Sunday, February 10, 2013

How I lost my Baby Weight

Posted by Unknown at 9:27 PM
I wanted to write about my postpartum weight loss after two close pregnancies. I am 5'9'' and have always had an athletic/broad yet curvy build.  My skinny high school weight was 155.  When I got married I was 157 size 8/10.   I am now back in the 150s but feel more in shape and toned than before. I feel really good about the way I look and am fitting into size 8.
 When I got pregnant in 2009 with my first child, I was already about 10 pounds heavier than my "wedding weight" (168 & size 10/12) and I had a desk job, ate whatever I wanted and hence I gained another 35 during the pregnancy.  I believe I clocked in over 200 near the end, scarily.  The biggest shock was coming home from the hospital and seeing that the scale read 198 (my baby was under 7 pounds).  I was essentially 30 pounds heavier than the weight I got pregnant at and it was scary to accept that.
In the beginning its really hard to lose any weight between not sleeping, nursing, not nursing, stress.  I did take a lot of walks and eventually I started working out a little bit, but I did not have a normal routine.  I became more aware of what I was eating and eventually lost about 28 pounds in 11 months.  I hadn't yet reached my pre-pregnancy weight when we decided to try for another baby (11 months postpartum), and thankfully I became pregnant right away at 171 pounds.   
During the second pregnancy I was much more active.  For one, I was chasing a toddler around.  Secondly, I wasn't working a full-time office job so I had more time to take walks, go to the park, exercise, etc.  I also became extremely lactose intolerant during my second pregnancy, so much so that I decided to stop eating dairy all together.  I tried to be more aware of what I was eating and ate much healthier during the second pregnancy.  As a result, I gained less than during my first pregnancy (under 30 pounds).  My weight right before delivering was 198.  As was my luck I delivered a baby over 9 pounds and so when I got home from the hospital I was already 186 or so.
I started going to the gym when my baby was 6 weeks old and starting taking the Les Mills Body Pump Class. Body Pump is a group exercise class centered around weight-lifting.  Participants use a barbell with adjustable weights during the following tracks: warm up, squats, chest press, back (clean&press), triceps, lunges, shoulders. The class finishes with an abs track on the floor and a cool-down/stretch. 
I also joined the website SparkPeople in February 2012.  I like Spark People because it has an excellent food tracker program and phone app.  When you join you put in your starting weight and goal weight and goal time, and it calculates how many daily calories you can consume to meet that goal.  They also have great workout recommendations and demonstrations available on their site. My first weigh in was 178.
I tried to go to Body Pump three times a week, but realistically I made it two times a week.  My weight on May 10, 2012 was 173.  I continued Body Pump through the summer and people at the gym started commenting that I had lost weight.  I do not remember weighing myself then, but I believe I was around 167 by August when we went on vacation in Israel.  I remember actually losing weight in Israel mainly because we were eating healthier and I wasn't snacking.  Being lactose intolerant meant that at every amazing dairy cafe we went to I ordered salad.  Plus, it was so hot and humid that I didn't have much appetite.  When we got home I had broken my bad snacking habits, such as eating nuts at night.  After Yom Kippur on September 28, 2012 I weighed 163, but then I gained back to 167 by the end of Sukkot (hard to avoid chagim gain)
However, after the Chagim (holidays) ended I decided to step up my workouts a notch, by committing to Body Pump 3x a week and to be more aware of my diet.  I started increasing my weights more aggressively in Body Pump, which I felt made a big difference.  Also, a friend and I started an "accountability" diet where we had to share our daily food journals with each other and report to each other if we gave into our temptation foods.  I started to change dinners a bit by making large vegetarian soups (bean and barley, split pea, vegetable tomato etc.) instead of turkey/chicken with rice etc.  I was the most successful when I made large soups in advance because then I would eat the soup for lunch and dinner for the next few days instead of snacking before meals.  I realized that I tended to eat too much in the middle of the day because I didn't have time to make a proper lunch with two little kids.  Having the soups available made a huge difference.
I was stuck at 163 for a long time, but eventually I broke through the 160 barrier and got into the 150s!!  I was so proud of myself, my clothes started to be too big and I actually got to go shopping for SMALLER clothes.  I was amazed when I went to Ann Taylor and grabbed size Large tops only to realize that they fit like bags on me and I had to ask for Mediums.  It felt amazing!

In Body Pump I am currently adding this weight to the barbell:
Warm up: 7kg
Squats: 22kg
Chest: 10kg
Triceps: 7kg
Back: 12kg
Biceps: 7kg
Lunges: 10kg
Shoulders: 7kg bar, 2.5kg free plates

So yes, I lost 30 pounds of baby weight in a year with virtually no cardio (a few classes and runs here and there) and not following any "diet" however I will share some bulleted suggestions now. 

  • Try to eat as naturally as possible.  Vegetables, Fruits, legumes, lean meats, fish. 
  •  Do not drink any caloric beverages (soda, juice, energy drinks, sweetened coffee/tea).
  • Avoid Processed foods: cakes, crackers, chips, cookies, candy.  Even bread should be eaten in moderation. (check serving sizes)
  • Build muscle.  Muscular people burn more calories.   That means, the more muscle mass you build, the more calories your body burns while doing nothing.  
  • Weight training burns calories.  The sore and achy feeling that muscles have on days between workouts means that calories are burning. 
  • Keep a food journal - it REALLY helps.  I still have off days, and writing down my consumed foods and calories helps keep me in check.  
  • Have an at-home workout option.  There were some days where I couldn't make it to the gym: sick kids, lack of time, etc. and it was helpful to have a workout video at home that I could do on those days.  I like Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred and Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 The videos incorporate weights in the moves.  The videos are only 25 minutes, which is good if you are in a hurry, but I feel one either needs 6 days a week of 25-30 minutes or 3x a week of 50-60 minutes to be effective.  I just did week four of Ripped in 30 last night and it was challenging but very doable for me.
  • Working out gives me so much energy.  It makes me happy, helps me sleep at night and I feel amazing.  


SparkPeople.com: Get a 100% FREE Online Diet





0 comments:

Post a Comment

 

Ask Chavi Copyright © 2010 Designed by Ipietoon Blogger Template Sponsored by: Website Templates | Premium Themes. Distributed by: blog template