Lifestyle Weight-loss

LIFESTYLE WEIGHTLOSS

Post Baby Chronicles

Summer time has come and gone, but your body plan from summer can stay strong through the fall if you make the right lifestyle change. Since the birth of my daughter in Feb. of 2011, I have been working endlessly to lose the weight I gained during pregnancy. No matter how easy celebs make it seem, real mothers know that baby weight is not so simple to lose. Many trainers acknowledge baby weight as the hardest weight to get off. The reason for this must be the fact that weight during pregnancy comes no matter what we eat. Unlike most weight gain, pregnancy weight is not a sign of laziness. When we are pregnant the weight we gain is a sign that we are healthy, nurturing and growing a baby inside our bodies. Now after damn near ten months, we finally have a beautiful baby but in the wake of such a perfect day, one cannot help but notice the pregnancy belly remains. Only this time it is a little more squish and a lot less becoming.

So after month one and two, your excited that a good half of the weight you gained during your pregnancy has fallen right off.  Sadly, for most of us this is the end of rapid weight loss. The rest of this “baby” weight is not so easy to drop. During my pregnancy I gained 35-40lbs, a normal weight gain even if it did not feel so normal. After the first month, I dropped nearly 20lbs. After this excitement, came extreme disappointment because no matter how hard I worked and dieted the last 20lbs would not budge. This was until a good friend of mine told me an interesting detail. She said our bodies accustom themselves to a particular weight it feels comfortable with. (For me it was a whopping 150lbs.) She said that in order to get past your bodies “comfortable” weight, one must do something drastic. Challenge accepted!

To fight my fat, I decided to take my weight into my own hands. I bought the Insanity DVD’s and started the grueling 60day insanity workout. After day 60 I had dropped 5lbs, although I felt better about my body and could see obvious toning, I was not happy. It was then I read about a liquid diet. A woman said that over a 4-month period she dropped 75lbs on her liquid diet. Even though, I was only dealing with 15lbs, I thought it sounded interested and read up. I read that for a less extreme liquid diet you could eat anything not solid; soup, Jell-O, pudding, juice. As a lover of soup I decided this would work. Only, I decided to make my liquid diet a liquid lifestyle that was doable and comfortable for me.

Twice a week, I prepare a large bowl of soup that I make personally from scratch. I enjoy a basic chicken noodle, spicy Italian zuppa or delicious black bean and chicken. The broth is made from chicken that I broil down and then I add in a few veggies and seasonings that I enjoy. Now this soup is not the quote unquote “LIQUID” diet soup exactly because it does contain solid foods. I eat the soup throughout the week, with rice pudding, Jell-O and green tea through the day. Sometimes I have granola; sometime I have eggs and other times I may even make a sandwich if I am feeling really hungry. Then on the weekends I splurge with solid food that I have may have been craving, maybe something delicious and unhealthy for one of the two days. On top of my liquid diet, I also made sure I worked out 3 to 4 times a week. I try to do 30-45 minutes of cardio or plyo using my body as an instrument to tone and mold my silhouette. I also work my abs weekly, occasionally finding YouTube and body rock ab workouts that last only 10-15minutes.

I made a healthy lifestyle that I could follow for a long time, over a quick fix monthly diet. My new lifestyle lets me indulge occasionally, and take time off when I need it. After three months, I am proud to say I have lost 10 additional pounds, not only did I lose this weight the right way, I lost it my way and even on my indulge days it stays off. I am now 5lbs from the weight I was before I got pregnant and even though I have a ways to go, I know I can make it with time and patients. My lifestyle is healthy but delicious and I have seen results. I thought it was a good teaching moment for other women going through the same thing, and I advise you to create a weight loss plan that works for me, and it works everyday.