Gaining pregnancy pounds was all fun and games until it comes time to lose the weight you gained.
When is the right time to start trying to lose your baby weight?
I’m sure everyone feels differently about this. Really I think it comes to when you’re motivated to do it.
It doesn’t matter if you had a baby 8 months ago or 8 years ago, if you’ve got some pesky post baby pounds to lose, we can do this together.
For me, the time is now. My baby just turned three months old. I’ve spent the past 12 weeks focusing on adjusting to my new life and routine with him. I feel like now is a good time to focus on myself again.
Mostly because I’m totally sick of living in my leggings!
During my pregnancy I gained 40 pounds of baby weight and didn’t care one bit. I gave in to every pregnancy craving with no shame!
The first month after having my sweet little one, it was easy to lose the first 20 pounds. It was probably mostly water weight, the actual baby, and his “home”. The other 20 pounds I put on was just all my weight that went everywhere else, lol.
It is what it is, but now the party is over and time to get back to me.
Mostly because I’m totally sick of living in my leggings!
Although I’ve never had to lose baby weight before I do know that I can lose the weight because I’ve had to lose more weight than this before.
Truth be told, I was always fluctuating weight and it’s story of my life for as long as I can remember to gain and lose weight. It’s going to be my life long battle but I know that’s not the worst battle I can be in.
I will say, everyone is so different. Some people have a lot of weight to lose whether it be pregnancy pounds or maybe you started over weight to begin with before you ever got pregnant.
Some of you may be the super natural women who hear things like, “Didn’t you just have a baby? You are so skinny already!”.
But don’t discredit their insecurities just because you think they didn’t see their body completely change and maybe even back to their smaller frame, it may be unrecognizable to them in the mirror.
There’s some things we can’t change, like stretch marks and hips that changed. But if you’re just carrying some extra pesky pounds and want to lose them. Join me doing so.
1. Inspiration Photo: A pre-pregnancy photo of yourself? A photo of you in your “prime”? Or maybe not you at all…maybe it’s your celebrity inspiration or a fitness model. Whatever your inspiration is, Print it, put it somewhere you’ll see it every day.
2. Come up with a diet plan: What works for you? What’s a realistic diet plan for you. No carb? Low carb? Paleo? Weight watchers, etc. Pick your diet plan and prepare for it.
3. Work it: Come up with your work out schedule. Can you fit working in to your day? There’s no work out too small to start. Find something you will enjoy. Walking with baby? Doing an at home work out 2-3 times a week? There’s tons of videos for quick work outs and even specifically for post-baby that you can find online. If you’re not ready to commit to a work out plan, try to stay as active as possible. I know it’s far too easy to sit around on the couch when you’re staying home especially when you have a brand new baby who doesn’t do much besides sleep, eat, and poop.
4. Get a partner: Is there someone in your life that can help you? Does your spouse want to lose weight too? Maybe you can do it together. If not,I’m sure you have a friend who wants to lose weight with you and you can both help each other stay motivated?
5. Set a Goal and get there:I am a goal oriented person. I have to set a goal for how much weight I want to lose (or how many inches/size I want to fit in) and I will get there. If you have a lot of weight to lose, don’t think about the whole number. Maybe go 10 pound goals at a time. With that said, usually when you take your time, it’s more likely to stay off. Don’t try to lose it all in a short amount of time doing something you won’t be able to keep up with.
6. Accountability: This can be scary but let everyone around you know that you are doing this! IT’S HAPPENING! Post a before photo of yourself if you feel like it. Or just let your support system know so that they can hold you accountable. Tell them to give you tough love when you’re not doing so good and accept the tough love when it’s given.
7. Give yourself a cheat day: I usually like Sundays to be my cheat day because I feel like it’s treating myself after being good all week.
8. Don’t give up! You will have tough days but usually once you get through the first week or so, you’ll be in your new routine. If you slip up and eat something bad, don’t keep going with it and quit. Shake it off and start back up!
Anyone else have any tips or tricks for getting back in shape after having a baby? Are you ready to commit to getting on a healthy routine? I’d love to hear what diet plan you’re following and what your routine will be.
Find joy in all of your journey,
Leanne, Spoiled Milk
