Small Changes, Big Impact - How I Lost The Baby Weight

I made it through my pregnancy and delivery with minimal problems.  My little peanut weighed 6lbs. 13 ounces so she definitely wasn't the cause of my massive gains.  I knew I had a lot of work to do in terms of weight loss but I also gave myself a realistic time frame for losing the weight. I planned on nursing so I knew anything I ate would be going to the baby and that meant no crazy supplements or weight loss shakes.  My goal was to be at a healthy weight by my daughter's first birthday.

My plan to get fit was to follow a sensible diet where I stayed within my calorie limit for the day.  I also planned to walk a couple miles a day.  I researched a ton of strollers and settled on the Mountain Buggy because it had inflatable tires, steered really well and handled all terrains great.  Within a couple of weeks I started taking long walks in the early morning with my baby in the stroller.  I would walk for about an hour and covered about 3-4 miles.  I did this every day unless it was raining.  Slowly the weight started to peel off.

I know some people join a gym with daycare, but at that point I couldn't fathom leaving a stranger in charge of my babe.  I turned to DVDs to help round out my workout routine, my favorites were Buff Moms and Post Natal Taebo. I really liked that the DVDs broke the workout into 10-15 minute increments so I could do it all at once during nap time or break it up throughout the day.

My food at this point was mainly lean meats, grains and vegetables.  I have always like to cook so it made perfect sense to me to make all my child's baby food.  Also, I could ensure the quality of the fruits and vegetables and save a ton of money in the process.  I followed Ruth Yaron's Super Baby Food Book, which I still reference to this day because it is packed with lots of nutritional information.  This helped reintroduce me to the fruit and vegetable heavy diet of my own childhood.  

That is when a lightbulb went off for me.  I should follow the diet I was feeding my child, lots of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, hard boiled eggs, plain yogurt, lentils and lean meats and minimal grains.  People often stuff their kids with cereals and crackers, but these are extremely processed to add the nutrients that can be found by simply eating whole foods.  I have followed this diet for myself and my children ever since.

I've had lapses and dug into a few bags of Cheetos, but my daily emphasis has been on eating a varied diet that is based on whole foods. I also don't believe in bad food days or bad foods.  I don't even really like the "cheat meal" idea that is thrown around. My eating philosophy is to try and make the best possible choice for me at each meal.  Eating a cupcake or candy or both isn't going to send me into a mental tailspin because the next time I eat I am going to make a better choice. Life is really all about balance and so should your philosophy about food. 

By the time my daughter turned one, I had lost 70 pounds and fit into my honeymoon clothes. My OBGYN congratulated me and said "you know, very few people actually lose that weight...we didn't think you would either."  I was proud, but kind of wanted to slap her at the same time. She went on to state that women often fail to lose weight from the first baby and then add more weight with subsequent pregnancies and set themselves up for high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Talk about some scary stuff.

Home Gym Equipment: weights, yoga mat, band and swiss ball

How did you lose the baby weight?