I want to share with you how I lost over fifty pounds. First, itty bitty back story. I have had three cesarean sections (not by choice, and yes I did try to vbac). I never fully got down to my pre baby weight. I was a 10/12 when I met my husband, and weighed around 145 pounds. I never exercised, ever. After delivering my first baby, the weight piled on. We were not able to get pregnant for four years. I gave up on having another baby, and decided to get healthy first. I started one of the mlm weightloss programs to no avail. Then I decided I couldn’t snap my fingers and have a new body. I would have to work for the body I wanted. I begin to exercise vigorously and eat clean. Soon I had lost nearly 25 pounds and became pregnant. Once we delivered our second baby, our doctor said not to waste time if we wanted another one any time soon. Apparently we were more fertile than I previously had thought. By the time our second son was nine months old I was pregnant again.
I am so happy to have my three little darlings, but I was gaining weight fast. This weight was different. It was stubborn, and higher than ever before. I knew from my previous weightloss attempts that I had to work at it. I began with a clean diet, but in our family it’s not always practical. My friend introduced me to a diet that helped, but I wasn’t fully comfortable with. I began using my knowledge with other plans integrated for my goals.
First I counted calories with the free myfitnesspal app. Second I ate cleaner. I began using sprouted bread, and less of it. I ate things not normally in my diet, chia seeds, collagen, greek yogurt, stevia, etc… Third, I cut out sugar (not fruits, and maybe a few grams were allowed, but I was pretty strict in this area). Fourth I ate something every three hours. Fifth I drank water, or herbal teas, and coffee only. Sixth I cut out regular milk. I would substitute with a little heavy whipping cream, or half and half. Yes these are dairy, but I didn’t cut out dairy all together. I just chucked the jug. I did use cream cheese, cottage cheese, and other dairy items with milk in them in moderation. Lastly, I exercised a little. I used free exercises on YouTube, apps, or just jumping jacks. Some days I would only exercise for one minute, others an hour or more. The point was to do something, anything to keep moving forward.
The Trim Healthy Mama diet is what really helped jumpstart my motivation. It’s full of healthy recipes. However without counting my calories I was under eating. I love the recipes and use them daily, but I keep track to make sure I am where I need to be. It wasn’t a perfect plan for me, and I made rules that helped me. I don’t really separate my S and E meals.
Any questions, and I would love to answer them. I am now in size 6/8 and working on toning vs. weightloss. I would be grateful for any advice that helps you. Each of us are different, but this helps me.
Last little tip would be the Robert Irvine Peanut Butter Fit Crunch Bars. These are high in protein, low in sugar, better than any protein bar I’ve tired and around $2 each ($8 a box). Bonus, they are even at Wal-Mart.
Communicate with me. It motivates me to continue. There will be a follow up post soon about what got me out of slumps in my health discovery.