I had my first three children in my early twenties. By the age of 28 I was home with 3 kids under the age of 4. I suffered the typical early pregnancy nausea with all three, but by the half way point I was back to myself. Running, lifting weights, taking on every project I could handle.
At 38, ten years after my youngest was born, and remarried, I was shocked to discover I was pregnant. I had always heard horror stories about others' pregnancies and now that was me. In addition to being sick and nauseous the entire first half of the pregnancy, I became virtually disabled. I looked like a cute pregnant lady on the outside, but I was STRUGGLING to walk, to stand upright, to breath. And I am talking way more than what should be considered normal. Walking around the grocery store made me feel as though I was going to pass out. My heart rate would go through the roof. I couldn't even make my bed, cook a meal, or carry my purse without feeling faint. We couldn't get answers. Doctors would say it was "just pregnancy". But that wasn't what pregnancy looked like in my 20's? HA! Well I wasn't 20 anymore.
Due to nausea, sickness, flu, physical disability, eventual bed rest, and so on, I didn't workout AT ALL. For a fit mom, who lifted weights, ran, and did bootcamp classes, I was just dumbfounded that my body was turning on me so quickly. Carbs were the only food that settled my stomach. Eating right was the least of my concerns, as I was miserable. The weight came on, my legs started rubbing together, my boobs started to sweat, and I became an inactive whale. I never weighed myself the entire time. I just didn't want to know. At the doctor's office, I would look the other way, and demand my husband do the same.
The moment my 9.5 pound buddle was born I felt amazing, and was on a slow road to recovery. I researched and googled articles on weight loss while breast feeding and didn't find much. Of course dieting isn't recommended for nursing moms and everyone says nursing takes the weight off fast. HA! I don't know about that. Here is how I approached my journey to regaining my body. I hope this helps you.
1- "Focus on activity not results"
We all want to lose weight, we all want to get healthy. The way to that end goal is through teeny, tiny, little habits, which I will share below. Someone once told me that to climb the highest, steepest part of the mountain, they climb at night. The reason was because if you could see how far you were from the top, you would give up. By climbing at night, you can only see the very next step. So my advise? For baby weight loss and general weight loss? Don't weigh yourself daily. When the number was high? I would get upset and discouraged. When the number was low, I would get lazy. Weight yourself twice a month, all the while sticking to the habit changes below.
2- Water
I know this isn't novel info. We all know it's important. But how do we make our gallon-a-day duty a habit? My small habit change was filling 6 large Turvis cups first thing in the morning and placing one at each place I travel throughout the day, making it easy to make the right choice. One on the bed stand, one on my vanity, one at the sink, one in the kitchen, two at my desk, one next to the nursing chair... Everywhere! You could fill a gallon each day and leave on your desk if you work out of the home. No sweet tea, no orange juice, no soft drinks, no diet sodas (they trigger the same sugar cravings in your brain that non-diet soda does). One last reminder- our brains' signal for hunger and thirst feel the same, so drink a full glass of water when you feel hungry, before eating, just to make sure your body isn't just thirsty. 
3- Emergency Food
One of the biggest mistakes we make when trying to lose weight is becoming too hungry. Becoming too hungry leads to bad decisions. That's when we engorge, swing through the drive through window, snag a candy bar. A small habit change to prevent this? Store food in every crevice like a squirrel. Your purse, diaper bag, glove compartment, desk drawer, or anywhere else you can think of. My emergency foods are: protein bars, protein shakes, almonds (unsalted), peanuts (unsalted), trail mix (without candy) I grab boiled eggs, skim cheese sticks, beef jerky or a meal prep (talking about that later) out of the fridge When you have a baby you learn to plan ahead right? We make sure to have extra formula, cheerios, etc. You have to do the same for you. Do not skip this step. Take some time this week to buy and store your emergency food.
4- Your addiction
What's that one thing you can't just have one of? Is it a sugary item? Is it salty item? For me it's sweets. My favs are brownies, cookies, graham crackers, and chocolate anything. Now I know many diet plans advertise "you can eat what you want" and still lose weight. And we all know they are referring to this thing called "moderation" but I am going to argue that you should treat yourself like an ADDICT, and even one bite of that one thing should be considered a RELAPSE. Oh yes. I'm serious. I am referring to those items that you know you want the entire plate, that if you get started it's a slippery slope. In those moment say to yourself, "You are not worth it, you are like a one-night-stand. I am going to eat you, there will be one moment of pleasure, and then I will regret you, and obsess over why I made the decision to eat you. You will not call me back but will be a notch in the wrong direction on my belt." If you have kids and those items are readily available in your house... HIDE THEM! This is how I honestly approach everything from chips to cookies... I just say NO! Not even one bite. A body builder once told me that the moment you introduce sugar into your system you stop the fat burning process in it's tracks. I think about that all the time.5- Measure
Start tracking everything (this is your food journal). I would suggest tracking for at least three months. The truth is in the numbers. One of the additional benefits of tracking is that you will begin to memorize calories and carb count for your favorites. After 3-6 months you will have a very good handle on what foods are worth it and what foods aren't. This also comes in handy for eating out, as you can pull up most restaurants easily inside the app. I would also suggest having a friend or accountability partner to share your results with daily. Screen shot the daily recap and send the pic to your buddy.
MACROS While on my weight loss journey I was much more concerned with macro nutrients than I was calories. Yes I stayed within my calorie goal, but I also watched my breakdown between fat, protein, and carbs. SEE PICTURE. I will explain more below.
I do measure serving sizes ONLY when it's necessary and for items I tend to go overboard. For example: Nuts, creamer, meat, chips (like sweet potato chips). I don't measure serving size with veggies and protein as much because we need tons of it. Be reasonable of course.
CALORIES BURNED
I use a polar heart rate monitor to track where my heart rate is during workouts, and how many calories were burned during/after my workouts. We are not talking about how workouts contribute to weight loss today, that is a given. But this is just another way to get true numbers.
I know Fit Bits are all the rage but you cannot beat the accuracy of wearing a heart rate monitor. A Polar costs about $100 and comes with the heart rate strap for your chest. It's easy to use, there is no syncing to phones, or complicated settings.
TRACKING FOR BREAST FEEDING MOMS
We all know that weight loss of one pound per week happens when we reduce our calorie intake by 500 per day. We also know that breastfeeding moms need an additional 400-500 calories a day to produce milk. If you are a breastfeeding mama and your weight loss goal is to lose one pound per week (which is reasonable) simply use a weight loss calculator to find your magic weight loss number. Then add 500 calories to that to account for milk production.
Example:
My 500 per day deficit goal was 1850
Add 500 to that number to account for milk supply 2350
I am still losing weight at a rate of one pound per week, even though I have upped my calorie goal.
6- More about Macros
Number one, did you notice above that sugar isn't listed as a macro? So yeahhhhh... Just say no! Unless you are the kind that can just have one Oreo, track it on your calorie counter, and put the entire remaining bag away, then don't go there. Remember the one night stand? Remember that sugar stops the fat burning process? Remember that the fat on your body is stored sugar. When you are lacking glycogen, your body will break down fat to make it! Carbohydrates are also a fast source of energy for your body, and is quickly converted to glycogen. Not only do we want to limit sugar and carbohydrates, but we want to only eat carbs that are high on the glycemic index. Carbs high on the index are broken down slowly, fuel our bodies better, and do not cause sugar spikes.Here are the ONLY carbs I eat: Veggies, beans, real oatmeal (not instant), Ezekial bread, protein pancakes (made with oatmeal not flour), sweet potatoes, brown rice (occasionally) & whole wheat low-carb wraps. Fruit occasionally. These types of carbs are all slowly digested.
Just say NO: white bread of any kind, bagels, chips, crackers, cookies etc.
7- Carbohydrates
While eating low-carb, or what I like to call good-carb eating, you should not feel hungry, because you are eating plenty of protein and fat. Fat got a bad wrap back in the low-fat craze but when you are eating low carb, you can definitely consume more fat. Additionally, fat and protein keep you satisfied for longer periods, and keep your body from breaking down muscle for energy. We want the body to break down stored fat to make energy. Remember to look at labels for grams of carbs. Also you can subtract dietary fiber from carb count, to get the NET carb count. One of our guilty pleasures is low-carb tortilla wraps, which are net 6 grams of carbs per wrap.
Stafford and I eat LOTS of turkey burgers and lean beef burgers sandwiched in a low-carb wrap.
When tracking using the APPS above, you can adjust the settings to track Macros (Fat, Protein, and carbs) to an exact percentage. This helps me to stay balanced.
8- Meal Prepping
Weight loss is a long distance race, not a sprint, and every small step, is a step in the right direction.
What can we do to set ourselves up for success? What are the small actions you can take to make a goal more attainable? One more example and I will leave it alone. I am terrible about take vitamins. I rarely remember. So I had to come up with a plan that worked for me. I took all the supplements out of their bottles, places them in a bowl, and put them on my makeup vanity, so that every morning they stare at me. I am now taking my vitamins regularly. I have even gone as far as writing myself notes and placing on the mirror. Whatever you have to do to set yourself up for success... DO IT.
If you would like our grocery shopping list and our weekly favorite low-carb recipe just email me at imagebylisa@yahoo.com and I will forward it to you.
Until next time! <3
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