Since it’s only 30 minutes at a time, I don’t need that many breaks. Some of my local yoga studios still offer virtual classes too, so if I have an hour to spare, I jump online and take a class. This option is not free, but sometimes I need a little more than 30 minutes.
Four. Track my calories and exercises. This one is controversial. And for good reason. If you get too strict and wild on this, it can be hard on your mental health. But if this is used correctly and for the right reason, it can be extremely beneficial.
I do this for a few reasons.
It allows me to see if I have a calorie deficit for the day. Please know that it’s not quite as simple as calories in and calories out. You still have to pay attention to WHAT you’re putting in your body, but ultimately the weight is not going to come off if you’re eating more calories than you’re burning.
It helps me make better choices regarding what to eat. When I first started tracking, I was shocked to learn how many calories are actually in most foods! Just picking up something and mindlessly eating it can really add up. Tracking helps me pull back the reins on the serving sizes—especially snacks. At the end of the day, I can see the overall picture of what I have consumed vs. how much I have burned. When I’m tracking, I often ask myself, “Do I want this because I’m hungry or bored?” And “Do I really need to eat this or can I eat that?” Or “How much of this should I realistically eat?”
Tracking my exercises shows me how many more calories I can consume on the days I work out. If I burn 178 calories during my workout, that makes a huge difference in what I’m allowing myself to eat for the day. If I work out, I have more calories to play with that day—which helps because I’m usually hungrier.
It increases my awareness for when I stop tracking. Once I’ve been tracking for a while, I’m in a good habit of knowing what I’ve been eating and how much. It stays with me for a bit. Tracking is not something I do all the time. I use it as a tool while I am in “weight loss mode”. Once I get to where I want to be, I stop doing it every day. I come back to it from time to time to keep myself in check.
While tracking takes some time to do and really works best when you’re consistent with it, it was a catapult for my results. It held my ass accountable. And if you don’t cheat and lie when you’re doing it, it works even better. I use My Fitness Pal and by updating my weight every 5 lbs., it gave me a new (lower) calorie goal. This allowed me to stay true to the amount of calories I was supposed to eat at the new weight to continue dropping pounds.
Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Each action is important on its own, but I truly believe I was so successful (so quickly) because I did all of them together. Although I do not track every day, the other 3 remain a daily part of my routine. I am not perfect with it, but I do my very best. However, I feel amazing when I follow it as closely as possible. When I take breaks from working out, I get back to it as soon as I can. When I indulge in refined carbs, I expect to feel sluggish and I try to cut them out again the next meal. I intermittently fast every single day and I very rarely take breaks from this—because I just don’t need to. For me, it’s about a lifestyle of real food and movement with some splurging sprinkled in. While these things totally helped me lose weight, they also make me feel GREAT! And that’s really what I want most.
