I’m writing this post because I’m once again 5 months pregnant. We will have three girls in less than four years (my poor, poor, poor husband). With this said, my oldest two are only 21 months apart and I lost every pound (by working SO hard) in between them and I lost every pound plus four more within six months of giving birth to my second. NO, I’M NOT TOOTING MY HORN BECAUSE YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!!! Sidenote: I gained 40 pounds with my 2nd. I was huge and you would have to kill me before I would publicly share a photo of how bad I looked right before I had her. I had zero ankles if you know what I mean.
BUT…. Here’s a picture of me in a bikini with my two girls (so it’s proven!).
I even had a little bit of abs!
I’ve got some tips for how you can do it too! I know, I know, diets suck, but YOU CAN DO IT. I swear once you get past the first two weeks, you’ll be golden because you’ll see how much weight you’re losing and will be too addicted to stop. Here’s what I have for you:
1. Pick a diet and stick to it. DIET IS 90% OF THE BATTLE. I chose South Beach Diet, but I pretty much started with phase two because I was breastfeeding. Once I stopped breastfeeding around nine months, I switched to Paleo. I felt SO DANG GOOD. Of course it was hard at first, especially after I ate whatever in site while I was pregnant, but I actually felt really good and energized.
2. Breastfeed! I’ve heard that this doesn’t work for everyone, but for me it really did! I used that extra 500 calories to my advantage and did not just consume them with food. Side note: I HATE bf, but I knew in my mind it was good for them and the calories just gave me that much more of a boost.
3. The minute you can start working out, do it! Get into that workout routine right after your six week check-up. Spend one hour per day doing something active. If you don’t want to leave your child with someone at a gym, leave him/her with your husband. No excuses. Look for a good gym with good classes. I LOVE my gym (thank you Lifetime Fitness, Dulles) and all the classes that they offer. I also love the kids place there. With this being said, get your baby used to it early. They will learn to like it, I promise! It’s also good for mommy to get away for a bit!
4. Avoid anything with sugar. I am kind of repeating myself with the whole diet thing, but you have to let go of it. Remember white carbohydrates turn to sugar. My favorite snack is a banana with all natural peanut butter (it’s the stuff you have to stir that only contains peanuts and oil). It’s hard at first, but once you’re used to it, you’ll love the feeling. I don’t even crave potatoes at all anymore, I have zero desire to ever order a baked potato. Plus my skin is clear, SO much more clear!
5. Weigh yourself often. It keeps me on track. I’m seriously obsessed, it keeps me motivated and have self control. I have this scale and I couldn’t recommend it more. I use it everyday. I know I know, experts say to only weigh yourself once a week, but I do it every morning. It’s what works for me. It might not work for you, but you need to do it so you can keep track of your success.
6. This sounds crazy, but put a pre-pregnancy picture of yourself up. It never hurts to get more motivation. Before I had kids, I worked dang hard to be skinny and I wasn’t going to let people say “man, she let herself go after kids”. Instead, I wanted the opposite.
Lastly, I want to let you know that I did have to work really hard to get my weight off and that I’m not naturally a “small” person. I don’t want people to think that it just comes natural for some and that it’s not worth trying. I do believe that some people are naturally small, but they aren’t naturally fit. Once you lose the weight, work extra hard to firm it all up. I know you can do it too. It’s never too late to start (even if your last baby was 5 years ago). I’m already stoked to go at it again. I just know how good I feel when I’m small verses feeling big all over. In fact, this time around, post baby of course, I’m doing a little challenge with a friend so we keep each other accountable. That could easily be another motivating tool for some people.
So, with all this said, please try this and let me know how it works for you! You will feel so awesome. Happy dieting and working out! Here’s part of my motivation! I have so much fun with them and I can because I have ENERGY.
Our crazy family!
Happy New Year again!
