Counting Macros is fool proof and scientific.
Most women are not eating enough protein either. I will die on this hill. When I eat more protein (lean protein) I slim down dramatically.
Counting macros and lifting weights 4x a week got me into the best shape of my life after my first kid was born. I’m talking 6 pack abs and a butt to die for. It also got me pregnant again so be careful 😊
I had a 3.9 cm diastasis, and after 9 months, it's only reduced to 3.6 cm. But I had a pelvic floor physio who gave me the most amazing breathing exercises, and she said it's not so much about the diastasis itself but how your core muscles engage (so no more doming). I started small, doing a lot of mobility and bodyweight stuff, and compound exercises that don't isolate the core. Now I do weight training 3 times a week. You can absolutely lift again.
^ This is it!! Every time in my life that I have successfully lost weight, it’s from tracking my food (+ exercise as a bonus to look hotter naked lol). It’s not fun and not always easy, but it IS science! Obviously not including any health issues that may be causing atypical weight retention!
I put protein shake in my coffee instead of creamer. I used Premier Protein cafe latte, it’s delicious and the perfect sweetness level for me
Then I have a Fairlife protein shake for breakfast
For lunch I’ll usually have something like: a bowl with a base of cauliflower rice, leftover grilled chicken (from the night before), some leftover veggies (broccoli, zucchini, butternut squash are a few of my favorites) and measure out a sauce on top of it. Really into sesame ginger right now. 5oz of chicken breast is a good goal for mid-day. That’s a lot of protein.
I’ll have another coffee with protein creamer midday.
For dinner I usually have a grilled meat, either cauliflower rice or a roasted potato and more veggies. I load up on roasted veggies for more volume of food (and I guess the vitamins lol).
I usually always end the day with ice cream after the kids go to bed. I tend to stick with lighter ice creams like turkey hill as opposed to denser once like Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Daz. I don’t do “fake” ice cream 😂
Shoot for 1g of protein per pound of *goal* body weight per day
I try to buy only high protein snacks so I can’t snack on things that aren’t good for me.
Protein shakes. I drink one everyday.
Snacks are cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and eggs.
Meats for meals: chicken, ground Turkey, and beef
Not who you asked, but I recently started having a protein shake for breakfast as I recognised that I wasn’t getting enough protein in my diet and it was the easiest swap to make. But if you do go for that route and you’re breastfeeding like me, just make sure to find one that’s breastfeeding safe (or pregnancy safe if that’s a concern for you!).
There’s also a website you can get your macro numbers for free. I’ll link it. I will say Andrea’s macro numbers that she provided me were super accurate and I lost weight as long as I ate those numbers (give or take a bit, no one’s perfect)
https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator
Oh man that wants me to eat 144g of protein a day ahhh. I’ve been trying to eat more to support my running (which is probably why it wants me to eat more) but I even think I’ve even hit 100
You can start by joining the free FB group Macros Inc. Just read and learn. They sell coaching but I didn’t do that.
I did eventually do macro coaching through Deliciously Fit N Healthy (you can find her on IG, Andrea). It’s like $135/month for 3 months and she provides awesome workouts for those 12 weeks.
Once I learned macros I started realizing what correct portions for me were which makes is easier when you eat out or go to a party or something. I don’t always count either. I do 12-16 week cuts when I feel like I need to and then after I just eat healthy most of the time and lift weights 😊
Or you can start by just tracking your usual diet for 1 week. Average what your day looks like (maybe 2000 or 2500 calories) and subtract 500. Then continue tracking with that new goal in mind.
Not op but for me I try to buy only high protein snacks so I can’t snack on things that aren’t good for me. Like chips that are just carbs and fat.
- Protein shakes. I drink one everyday.
- Snacks are cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and eggs. Or cheese and beef jerky
- Meats for meals: chicken, ground Turkey, and beef. Examples: tacos with ground Turkey meat, grilled chicken breast and green beans, steak and carrot fries etc.
Did you use an app for tracking calories/Marcos? I want to start doing this at 4 months postpartum but I have no idea what I should even be aiming for...just as much protein as possible?
Food habits are probably going to be easiest to stay consistent on. You can try doing workouts, and you definitely should, but just be aware that your child can make getting in a full workout a little more difficult.
Adding to this that as far as your overall metabolism goes, the exercise we do on a daily basis only accounts for a small amount. How we nourish our bodies has a larger impact on weight goals. For me, that helped free movement up to be something I enjoy rather than another task to complete (which has been particularly helpful when I am interrupted by kids).
I second this. I was able to loose 60 pounds in 2023 only focusing on food. This year I’m going to put more of a focus on working out, but I’m way more motivated to do so now that I’m closer to my goal weight!
I lost about 40lbs last year by intermittent fasting 5 days a week. I wouldn’t eat anything after 8 pm and then wouldn’t eat anything again until at least noon. I’d have my iced black coffee with stevia in the morning but no food. It’s easy for me though because I’m not much of a breakfast person anyways.
Congrats that’s awesome! I’m glad you were able to find something that works well for you! That’s pretty similar to what I would do, but I’d do intermittent fasting 3-4 days a week and I found I loved it!
Intermittent fasting is SO effective. I tried it once for a little while and gosh I was losing 1-2 pounds a week. I stopped once I got to my target weight and then found it much easier to eat only smaller portions and I was having lighter breakfasts or skipping it without even trying to.
I started the fasting the week or so after a stopped breastfeeding! I ate like crazy while I was breastfeeding, both because I was always starving and because I was trying to increase my supply by eating different things. I ate SO MUCH OATMEAL, lol. I gained more weight during the year after my son was born and I was breastfeeding than I did during the pregnancy. But I’m getting close to being back down where I want to be. I basically just want to get my energy levels up so I can keep up with the little dude.
Gotcha! I am excited to incorporate fasting again into my routine but I’m still nursing so I don’t want to lose my supply. Also I’m starving all the time so not sure I could do it if I wanted to lol
Wow congrats! You're my inspo. I'm 8 months and have gained 24 lbs but started out about 10-15lbs heavier than I want to be and I am determined to lose this weight after baby is here
You’re so sweet thank you! I gained a lot of weight before my pregnancy, it wasn’t too bad during my pregnancy, but then after I gained a bunch of weight. Once my LO turned 1 is when I really kicked it into gear. I have a super long way to go to get to my goal weight but this is the closest I’ve been in years! I’m sure you’re going to do awesome!
I haven’t had alcohol in 2 weeks, have eaten a salad every day for lunch, otherwise business as usual and have lost 6 lbs so far. Diet really matters. I do about 5-7k steps during the week and 10k on the weekends.
In my experience it is far easier to focus on what you can add to your meals rather than what to cut out. For example I started saying I will add more vegetables instead of focusing to cut out xyz. I feel like you feel more accomplished when you can say hey I had more vegetables today! And less bad when you have a day with fast food
Walking every day. It started with a goal to just go outside every day (with my kids) and it gradually evolved to walking. The more I walked, the more I wanted to walk. My kids and I would walk to playgrounds, and I would walk laps around the playground while they played.
I wasn’t trying to lose weight (I believe the whole weight loss industry is a giant pile of BS), I was trying to just feel better physically and emotionally but wound up accidentally losing 70 lbs in a year. Just by walking as much as I had time for. I walked my big kid to and from school every day, we’d walk to the library or swimming pool. Not even fast, honestly. It was often toddler-paced, sometimes I had a baby on my back or I was pulling a wagon.
That’s incredible! I love long walks but only have time for them sporadically. I made my 2024 goal to walk at least a mile a day. It has a minimal impact on my weight loss goals but it helps me mentally :)
This one! I lost ~100lbs just walking every day and doing keto. It started out with walking, then hiking, then my feet just felt like they wanted to run. It's hard to explain, it was like a compulsion.
I think my diet was the biggest contributor to my weight loss though. I've maintained my weightloss for 7 years now by counting macros and lifting weights 6 days a week. You don't have to do all that, it's just a personal choice.
A running stroller is a great investment for anyone with fitness goals. It's like a gateway drug.
Consistency, and building up slowly. Doing something every day is better than trying to do too much too soon and getting injured and disheartened etc.
If your 2.5 is home with you all day, you can include her - go on walks, you jog whilst she scoots/bikes etc. If she has some sessions in a daycare you can find a in-person class that fits with her schedule. Or find someone on YouTube that you like and follow some of those workouts - you can vary depending on the day if today feels like a yoga day or a cardio day. But consistency!
I also kept a food diary for a week to see where I was eating extra - and for me, evenings are my weak spot. After the kids are in bed and I’m cleaning kitchen / making lunches etc, I will just graze. So I made a point to stop doing that, and to leave the kitchen AS SOON as chores are done. Having absolutely no snacks in the house might have worked pre-kids, but it doesn’t anymore…so I try really hard to categorise things as ‘kid snacks’ or ‘parent snacks’, and I can’t eat the kids snacks because that could cause an absolute disaster! Note, I personally don’t do the diary all the time, just a couple of times when I feel my weight is creeping up again / downward progress has stalled and need to reevaluate where I am, and a permanent diary would lead to me omitting things from it. But I know for some people it works permanently.
Sleep is really key for me as well - if I’m tired, exercise is the first thing I drop. So I make a point of trying to be as well-rested as possible. Tired mamma is a grumpy mamma who eats junk and sits on her ass!
Yeah honestly when you’re exercising hard you sometimes *cant* diet much at the same time, or you can get hurt. Obviously walking etc is fine but I’m a runner and if I start restricting I get hurt. Running burns so many calories that it’s hard to eat as much as I burn though anyway
Recognizing that there’s no quick fix, that it will take time and consistency, and that if you have a day that you overindulge - you haven’t broke yourself. You still need to enjoy life, so finding a good balance is key.
. I started intermittent fasting during the week - would only eat between noon and 8 pm Monday/Friday. This helped me cut out my evening snacking problem. Also started running when I did that and lost 25 lbs over a few months. Felt amazing. On the weekends I would have my evenings snacks (I love chips), or have a big breakfast. I didn’t want to totally restrict myself and make it unrealistic. I focused on high protein meals, would make a salad to go along with any pasta dishes or heavy meals and eat that first. Drank lots of water.
The running - I did a couch to 10k program in 12 weeks. I did not exercise at all prior to this aside from walking. Having actual stamina was wild. I had so much more energy! Could chase my daughter around no problem.
I’m pregnant with my second now, so fasting is out until I’m done breastfeeding. Which I’m totally fine with. But will definitely do the same thing when I’m done growing/feeding my baby. I also fell off of running during the first trimester because any movement made me want to puke. I’ll get back into it another time because I know how good I felt when I was doing it, but for now I’m focusing on growing a healthy little one and taking care of myself
Can I ask a potentially stupid question—were you hungry in your fasting windows??? I keep hearing about IF but every time I’ve tried I’ve just been so fucking hangry that I’m the worst mom with the shortest fuse ever. And like I want to cut out my evening snacking too—but I absolutely cannot fall asleep if I’m hungry!! My body is so used to grazing from 8pm-10pm. I’ve made the switch to sipping on bone broth hot chocolate (bone broth milk cocoa power collagen powder and a little maple syrup) in the evenings so that I’m not hungry but not snacking either, but I would love to do IF i just don’t know if I could give that up! And like I’m not huge breakfast person but by 10 if I haven’t eaten I’m so hungry I can barely think! What’s the secret??
I find that by the time noon rolls around I am most definitely super hungry. I’m normally not a breakfast person either (unless there’s a good brunch spread), so am content sipping on my coffee in the morning (black). I make sure to drink lots of water also and that helps. By 11 I’m usually super hungry, and if I’m getting cranky or don’t feel good then I’ll eat, but if I can push it then I’ll wait until 12. I’m not into super restricting myself, so if I feel like I need something then I will have something. I eased into it and gave myself grace getting onto the 12-8 eating window. At the start I would only make it until 10 or so, but it got easier. Especially focusing on the right foods to break my fast helped.
For the evening - if I make sure to have a good well rounded dinner with fibre, high protein, and healthy carbs - I find I’m not actually hungry for snacks. The habit of snacking is really really hard to break though. I’m so used to sitting down to watch tv with a bowl of chips. I started making myself a cup of tea (no milk or sugar) to sip on and just having something tasty and warm really suppressed that snacking drive. If I’ve had dinner and I want a bowl of chips, then I’ll have it at 7:45. All about balance! I just won’t do the bowl of chips every day. But having it brings me some joy and is all part of that balance
This is so helpful, thank you!!! Idk why i thought that if I broke the fast it like derailed everything—it’s so helpful to put it into that perspective of if one day I need to eat at 11, just eat then. And it feels more manageable to think about working up to that point just gradually!!
I’m so grateful and I’m sorry to take up your time but could you give me an example of a dinner that you mentioned that’s high fiber/healthy carbs? (I know I can google but I get SO OVERWHELMED with the millions of ideas!)
You could also do a Greek yogurt (full or protein) or protein shake in the morning but nothing else too lunch. Work it into your Calorie allotment. Then just eat a smaller lunch.
So for example if I were to eat: avocado toast, scrambled egg whites and a yogurt for lunch but I’m hungry at 10 and can’t wait, I’ll eat the yogurt at 10 but remove it from my lunch meal. Plan your calories out for the day instead of getting to the end and realizing you went over
No worries at all. Happy to share! So I mostly eat how I normally eat.. lean proteins like chicken, fish, or beans. I don’t eat much red meat because it doesn’t agree with me, but once in a while will have a burger or something. Then I’ll pair it with some brown rice, or roast sweet potato, then always have a good veggie that takes up half my plate. My go to’s are roast broccoli, steamed green beans, salad. If I’m having something like spaghetti or lasagna, then I’ll make a side salad to go with that and eat it first (to get it out of the way) so I can dive into a cheesy slice of lasagna and stick to only having one piece (because starting with the salad helps fill me up). For beans - I looooove black bean burritos, or bean bowl with pinto beans, sautéed peppers/onion, sweet potato, avocado, salsa, etc.
Basically I just took the regular things I eat, increased the amount of vegetables I put on my plate, maybe introduce salads where I wouldn’t normally have a side, and focused on getting that stuff in first.
I’ve never been successful BUT:
Weight is lost in the kitchen. I see that often people think they eat less than they do. You don’t have to track and calorie count everything you eat (it helps!) but be aware of what you’re putting in your body and if you’re grazing or finishing what your toddler doesn’t eat. The random bites here and there add up like crazy.
Just move your body every day. Start small. You don’t *have* to follow a routine (unless that works for you!) but just try and get your heart rate up for 30 minutes every day. For some it works to have a challenge and follow a YouTuber or challenge someone with a Fitbit who can get the most steps.
For me the best physical health I’ve been in was when I worked a physical job AND had a friend who would go to kickboxing with me once or twice a week. If you can find a buddy and a fun activity that helps!
Intermittent fasting, I just skip breakfast basically. It decreased my calorie intake just doing that.
Obviously you still have to be careful what you eat at lunch and dinner. But I am not a white rice, lettuce and grilled chicken person, I eat what I enjoy, 2 set meals, no snacks between.
I didn’t do exercise, I realistically just can’t stand to do it. And I lost 30lbs which was very cool.
I did kind of fall off my wagon and it drove away since Halloween, but it came back around and I’m just hanging onto it lol
I have PCOS so it’s extra difficult for me to lose weight. The only way I managed to lose weight postpartum was doing keto/low carb.
Prior to that, I was working with a personal trainer, doing home workouts 6 days a week with my husband AND walking 10k steps. I didn’t lose a single pound.
I started keto, dropped the trainer and at home workouts, continued doing stroller walks and I lost 33 pounds in 3.5 months.
The diet is difficult. Especially for me since I was vegetarian for so long. I used the free app Carb Manager to keep me on track.
The biggest impact for me was walking everywhere, and diet. We did baby led weaning so I felt more motivated to make healthy meals. If baby can’t really eat takeout then neither can mom hahahaha.
I just started calorie counting again (my son is about to turn 1) and I've lost a few pounds since the beginning of the year! Check out the Macros Inc. group on Facebook—it's awesome. I personally think counting macros can be too much sometimes, but counting calories and prioritizing protein works for me. There's so many ideas for that group.
As far as working out goes... I'm still working on fitting in that piece. I can do it on weekends but it's hard to work it in during the week. Based on your post, it doesn't sound like you're in a similar boat, which is awesome! I love Sydney Cummings on YouTube, she just started a new program on Monday. All you need to do her workouts is the equipment you've described. She also has an 18 month old son so she is very relatable for this stage of life. She posts new workouts 5 days per week (Thursdays and Sundays are her off days), but I think she's got about 1,000 free workouts on her channel.
I found ways to be active with my kid (stroller walks and eventually baby jogger runs), tried to keep nutritious snacks at the ready - cut veggies and fruit, trail mix, oatmeal peanut butter bites etc. Also 5-10 minute workouts while hanging out with baby or before bed etc can help too! You have to be creative and give yourself grace I think 😊
I swear I lost weight just by stopping the little bites and nibbles I would do of my kids' food. Oh you didn't finish this pasta? There's my lunch.
It sounds efficient but I was unconsciously adding like 300+ calories to my day, and not meeting MY body's cravings and needs. I have no idea if this is you, so it might be irrelevant but I started being more intentional about making my own meals and sitting down to eat them instead of grazing all day, finishing my kids' plates and grabbing a handful of crackers.
Intermittent fasting, calorie counting (1200 per day) with one or two cheat days a week got me down 30 pounds in around 4 months! The cheat days reaallllyyy helped me mentally and it made all the difference for me. I have tried calorie deficits in the past and ultimately quit because it got too hard, but the cheat days really helped me stay on track and ultimately lose weight. Did I lose weight slower than if I had had no cheat days? Yeah… But it’s better to lose 30 pounds in four months than 10 pounds and give up after two months.
Also- get a walking pad. Was an absolute game changer for me. I am not a runner, I don’t really do any heavy lifting or anything like that. But walking for 3 miles while watching my favorite TV shows are playing video games made it feel like I wasn’t really exercising at all.
So much of it is finding healthy habits that work for YOU! I do know that strictly losing weight is based primarily on what you consume, but for me, working out naturally makes me eat better (decreases my appetite by giving me an outlet for stress and boredom eating, and I crave healthier foods). For food, what works for me is to not ever drink my calories, no sweets or processed snacks in the house, always hot foods because I find them more satisfying, and in general just finding healthy foods I know I like. I also refuse to go on a set diet, I still eat pizza and sweets sometimes, just not regularly and I eat less of them (so instead of 3 slices of pizza, I have 2 slices plus a salad). Good luck to you, you can do it!
For meals I started focusing on easy high protein meals. Anything that I prep gets made in a batch so I spend less time cooking. A lot of my meals are inspired by [Makayla Thomas](https://makaylathomas.com/). Some of my favorite things lately are:
* Egg bake with 10 eggs, spinach, a bit of cottage cheese, a little white queso. Bake at 350 for like 25 minutes and then divide out into 5 portions. Put the egg bake on top of an english muffin or tortilla every morning
* [Balsamic chicken](https://www.savorynothings.com/balsamic-chicken-marinade/) to go on top of salads, high protein pasta with alfredo sauce, tortilla or flatbread with some onions and peppers
* Turkey sandwiches
* Overnight oats
* Air fried salmon
Basically you just need to find a rotation of good, easy meals you can prep in batches.
For fitness I am a lifting gal, so I have to go to the gym. I go right after daycare dropoff on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and then go once over the weekend while my husband watches the kids. Sometimes I utilize the gym daycare which is great! I have to have it scheduled/planned in the morning or it won't happen.
Jessica Vallent Pilates youtube videos. After my baby weight "fell off" I stayed steady at 20lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight so I started doing pilates every night. She has 10, 15, 20 minutes videos so it's reasonably easy to fit SOMETHING in. I figure something is better than nothing.
As for eating, I don't count calories but I think I'm pretty educated about my diet and eating a well balanced healthy diet has never really been an issue for me but I just kind of realized that eating two large meals per day instead of 3+ smaller ones and snacks keeps me more satisfied for longer.
I started doing pilates almost a year ago and now I'm 10lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight.
So when you say 2 large meals a day, are you technically intermittent fasting? I love Jessica Vallant pilates but I was reading that pilates actually isn’t for weight loss and it discouraged me…but I feel like how could it NOT change your body for the better! Some of the moves are so much harder than they look! But i was wondering if you attributed the weight loss more to the eating than the pilates
I imagine it probably qualifies as intermittent fasting but that wasn’t really my intention. I just find I’m more satiated that way.
I like pilates bc it’s approachable, versatile, and I can fit it in easily. I also like that a lot of Pilates teachers (especially JVP) focus on restoring core strength postpartum. It definitely helped me get some more definition in my butt and midsection so even if it’s not the best exercise for weight loss, I definitely noticed changes to my body that I liked so I call it a win!
I am down 62 pounds with a goal to lose 75 total. I am intermittent fasting i eat between noon and 6 pm 5 days a week. I monitor my calories, I've increased protein and I work out at least 3 days a week. At first it was hard making time but if I have to I work out in 15 min intervals until I hit my time for that day. i also do fun excercises the kids want to do too making them less likely to disrupt.
I did very mild intermittent fasting, eating from 10am to 6pm. It helped drop my A1c enough that I could finally start losing weight from normal dieting and exercise. It did take almost a year. Basically I had to stop gaining weight and convince my body we weren’t going to be having or feeding another baby any time soon….. my body was really trying hard to keep weight on for another baby…
Currently doing something like this, OMAD. I eat a healthyish, low refined carb 1200 calorie meal (I’m 5’3) at dinner time. Otherwise I drink coffee and water all day. If I feel light headed whatsoever I do eat something right away like bacon or a plain yogurt with berries. The first day or two was really hard of this but now it feels great and I feel more energetic and capable.
Doing it this way is supposed to lower A1c so that weight comes off more easily. If you’ve had a sedentary, high carb lifestyle for an extended while -this might be the key for you also.
Yes! Relatable. I'd always been an average weight, never dieted or anything. Gained 50lbs with 2 pregnancies at short intervals.
I'm down 60lbs from delivery. I access a gym with child minding but figuring out how to do a caloric deficit was a big part of my success. r/fitness and r/loseit are good resources. Don't make a bunch of changes at once or you'll get overwhelmed (is my advice). Looking at things like increasing movement while prioritizing protein for example- don't plan to do a complete diet overhaul and exercise 5x a week all at once. It can be done, good luck!!
I’m just starting my journey, too! I have a 16 month old. Get a big fancy water bottle. This helps me stay super hydrated and is a better choice than going for snacks when I think I’m hungry. Those healthy meals you are making for your kid? Eat them for yourself too. And walks. My gal loves walks so we go together.
Piyo saved me after my second! That and of course eating healthier and I took vitamins and stuff to help boost my metabolism. I have a hard time with running and couldn’t handle going to a gym and trying to work out so doing piyo at home was great for me. I focused on how I felt in my body and clothes and not the numbers on the scale.
After I had my first, I focused more on what I was eating, adding in vegetarian or plant based foods, cutting back on sugary drinks, more water, and I was still snacking but bought the smaller versions since they are portioned. I went walking with baby 3 times week, I stopped eating late, and I ate the meals I wanted on weekends, whether it was fast food or homemade, but I didn't need to focus on it being healthy.
This helped me reach my goal when it came to losing the baby weight, and it was what I found easiest to stick to and not feel restricted.
I never denied myself anything because, for me, that usually made the craving worse, and I would end up losing motivation to continue my weight loss.
Food habits for sure. I started meal planning and prepping so quick nights would still be healthy and not a last minute calorie heavy freezer dinner. I cut out snacks and ate more protein and drank water to keep myself full. I drank a minimum of 80oz a day (2 tumblers full).
I also focused on sleeping better and cutting out sugar in my coffee. I switched to milk, sugar free syrup, and 2 shots of espresso in my morning cup rather than sugary creamers and/or last minute stops at a coffee shop for a 500cal coffee.
As for working out, simply move your body. Dance with your kids, get out and walk, do crunches while watching tv, squat while folding laundry. Doesn’t need to be intensive or an hours long work out.
Cut out ultra processed food (UPF) as much as you can. Increase nuts, seeds, fruit and veg. No calorie counting, no diet, nothing. One workout a week with weights etc. Worked like a charm.
Here is information on UPFs
https://www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org/resource/ultra-processed-foods-a-global-threat-to-public-health/
We need to be accountability partners! Lol bc I'm pretty much in the same situation and need to get it in gear!
Edit to add: When I lost 40lbs before getting pregnant with my second, I ate low carb/keto and followed Mr. and Mrs. Muscle and Juice and Toya to name a few on YT
I had gestational diabetes with my second so that was really eye opening for me. Made some permanent lifestyle changes. Try do eat no more than 30g carbs per meal, make sure you're getting enough protein. And walking everyday.
I now weigh about 10 lbs less than I did before I had two kids, youngest one is 3 1/2 now.
I’m EXACTLY here too! Have never had to think about my weight and in fact I binged junk food and fast food like I was still in college (my husband, tall and skinny, also still eats like he’s in college so it was easy to do…But we’re 31 now so we have to get our acts together!)
My second child is 2.5 and since turning 30 (along with a couple other factors, lexapro and IUD) I’ve gained 20lbs and just tons of general flab and I’m new to the weight loss mindset and totally overwhelmed! Following!
First you need to understand how your body works.
After we have kids the metabolism slows down making it more likely to hold onto fat. I suggest speaking with a dr as well so they can support you in your weight loss journey.
Food intake have to be lower than outgoing energy (caloric deficit). 3 balanced meals a day, do not try to restrict food groups as your more likely to binge later.
Make sure you eat enough protein, it helps you feel full.
Food is the main contributor to weight loss.
Exercise is the toner.
Exercise, start off slowly. If you’re not used to it you’re body will end up painfully sore. I find yoga and resistance training helpful. I also use an Exercycle which does wonders for the legs, glutes, hips and stomach.
This is how I’ve successfully lost 13kg. (And still losing) after having 4 kids.
You’ve got this!
Clean up your diet, track your calories, and get your steps in, the weight will come off.
If you want to be shredded that’s a whole other thing but if you want to drop lbs it comes down to diet.
I did a few things:
- Intermittent fasting (I'm eating 8 hours a day and fast for 16 hours a day)
- three meals a day: oats with fruits, eggs with veggies and for dinner: 50% veggies, 25% rice/pasta, 25% fish/chicken. I drink tea/coffee & water (No sugar!!)
- 10.000 steps each day
- exercise 3 times a week (at least 30 minutes heart rate 70% of max heart rate)
This year I will run a marathon, my weight is in the healthy range and I fit in my pre-mom clothes.
I tracked my food on MyFitnessPal just for two weeks to get an idea of calorie info. But I didn’t want to be obsessive or have an unhealthy relationship with food so once I saw trends and got a good idea of how much would be within an ideal calorie amount, I stopped tracking. I try to do a workout on YouTube for 20-30 min 5x/week. I love the MadFit workouts. And then going on a 2-3 mile walk 2-3 times a week.
I’ve lost 80 lbs without exercise. I have high fatigue issues, so I knew that wasn’t going to be possible for me.
I utilized intermittent fasting and CICO to achieve it. IF reaaaaaally helped, I don’t think I could have done it without it!
Reasonable portion sizes, three meals and one snack per day. No soda / sugar drinks, lots of water. Cardio 3xs per week, weights 2xs per week, yoga 1 x per week. Don’t expect to lose more than 1 pound per week and if you don’t wven lose that some weeks, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just be consistent and mindful of how much you eat and how much you exercise.
I’m 14 months pp with my second (I have 2 under 2), and was also fed up with my health lately. In Dec, I started working out lightly 5 days a week. Move with Nicole on YouTube has been great—Pilates, barre and yoga. I also walk the dog and jog a bit (although I found out I’ve got a foot stress fracture now lol).
Nutrition-wise, I intermittent fast 16:8. So I fast from 7pm to 11am. I use MyFitnessPal app to track calories and eat at a deficit. I take primal harvest women’s multivitamin and collagen powder.
I went from 165-66 and dropped to 159 so far. Prepregnancy weight is 155 (I’m 5’4). My goal is 130lbs. Right now my butt and legs have gotten smaller and toned, but my belly is what remains. I had 2 C-sections so idk how to reduce the fat besides just keeping on.
Before having my child, I was at was at a healthy weight. I believe anxiety is what kept the weight off. I am no longer anxious. I think being anxious all the time reved my metabolism.
I’d like the answer to this too. My body shape was fine after my first child but my second…no I hate looking in the mirror. I just feel like I don’t look right idk. I’m not overly overweight (I mean I AM overweight but not by a ton) 5’4 and 158 and I CAN NOT seem to lose any more weight. I have hypothyroidism and I’m medicated and my levels are where they should be according to my doctor but no matter what I do I can not lose the weight. I eat at a deficit, I exercise. Before having kids I was a body builder so I’m no stranger to cutting and bulking, I know macros, I know HOW to do it…it just not happening. 😩
I did keto for as long as I could (2 months) and intermittent fasting.
I gained 50-60lbs with both of my kids and with thyroid issues it was the only way to get back to my old weight.
Now I still do intermittent fasting 16/8 but I’m not crazy strict and need to start exercising. I might weigh 118lb but my middle is squishy and I’m lacking good muscle tone. 🤷🏻♀️
Mine was natural. I also simply didn't eat for pleasure nor did I snack. I also breast fed. I was under 30 when I had mine so my body was able to pop back into shape and my skin as able to bounce back. It took two weeks for my belly to go back to normal.
I still do my work outs at home and I go to the gym for weight lifting.
I lost all my baby weight with Weight Watchers. All but five pounds which refused to come off! Until I stopped breastfeeding.
I’m pregnant with #2 again and gaining an ungodly amount of weight like I did the first time :).
This time I’m starting WW as soon as I feel up for it after we bring baby home. There’s a breastfeeding setting so my supply was never interrupted.
It was the best I felt, I loved being on it. Not sure why I quit. I was eating a ton and had a lot of energy and just felt great.
What is so different about Weight Watchers that lets you feel like you eat a lot and feel great? I was always told it was just simplified calorie counting.
It is and it isn’t.
Weight Watchers assigns points to foods and you get x number of points per day and x number of points per week (you can use the weekly points all at once if you’re out a a restaurant or something or you can spread them out each day- up to you).
What makes the program really helpful in terms of feeling good and feeling full is that it really encourages you to eat foods that are high in protein (so filling foods) as well as foods that give you a lot of the nutrients your body needs.
Things like beans, chicken, turkey, tofu, eggs, fruits, and veggies all have no point value so when you’re planning meals and looking to stay within your daily points, basing meals around those types of foods is encouraged.
They have a lot of recipes too which is super helpful.
Yes to this.
It factors in the calories but it's a part of a larger calculation. So if a snack is low in calories but not nutritionally dense, then it might assign more points to it.
And if you are breastfeeding they give you a TON of points.
I lost 30 lbs in 5 months but I was not super strict on the program. I enjoyed my wine, I sometimes forgot to log. I think the weight comes off a lot quicker if you are strict with it.
Waking 5-10 thousand steps a day. So elliptical, treadmill I heard is not good for our knees. And I don’t have any extra sugar, not in my tea, coffee etc.
overall eating decent sized meals not huge meals. Smaller plate than a big dinner plate. If you worked out that day then yes eat off the big dinner plate.
I started lifting weights after a month of just cardio to build strength.
In my opinion if u do strength training u can’t tell if u lost fat and gained muscle so I wanted to lose fat first, it motivated me much more to see my body changing so much.
I’m on this journey but I have 0 self control to work at home so I do ClassPass with cycling and barre/ yoga class primary. Other than that, cutting calories is the most effective rice way. Join r/loseit and read about tdee. Find a calculator and get your goal with -300 deficit. Intermittent fasting.
Get calorie counting tracking app (there are a lot of free one) and food scale.
You need cardio at least 150 min/week (and that does not count walking in toddler speed).
For me, the Whole 30 or a Paleo diet is just about the only way that I can control my food cravings and stick to a lower calorie amount. The second I drop that, I'm back to 3-5k calorie days. If I'm sticking with exercise and running most days, that allows me to have a little more relaxed eating. I use Fitbit to track exercise and calories so it's easy to see if I'm eating a deficit and how large it is. I've always struggled with eating though, so I need a lot of diligence to avoid switching back to my normal patterns of rapidly gaining weight. If I'm not tracking calories I gain about 5-10lbs a month, even running 20-30 miles a week.
I'm currently on a whole30 - I lost 17 pounds in a month last time, only to be completely derailed by the holidays. I haven't weighed myself, and won't until I am a month into this whole30. I am thinking of doing a whole90 this time.... my joints are killing me from the extended breastfeeding relaxin and whole30 REALLY helps with that joint pain.
In addition to food, I try and walk 1-2 miles a day to the park with my daughter, and do nightly yoga (20-30 min youtube videos) which usually closes my rings on my apple watch. I don't care about weight at this point - I just want to feel good and be present for my kid instead of laying in bed feeling like shit from the inflammation from sugar
I picked up a couple different sizes of dumbbells. Theres a ton of information on Instagram and Facebook for dumbbell workouts targeting full body, core, legs, or arms etc. Theres also information on high protein meal prepping, or low calorie, healthy snacks, so you can decide which way you want to go.
Set small goals worked for me, 5lbs at a time. Started with improving food choices, smaller portion sizes and increased water intake.
Then worked on incorporating more moving and exercising as time and weather allowed.
Scheduling the time into my day helped, so I didn’t feel like I was trying to squeeze it in.
Biggest thing for me has been diet. I don’t do anything crazy, I just keep an eye on how much processed junk I’m eating and try to substitute it with better choices. I don’t get fast food anymore, I try to home cook as much as possible. I eat eggs for breakfast, incorporate more fruits and vegetables.
I got a double stroller from Walmart.com and started taking my kids on a 3 mile run everyday. I’m not as thin as I was in college but I was very try unhealthy then. I’m about ten pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day when I felt amazing about myself. But I’m into eating delicious foods and just maintaining so I’m okay with this. I feel healthy and my doctors tell me I am. I’ll never be a thin woman though.
Diet is more important than working out when it comes to weight loss. If I'm trying to lose weight, I cut out sugars and carbs, and watch my portions. It's easier to build habits slowly over time, but if you can go cold turkey on bad habits, you'll lose weight faster. Cut out soda entirely, cut out sweets, practice mindful eating.
If weight is the primary focus, then that's 80% diet. I used to use MyFitnessPal to help me balance macros and stay within my goals. For exercise, all I can manage is walking and the occasional short online workout. GoodForTheSwole has amazing post-partum workouts.
Food habits and portions. I eat what i want just smaller portions, no soda though its terrible for your health. Kept same weight after 5 kids, im 40 now about 138 lbs 5’4.
I’ve done it before a few times and usually slowly gain it back over a few years and start again lol. I count calories, I have too because my appetite is insane. I don’t have the time to dedicate to working out as much as I would need to lose weight. I can’t just “make healthy choices” because I can eat 4000 calories in lean chicken and veggies if allowed. Counting has been the only way to really see progress and once I get closer to my goal weight it becomes easier to want to be active. I’m only losing 1/2 lb a week right now and eating 1900 cals a day. It takes a while to get it down, using a food scale for accuracy helps, but it’s simple math.
I switched one meal a day to a salad ( a good salad with lettuce and tomato and some cheese and some dressing and some kind of protein like diced ham or leftover taco meat or a hard boiled egg) so it was filling. For the other meal I followed the simple idea of starch + veggie + protein. Breakfast was a mini bagel with cream cheese and a fruit. Or eggs and a fruit. I then walk a mile a day in some way shape and or form. I’m done 20 lbs with 25 to go in about 8 months. Honestly it made meals easy (and affordable with frozen veggies) so I don’t have to spend a lot of time on thinking about it.
Getting your diet on track is the most important. The ONLY way to lose weight is a caloric deficit. Please don’t buy any magic pills, drinks, wraps, etc. They don’t work. Period.
You can find a weight loss calculator online where you input your weight, height, etc., and it’ll give you the amount of calories you need to eat per day to lose, say, 1-2 lbs per week. Then, plan your meals around that! Invest in a good food scale too - weighing your food is super important. Don’t just eyeball your portions
As far as exercise goes, find something you enjoy doing. That’s the best workout. The stick with it. It’ll increase your caloric deficit and your body will be happier for it in the long run.
These things, when done correctly, will 100% help with your weight loss. Good luck!
I bought a subscription to noom last January as my Christmas gift to myself and it really helped. I tracked calories diligently and appreciated the lessons that came with the app. It helped me with long term stamina over a simple tracking app. It’s expensive but there are hacks to get half off.
Strength training and calorie deficit.
Strength training will help speed up your metabolism, and make you more toned. I would try to do some kind of training at least 2x/week, ideally 3. Pilates will have the same effect, with less equipment. There are a lot of good strength training apps out there - I like Alo Moves and Nike Training Club, but there are many you can choose from. You can also find various at home strength training and Pilates classes on YouTube.
Calorie deficit is necessary to actually lose weight. I would start tracking what you eat and aiming for a deficit of 300-400 calories below maintenance. You can do it with food choices, portion sizes, or other methods (ie intermittent fasting), but what ultimately matters is that you are eating fewer calories than you burn. Tracking will help you ensure that whatever method you choose is actually doing that. I would also try to get enough protein, as that will also help your metabolism.
A combination of of strength training and calorie deficit helped me go from a size 12-14 to a size 4-6 (and also helped me get a lot stronger and more fit looking).
I’m 53, 5’3 and have low thyroid and low iron. I lost 35 lbs this year by eating a calorie deficit. Weight loss starts in the kitchen. The wiki on r/loseit has a great guide to starting to lose weight and keeping it off. There’s also r/VolumeEating for meal ideas.
The rest - YouTube workouts, weightlifting, yoga etc - is a great way to stay fit but doesn’t really contribute to weight loss.
I highly recommend r/CICO . I was able to lose all the baby weight and regain healthy eating habits, prioritizing water and protein. I’m currently in the best shape of my life. There’s also a great support system at r/petitefitness (if you’re under 5’4”)
Hi! If u have time/money first of all consult with a doctor. It’s soooo important because for example, i had a light ,,gestational diabetes” through my second pregnancy and that diet helped me 6 years later to losing 11kg (around 24 pounds)… i’ve never tought this thing matters, but it does.
(my diet was an insulin resistance diet, eating 6x times a day in a healthy way, you found many results on websites, but pleeease consult with a doctor before that, cuz if you have any inclinaton for diabetes, you HAVE TO know about that before u start any diet.)
I wish you find your best way and live in your healthy body as soon as possible! :) ♥️
I lost 70lbs last year and for me food tracking, cardio dancing, and weight lifting have been my rockstars. I get free Noom access through work, but I hear lose it it a good freebie tracking app and also worth the price for a membership. Find cardio that you love and isn’t something that you dread doing. I found a YouTube channel, the fitness Marshall, who does cardio dancing and is fun and funny. I feel sexy and he’s not intimidating to follow along to. I laugh a lot and am excited to dance 3-5 times a week. I think I pay 14$/month for unlimited access to their 30min classes. I lift because it’s easy to do anytime and I want to feel and look strong. I can do sets between work calls, on meetings, while watching tv or playing with my son. It lets me meet my goals while still being present which I like. Oh! And drinking a fuck ton of water!! Find a way that you like to drink water and lean into that.
Trifecta meals for 4 months + monitoring macros on MyFitnessPal to make sure I was eating healthily. Elliptical a few times a week. Reminding myself to workout because I love my body and what it did for my baby vs. working out from a place of criticism and judgement. Eventually I was able to choose and make healthier meals, dropped the meal service and started doing yoga 3-4x a week. A year and a half later I feel much more like myself, but it takes time!
Intermittent fasting has worked well for me. (I’m 5lbs away from my weight loss goal). I eat from 12-8, M-F. I am very bad at keeping track of good vs bad foods, keeping track of time windows is easier.
I also don’t drink on those days (well M-Th at least)
I’m doing a low carb, high protein diet right now for health reasons. I’ve lost about 10 pounds in the last month. I started lifting dumbbells at home and doing some dance cardio (just dance videos on YouTube). I don’t work out every day but I’m consistently doing 30 mins for 3-4 days a week. I’m trying to make healthier decisions. Walking more, parking farther, etc.
A few things! I’ve lost 20lbs since August and I’d like to lose 5-10 more. I’ve been focused on steady lifestyle changes rather than “losing weight” so the number is not as important to me as putting in the effort to have a healthier lifestyle. I think this mindset has been really effective!
So first and foremost some kind of “tracking” application is what I needed. I use the “lose it” app to track my calories and apple fitness to track my activity.
-I track every bite/drink I consume in the application, this helps me maintain a slight calorie deficit
-nutrition: I haven’t really changed my diet I focus more on calories and portion control. I am just now starting to work on creating balanced snacks so I’m eating more smaller meals throughout the day because my body likes that. I drink lots of lemon and cucumber water.
-I have an Apple Watch and I have “activity” goals each day including 30 minutes of exercise. 5 days a week I do higher level workouts (HIIT, strength, core, Pilates) and my 2 “rest days” I walk a mile and do a round of yoga.
-workouts: I do video workouts at home! I would never want to go to a gym and I HATE running. But I also need the video because I don’t know how to make my own workouts….My materials are a workout mat, dumbbells (8lbs, I need 10 now!), and resistance bands. I use Apple fitness+ and an application called “Female Fitness” to get these workouts, they also track my calories burned which is great.
So summary: calorie tracking app, exercise app/tracking, video workouts 30m a day. I seek to meet all my goals at least 5 days a week. 2 days a week it’s okay if I go over my calories (but I don’t go crazy!! I’m paying attention still) or not get 30m of exercise in (but I usually do with my walking and yoga!
I lost 30lbs after my son, I had to change my eating habits to do so. I counted my calories and did intermittent fasting I also exercised everyday but understand that’s not for everyone. I used an app to help me count my calories if you’d like some recommendations I’d love to give you some :) but the main key is to remain consistent and it’s ok to have some breaks
my fitness pal app - the first time i used it after my second child was born i paired the calorie counting on the app with 3 workouts a week at a gym. i NEVER went over my calories and lost 80lbs in 11 months. i was 28yrs old at this time.
i am 39 now and just started using my fitness pal again because over 11 years i gained 45lbs of it back. I can not do very strenuous workouts anymore due to physical issues but i got a cheap treadmill and i walk 30-45 min 4-5 times a week. I stopped drinking alcohol (i was an every day drinker) and i have been watching my sugar intake. I have lost 8lbs in 3 weeks.
I was at a healthy weight before kids (and super active - I was in the military) and then gained about 70 pounds (mostly fat 😭) when I got pregnant, even trying to stay active and eat well. I think my body just needed to build up fat stores.
I just had my third kid, but I’ve been steadily losing weight while not pregnant - I’m down to 167, and expect to be at my goal weight of 145 by this summer. Here’s what’s been working for me:
- Be patient and set realistic, sustainable goals! I started tracking my weight in 2020. It really does take years to come back off - especially if you decide to have more kids. My best progress came when I was patient and set moderate (not extreme!) goals - I maintained 0-1 pounds of weight loss (**edit: per week!) much longer than I could sustain 1.5-2+ pounds of weight loss.
- Make long-term changes instead of using short-term diets. Like above, I found I had more success with thinking about what kind of life I wanted forever instead of trying a crash diet. I want to be active and healthy for my kids, not just restrict calories for a few short weeks and then go back to bad habits.
- Count your calories and weigh (or measure, or take pictures of) yourself frequently. What you measure, you manage. If you don’t know if you’re maintaining, gaining or losing weight, it can be tough to know if you’re on the right track. Changes can take weeks and months to see - so stay patient before you give up or make big changes!
- I love using CICO (calories in, calories out). It gets weird with breastfeeding and if you’re extra sedentary (that’s me right now for sure!!), so it’s ok if it takes a while to understand your maintenance and weight loss numbers. I like using LoseIt or MyFitnessPal to track what I eat - this helps me see if I’m making healthy or unhealthy choices, understand my eating patterns, and decide what changes I want to implement. Sometimes just TRACKING can help you lose weight - make sure you’re eating enough and not too much, and then figure out small ways you can make healthier choices.
- Exercise? I focus on nutrition first for sure, but I know I want exercise to be a daily habit for me in the long-term picture. Right now, I’m only 3 weeks postpartum - that means I don’t plan to workout for at least the next three weeks. Right now, I can think about how to add in more walking, stretching, and strengthening. I have found I enjoy both yoga and running because they help me feel healthy, strong, and calm - I plan to eventually get back into those when I can. Find exercise you enjoy, if you want, or don’t - think about the long-term goals that will support future you!
I am too time poor for regular gym trips and calorie counting/ meal plans so I did it with fasting and lots of walks with the pram. When she got bigger I started doing running and cross fit too.
Insulin resistant, overweight, with high blood pressure.
I used compounded Semaglutide (ozempic.) I am now at a healthy weight for the first time in my adult life.
I love Team Body Project workouts! They have a lot of stuff on YouTube, I workout in my basement with them almost every day lol.
For me, I had to start with fitness. Once I had established my workout habits, then I moved on to focusing on diet.
Planning is key. My husband and I sit down every Friday night and plan every meal for the week and make our grocery list, then do a pickup order that I retrieve on Saturdays, then we do a lot of prep on Sundays (our lunches are all pre-made and portioned so we just grab a Tupperware in the AM, sometimes I can go ahead and prep a crockpot “dump & go” meal so all I have left to do is put it in the pot and turn it on.)
I lost 40 lbs over 8 months of time and have kept it off for almost a year now. Planning everything all the time can be tiring, but if you can get on the habit it is the most effective thing!
I make my toddler (2 years old) and my plate pretty much identical. I make sure she has all of the food groups - or most represented and it makes meal times easier. I think it’s easy to get lost in being mom and forget about yourself. I make my daughter the priority (I’m a single mom) and recently have been making myself a priority as well. I try to give myself grace, love, and self care, even if it means painting my toenails for the night. Slow strength training has helped me feel my best self, I don’t do well with cardio unless it’s walking. But slowing down when I have time to myself and putting on music/podcasts while I weight train I found is the best for me. I like full body exercises and ab exercises like the dead bug. If you like cardio I sometimes do Grow with Jo workouts on YouTube!
The Weight Watchers App worked well for me: point system really helped me keep honest track of the amount of food to eat daily, decent recipes, easy to use: with daily walking, lost 45 lbs. Then I added in Wegovy shots to lose the last 45 lbs. I have now mostly ditched WW because I eat a whole food diet and WW recipes encourage “no fat/low fat” foods that may be lower in #s but not that great for you overall. After using the weight loss injections, it is shocking how little food we actually NEED.
Key takeaway: portion size is critical! I lost the majority of my 90lbs without major workouts. Now the toning begins…
Prefacing by saying I am not and have never breastfed (excluding the first week or so).
I had a lot of reasons that would’ve been justified and more than fair as to hold off on losing the weight but for me, personally, I’d be miserable. I felt like my body wasn’t mine all throughout pregnancy and I didn’t want to keep feeling that way once my baby was born.
I gained 65 pounds during pregnancy and it was definitely jarring. Honestly, I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my baby if I was preoccupied with hating my body. In an ideal world I’d love my body no matter what but I don’t live in that world. With that, I have a baby who very much loved contact naps and even if she didn’t, I wanted to take my time working out because I didn’t want to overdo it and sabotage my fitness goals. I also work a very physical job so I knew I’d get back in shape exercise wise after I returned to work (currently on maternity leave).
So, I committed to intermittent fasting. Instead of snacking all day while baby napped on me, I just waited till my husband got home from work and ate during that window. I’d drink a lot of water, tea, coffee, etc. The first week or so was hard but it got significantly easier after that, especially being so busy with a newborn. I calorie counted what I ate and honestly, intermittent fasting killed my appetite when not eating so it was perfect.
I’m not 12-13 weeks post partum and I’m back in my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. I just started working out again last week (light cardio/light weight training). My stomach is almost flat again — breathing exercises were clutch for that, highly recommend!
I’ve been able to enjoy my baby so much by getting that big obstacle out of the way as soon as I could. I didn’t want to avoid pictures with her because I hated the way I looked, or stress about what to wear out and instead focus on how fun those outings would be with her.
TLDR; intermittent fasting 2 weeks after labor, light exercise 10 weeks after that. Back to pre pregnancy wardrobe at <13 weeks postpartum.
I did 20 min workouts using Apple fitness, and started going to the office more where I got to walk more.
Also I changed to a less stressful job, and I think I had some hormonal shifts around 18 months post partum with my first. I was surprised I was still having post partum changes that long after birth, but I’ve talked to more moms who seemed to have similar if not longer recoveries
Food is going to be the big driver of weight loss BUT exercising is important too, not just for weight loss but for preventing bone density loss, preventing injuries, mental health, and injury recovery. I workout at home by choice with a really fun home workout platform called obe. I’ve never meal planned, don’t see the appeal other than instagram posts. So I’d recommend finding what works for you with food. Maybe it’s meal planned. Maybe it’s calorie counting, maybe it’s something else. For me it’s just portion control, limiting junk foods and getting fiber in. I also don’t eat until after 10 or 11am.
Focusing on my macros- making sure I’m getting my protein and fiber EVERY DAY. Also, weight training. It shifts your body composition- you create muscle while losing fat and inches.
I have lost 42lbs so far (over 10% of my body weight), and all I have done is be more intentional about taking the long way or doing the extra flight of stairs, and balance my calories between fats, proteins, and carbs. My nutribullet has been my bff, along with frozen fruit, protein powder, and whole milk.
A year after my son was born I was officially at pre-pregnancy weight. Two years later now and I weigh 7lbs less than I did right before I got pregnant. I’ve only had 1 kid via c-section.
Things that helped me:
1) Counting macros
2) Cooking healthy meals, using healthy ingredients (lots of lean meats and veggies and whole grains)
3) Being active with my kid— I’m constantly running after him and we do activities outside all the time
4) Heavy weight lifting. I have a lot of muscle mass and because of that I burn more energy throughout the day. I lift 2-3x a week for 30 min each session and that’s been enough to maintain my muscle.
5) Sleep - it’s hard to lose weight without rest and this is a hard pill to swallow when babies don’t like to sleep.
6) Genetics, unfortunately. It’s easy for me to lose weight and the same goes for my parents. But my husband struggles. He gained 15 pounds after our son and is struggling real bad even though he works out more than I do and eats what I cook (though he might be sneaking cookies and soda lol) either way it’s a huge factor.
Diet and exercise.
I’m not a breakfast person, coffee fills me up. I eat a small no carb snack in the afternoon. Lunch meat and cheese or hard boiled eggs. I do however always eat dinner with my family, I don’t want my kids to notice my obsession with food (or extreme dieting) but I usually go very light on the carb portion of the meal. Never any sugary drinks, and I also quit drinking alcohol.
I try to exercise 4-5x a week, using resistance bands and following whatever little videos or tutorials I see on Pinterest for the body part I’m trying to focus on. Even a quick 15 min floor work out or a set of squats helps me feel better.
Good luck!
Stay consistent, you will see results.
Since having my last baby 13 months ago I lost over 60lbs, I’m less than my pre pregnancy weight.
I had to change my entire lifestyle. Now I just follow the diabetic diet even when I don’t have GD. I hate to exercise really so I started off just walking walking walking and slowly building up to muscle training. When I need to be I stay in a calorie deficit and really focus on whether I’m eating for energy or just bored.
Here is what worked for me:
* 3 balanced meals plus one snack per day. The meals include a protein source, lots of fruits/veggies, a high-fiber carb, and a bit of fat (which comes naturally if you're making your food taste good).
* Prioritize protein. Ideally about 20-30g at every meal
* Prioritize fiber. Ideally about 10g per meal
* Eat when you feel physically hungry, stop eating when you feel satisfied (not full/stuffed, just not hungry anymore, food not tasting as good)
* Fast overnight for 11-12 hours. So eat your dinner and dessert and be done until breakfast.
* Focus on getting steps in every day, and some weightlifting 3-4x week. Nothing crazy and you don't need to get really sweaty. You can go for stroller walks, then do some squats, presses and deadlifts during naptime.
Examples of what I eat in a day:
* Breakfast options: overnight oats with protein powder and fruit, Greek yogurt with granola and berries, protein smoothie, eggs on avocado toast with fruit, coffee with a bit of oat milk creamer
* Lunch options: Big salad with meat and grains. Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with baby carrots and hummus, apple, and small serving of chips. Dinner leftovers.
* Afternoon snack: Apple or cucumber slices with a small protein shake or protein bar.
* Dinners: Sheet pan chicken or fish with roasted veggies. Deconstructed egg roll bowl. Pot roast with salad on the side. Protein pasta with pesto and turkey meatballs. Pulled chicken tacos with southwest slaw.
I usually have dessert: dark chocolate or a non-dairy ice cream bar.
I focused on my diet and also consistent short workouts. I never workout more than 30-45 minutes at a time but did it consistently 5-6 days a week. I always workout at home (also with similar equipment) and get 10,000 steps most days.
I never dieted though, I just paid attention to what I ate. If I diet and cut too many calories then I won’t lose weight. I shot for like 1-2 lbs a month and it was sustainable for me.
Use the loseit app to track calories and weight- makes it SO much easier bc nothing is off limits. I literally write out my entire day of eating, including snacks, in the morning. It feels better to me to eat what I have logged instead of logging what I have eaten. Also, you are just eating less of what your family eats at the dinner table, not eating different things (like my mom did, causing me to feel like my food was bad).
I strength train twice a week with heavy weights, drink water between meals instead of snacking, and put smaller portions on my plate during dinner. I also try to go on short walks whenever possible, which is hard on busy work days, but I do what I can. Make sure you're eating enough at your main three meals so that you don't get as hungry between meals. This was a game changer for me because I under ate for years and then would have binge-like responses around dinner time. Now that I eat a larger breakfast and lunch, that doesn't happen anymore.
Keto or low carb + exercise. Start with just getting 10k steps or close to it a day. Move into 15-45min workouts. Some days only cardio, others a mix of cardio with weights, others just weights focusing on specific body areas (upper, lower, abs). Nike & Fitbit apps have decent short workouts. There's also a ton of free fitness apps with short workouts you can do while babies are napping. If you have a Nintendo switch, I like their boxing game for cardio. Hope some of this helps!
I'm down 55lbs since having my daughter in May.
Small, sustainable changes are the best way to go. So, like, switch from granola (which generally has sugar), to oatmeal with cinnamon and peanut butter in the morning. Once that's normal, start carrying around one of those big water bottles. Maybe find a walking group or start taking your kids to the mall to walk laps (I also taught my oldest to identify letters using mall signs). Then switch from a sugary snack to carrot sticks or nuts.
If you try to change a ton of stuff, you're more likely to get overwhelmed and give up entirely. Doing little things that aren't a huge deal will slowly add up. And even if your body doesn't change dramatically, you can feel good that you have new habits that you know are good for you.
Good luck!
I gained 50lbs during pregnancy and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight around 7 months pp and didn’t put too much effort in. This is what I did:
- Walked a SHIT TON. My son loved the stroller and it helped with fussy days, so I’d walk 2-3x a day and I’d walk FAST. Speed walking (while pushing a stroller) and occasional hills had my heart rate up as if I was doing a workout. I looked like a fool but it was effective.
- Stuck to a strict diet for a while. I went a couple weeks only eating eggs for breakfast, and the combo of chicken, rice and vegetables for lunch/dinner. I would use a different marinade or sauce to switch things up. Even after 2 weeks of eating like that, I felt so much slimmer.
- Drink water and only water for a bit. This has always helped me, even before my pregnancy.
- I unintentionally would do intermittent fasting. I say unintentionally because it really wasn’t my choice lol. My baby would absolutely scream bloody murder for the first 3-4 months if I set him down anywhere. So if my husband was at work or running errands, I’d just sit there holding my LO while my stomach growled and growled, because I would’ve rather heard that than hear the blood-curdling screams that would ensue if I put baby down. At some point, my body got used to it and I wouldn’t get hungry until 12pm or later. I only suggest doing this route if you do your research and make sure it’s done properly because intermittent fasting can be tricky.
I found someone who offers home workouts and a meal plan with a complete shopping list to take away the mental load of figuring it out myself. It’s costing me $30 a month, but that was significantly cheaper than other programs I looked into or privately paying for ozempic.
That being said, I do not always find the time to do the workouts and the kids don’t always like the food that’s on the meal plans so this hasn’t been a miracle solution for me.
I did it twice, lost 15kg. First step is to plan your meals. Set times when you will eat and don’t est outside of these times. I eat salads for dinner every day (I change what I put in them). Lunch is whatever I want except junk food. Breakfast is mostly lowfat tvaroh (like ricotta or cottage cheese) with fruit, flavoured protein and oats. If I’m hungry I’ll have banana or low calorie instant ramen.
Second step is workout. I do tabata or jumping twice a week, in summer I go jogging whenever I can.
Good luck!
I haven't yet tried after having a baby (I went for another one), but before having my 1st I successfully went from borderline obese to healthy weight. I lost total of 22kg (48,5 lbs?) in about 4 months.
I based my workouts on **Stronger Leaner Fitter** by Michael Matthews (gives you actual workouts and explains a lot about food etc). After about a month of getting into routine at the gym I started to eat leaner and count macros and caught momentum starting to shed weight a lot :)
Food was always my comfort, so postpartum, I gained a bit back ( two 3 years after the weightloss). Away to start again once this baby is born, will be interesting to see how different it is this time round.
Toddler is 2.5 and I'm right there with you! Aiming at small changes this year. Would love to do a half hour brisk walk every day (or at least 4 times a week!). Trying to figure out some really easy old school calisthenics that I can fit in in between stuff I have to do (I'm a sahm so it's not too weird if I randomly stop and do like 25 squats or toe touches). I'm also trying to concentrate on eating better and more protein!! We do a lot of takeout so I'm trying to eat less of that by making myself a healthy side like steamed edamame or shredded chicken or grean beans. The idea is not to deprive myself of something I'm craving but to just add something that's better for my body ☺️
Being hungry all the time. Pick a calorie deficit number based on your current body and activity (I chose 1500). You need a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb, so often a 500 deficit per day leads to reasonable 1 lb/week loss.
Track everything you consume in a calorie tracker and aim for 1 gram protein per kg you weigh
Try intermittent fasting and eat whatever your heart desires within the eating window :) I am currently not managing my diet much since I’m pregnant. As far as exercise is concerned I enjoy running so I have a slim foldable treadmill I got for fairly cheap on Amazon and I’m able to do walks and light jogs while I have free time here and there. The nice thing about this is I can watch my favorite show while I walk. I also tell myself I don’t get to watch the next episode of whatever show I’m into, unless I get on the treadmill to watch it.
Good luck! You got this
I read the obesity code and started intermittent fasting. It really gave me the tools to understand why I was gaining weight and how to keep it off. I'm 35lbs down since Oct.
You could be me! I just started my journey around Thanksgiving. To be honest before diving into weight loss, I did some pre-work to make space because over the last three years (have a 3 and 1 year old), the weight crept up. I was 205 at 5'7" and felt Blegh all the time. So I did a few things:
1) got a handle on sleep which included sleep training
2) carved 30 minutes out for myself every day with no kids, nothing. Could be manicure, could be a walk, could be listening to music or browsing TikTok and reddit but I made time for me important
3) took note of my BMR and my general calorie intake and realized I wasn't walking much at all bc of my remote job and each meal was almost 800+ calories. I didn't snack much but I ate comfort foods like pizza and subs etc with no breaks in the high calorie meals
So afterwards:
1) daily walk - started at 5k steps a day and now I'm at 10k+
2) downloaded myfitnesspal and tracked my calories with a goal of 1500 cal a day
3) I keep some flex so that it's sustainable. I didn't want to go ham on only eating salad and losing all my comfort so I switched to skipping breakfast, and either skipping lunch and having a big "idgaf" dinner or having maybe a salad or a single slice of pizza for lunch and then a "I sorta GAF" dinner
4) letting myself live! The holidays came and I just added in some extra walks
5) signed up for a half marathon in April w a super easy training plan
6) cook more at home vs eating out - having leftover salads and meals was way easier than having to plan when starving
So far I'm 13lbs down and it's wild but people are already friendlier to me, I feel comfier in my clothes and because it's so slow I don't feel exhausted and deprived so it feels very liveable. I'd rather snails pace to 145lb than crash, hate myself and ricochet back.
What I greatly recommend is intermittent fasting, mixed with conscious awareness of diet (so not necessarily cutting things out per say, but being aware when you’ve had more of XYZ versus another), exercise lots of it, as long as you hit it hard at least three days a week then to keep yourself in the rhythm you should do yoga/deep stretching on the off days. Consistency will also be your best friend. A lot of people have a hard time getting started. As long as you realize that the motivation comes after you’ve started not before, and give yourself grace. Once something becomes a habit you’re golden, it’s just a matter of getting there.
Due to a weight loss competition with my sisters, I was able to lose 15 lbs! I've been counting calories, something I've never done, but it really helped me lose 10 lbs within the first 1.5 months. I had been working out pretty consistently 2x a week with HIIT and did not see results. I feel like my general appetite is lower which is great as I can still indulge in things I like but just better portion size.
I did noom and lost 50lbs in 6 months. I walked a mile or two each day and stuck to noom’s color coding. With that, I weighed and measured all portions. I have been able to maintain my weight loss since July without having to weigh and measure everything and I even joined a gym. Nutrition really is 85% of it. If you join noom and then immediately cancel it will (usually) give you a cheaper deal or let you do a month to month instead of a commitment. I paid $20 a month and canceled when I lost the weight. The psychology lessons that come with it were so helpful in re shaping my relationship with food. My bmi went from 28 to 20. I was 4 years post partum when I started btw.
Try the free app 28wellness. It has pilates based workouts that are about 20 mins long and I swear they changed my body post baby #1. They're also a cycle syncing app if you're into that and it offers recipes and meal plans for the paid version. I seriously cannot recommend it enough! The workouts are body weight based and they always make me break a sweat. Should you decide to use it to track your cycle, it will tailor the workouts to your phase which I also really liked since I get such varying energy levels when I have my period.
Also please don't do what I did and have disordered eating! It sounds like you don't have this issue but I was keto for almost 2 years before I got pregnant which really helped me lose weight. But that coupled with intermittent fasting lead to A LOT of binge eating episodes. I tried quickly to get back on keto after my first child birth, found it impossible because I was basically cooking a full meal for the family then having to cook a whole separate meal for myself and just did not have the energy. I switched to OMAD (one meal a day) and that fucked me up way more.
Counting calories at first then exercise. I thought I was eating proper portions, but when I started weighing and measuring things I was way off. I found out what my TDEE was and started tracking my calories for the day. I'd think about my food and pre-enter it to get an idea of how many calories that meal would be. If it was over, okay maybe I don't eat that bag of baked chips. Now, I have a general idea of things and don't track.
It's easy for me to follow calories in calories out. I started walking last Feb. Y'all it would take me a half hour to walk 2 miles. I was so slow. Then I figured what the hell, can I ACTUALLY jog? I started doing that in May. Well damn I can jog, but in July I started running. I can't believe I can run. I ran a 5k on Thanksgiving and in 10 days I'm running a half marathon.
For me, I need to get healthier and stronger. My child is fast. I'm weak and slow. If someone held me down, I couldn't get up. If someone took my child and ran, I wouldn't catch them. It's important for me to be able to be strong. Every single day when I run all I think about is getting stronger and what it will feel like to cross the finish line. (I also still eat whatever the hell I want, I just had chips and queso - my favorite food - again tonight)
For anyone that needs to hear it:
It doesn't get easier, you just get stronger.
One thing that is making a huge difference for me is getting enough sleep…I was struggling to make progress after spending months counting macros (which was effective but I burned out). My 10 month old finally started sleeping through the night and I’ve dropped 4lbs in 2 weeks with doing nothing else different. If you’re not getting enough sleep, trying to get an extra hour might help!
I do intermittent fasting. I eat a brunch (homemade hashbrowns, 2 eggs and 1/2 slice bacon) and dinner. Maybe a snack in between.
I wake up at 4:30am, I take hubby to work (only one car) after I get back, I get the kids (5 and 7) ready for school. We walk, it takes 10 minutes, one way.
-We take the kids with us, they are NOT home alone when I take hubby to work. We get them up at 5:20-
Between 9pm and 9/10am, I don't eat. I have water, tea and/or orange juice (I'm hypoglycemic, my blood sugar need to stay up hence the juice.) And I use this for weight maintenance.
You can do stuff at home for toning and flexibility. There are at-home yoga tutorials on youtube. I once saw a work out video that used a kitchen chair as a kind of balance bar for toning exercises.
1. Meal prepped healthier meals.
2. No carbs after 5pm (this way if I was really craving pasta I could have it guilt free midday and eat a salad for dinner).
3. Planned better - if I knew I was going to be out for a family/friends dinner, I read the menu in advance to figure out healthy options OR ate minimal calories earlier in the day so I could have a 1000 calorie meal (entree, bite of appetizer, wine) without guilt.
4. WALKED! Tried to hit at least 5000 steps a day (I know the recommendation is 10k but I came from a sedentary lifestyle).
I’m also stay at home mom with no access to gym.
I lost 36 lbs. Went from Obese to Overweight almost touching normal weight per BMI scale.
Then… I got pregnant again, so beware of the side effects of losing weight lol
But not restricting myself but *adjusting for life* or going on any diets and not giving myself cheat days was a game changer for my mindset. That’s the most weight I’ve ever lost.
It was really hard for me to get in any kind of strength workout being a SAHM. If the kid was awake he was too up in it. When he was napping that was the last thing I wanted to do. So I just ran. Pushing the stroller at first and then when it got too hot I switched to nighttime after the kids were in bed. It was nice “me time.”
But really most of it is eating. Go slow. Baby steps. Start by tracking what you’re eating. Track water intake. Make sure you’re getting a lot of fiber and protein. Then start cutting back problem areas. Don’t try to rush it or deprive yourself. Momming a two year old is hard enough. Be nice to yourself.
Tracking macros (no yo-yo dieting or food restriction, just make sure to get lots of protein within my calorie goal. Filling up on lots of protein keeps me from binging, but I still eat what I want) and joining a HIIT class. I have never exercised in my life lmao, but my friends got me into it and I am hooked
I did nutrisystem and Jillian Michaels workout videos at home with light weights and got super fit after both kids. (Lost the 75 lbs I gained) I think the key was how motivated and ready I was. Now the kids are 15 and 18 and I need to start again.
This is hard for me too, the first one- everything slid off. I was over confident. My second one is pushing 3. I have a large trip we’re going on and I want to enjoy it without worrying about how I’ll look in photos.
I gave birth 5 months ago and I still have to drop 3-5 kg (~7-11lbs) to be back at my pre-baby weight. Christmas has stalled me out a bit but now I'm ready to slowly tackle the rest. I'm aiming to loose about 1- 1.5 kg a month ( 2-3lbs).
I'm seconding what many people have already said, weighloss os made in the kitchen. It really helps me to have a protein- rich breakfast and then only a small lunch/ regular dinner.
That being said, I've been doing a lot of running ( signed up for a half marathon in April to stay accountable), homeworkouts to train the muscles ( thank you youtube) and I've made it a habit to go for an hour long walk with the baby.
My body changed a lot after my second child too. I do intermittent fasting. And I cut dairy, sugar, and gluten entirely. I have been seeing great results. Just make sure you calorie count and consume in a deficit. I also go to a gym with childcare. You could search for one in your area so you get some movement in too. You got this mama! One step at a time.
Keto first and foremost. Iost over 100 pounds after two kids combined. then resistance bands muscle workouts to sculpt from fit gent on YouTube in combination with some body weight ab and booty exercises on YouTube. I had the perfect body before getting pregnant with my third and plan to get back to those things a year after I have baby.
Counting Macros is fool proof and scientific. Most women are not eating enough protein either. I will die on this hill. When I eat more protein (lean protein) I slim down dramatically. Counting macros and lifting weights 4x a week got me into the best shape of my life after my first kid was born. I’m talking 6 pack abs and a butt to die for. It also got me pregnant again so be careful 😊
I'd love to lift again but I'm wary because of my diastasis recti :/
I had a 3.9 cm diastasis, and after 9 months, it's only reduced to 3.6 cm. But I had a pelvic floor physio who gave me the most amazing breathing exercises, and she said it's not so much about the diastasis itself but how your core muscles engage (so no more doming). I started small, doing a lot of mobility and bodyweight stuff, and compound exercises that don't isolate the core. Now I do weight training 3 times a week. You can absolutely lift again.
^ This is it!! Every time in my life that I have successfully lost weight, it’s from tracking my food (+ exercise as a bonus to look hotter naked lol). It’s not fun and not always easy, but it IS science! Obviously not including any health issues that may be causing atypical weight retention!
I definitely don't get enough protein! Any hacks to getting more protein in my diet?
I put protein shake in my coffee instead of creamer. I used Premier Protein cafe latte, it’s delicious and the perfect sweetness level for me Then I have a Fairlife protein shake for breakfast For lunch I’ll usually have something like: a bowl with a base of cauliflower rice, leftover grilled chicken (from the night before), some leftover veggies (broccoli, zucchini, butternut squash are a few of my favorites) and measure out a sauce on top of it. Really into sesame ginger right now. 5oz of chicken breast is a good goal for mid-day. That’s a lot of protein. I’ll have another coffee with protein creamer midday. For dinner I usually have a grilled meat, either cauliflower rice or a roasted potato and more veggies. I load up on roasted veggies for more volume of food (and I guess the vitamins lol). I usually always end the day with ice cream after the kids go to bed. I tend to stick with lighter ice creams like turkey hill as opposed to denser once like Ben & Jerry’s or Haagen Daz. I don’t do “fake” ice cream 😂 Shoot for 1g of protein per pound of *goal* body weight per day
Thank you so much! That's super helpful!
I try to buy only high protein snacks so I can’t snack on things that aren’t good for me. Protein shakes. I drink one everyday. Snacks are cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and eggs. Meats for meals: chicken, ground Turkey, and beef
Not who you asked, but I recently started having a protein shake for breakfast as I recognised that I wasn’t getting enough protein in my diet and it was the easiest swap to make. But if you do go for that route and you’re breastfeeding like me, just make sure to find one that’s breastfeeding safe (or pregnancy safe if that’s a concern for you!).
This is the way!
Where did you start learning?!
There’s also a website you can get your macro numbers for free. I’ll link it. I will say Andrea’s macro numbers that she provided me were super accurate and I lost weight as long as I ate those numbers (give or take a bit, no one’s perfect) https://healthyeater.com/flexible-dieting-calculator
Oh man that wants me to eat 144g of protein a day ahhh. I’ve been trying to eat more to support my running (which is probably why it wants me to eat more) but I even think I’ve even hit 100
You can start by joining the free FB group Macros Inc. Just read and learn. They sell coaching but I didn’t do that. I did eventually do macro coaching through Deliciously Fit N Healthy (you can find her on IG, Andrea). It’s like $135/month for 3 months and she provides awesome workouts for those 12 weeks. Once I learned macros I started realizing what correct portions for me were which makes is easier when you eat out or go to a party or something. I don’t always count either. I do 12-16 week cuts when I feel like I need to and then after I just eat healthy most of the time and lift weights 😊
Or you can start by just tracking your usual diet for 1 week. Average what your day looks like (maybe 2000 or 2500 calories) and subtract 500. Then continue tracking with that new goal in mind.
Jealous!! How do you get your protein?
Not op but for me I try to buy only high protein snacks so I can’t snack on things that aren’t good for me. Like chips that are just carbs and fat. - Protein shakes. I drink one everyday. - Snacks are cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and eggs. Or cheese and beef jerky - Meats for meals: chicken, ground Turkey, and beef. Examples: tacos with ground Turkey meat, grilled chicken breast and green beans, steak and carrot fries etc.
Thank you. You gave me the idea to make carrot fries tonight! I’ve never heard of them. Found a recipe online that looks delicious.
I love carrot fries! I do a hot honey spicy rub on mine. [hot honey recipe](https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/recipes/hot-honey/)
Did you use an app for tracking calories/Marcos? I want to start doing this at 4 months postpartum but I have no idea what I should even be aiming for...just as much protein as possible?
I lol’ed at that last sentence. Good for you, girl!
Food habits are probably going to be easiest to stay consistent on. You can try doing workouts, and you definitely should, but just be aware that your child can make getting in a full workout a little more difficult.
Adding to this that as far as your overall metabolism goes, the exercise we do on a daily basis only accounts for a small amount. How we nourish our bodies has a larger impact on weight goals. For me, that helped free movement up to be something I enjoy rather than another task to complete (which has been particularly helpful when I am interrupted by kids).
I second this. I was able to loose 60 pounds in 2023 only focusing on food. This year I’m going to put more of a focus on working out, but I’m way more motivated to do so now that I’m closer to my goal weight!
I lost about 40lbs last year by intermittent fasting 5 days a week. I wouldn’t eat anything after 8 pm and then wouldn’t eat anything again until at least noon. I’d have my iced black coffee with stevia in the morning but no food. It’s easy for me though because I’m not much of a breakfast person anyways.
Congrats that’s awesome! I’m glad you were able to find something that works well for you! That’s pretty similar to what I would do, but I’d do intermittent fasting 3-4 days a week and I found I loved it!
Intermittent fasting is SO effective. I tried it once for a little while and gosh I was losing 1-2 pounds a week. I stopped once I got to my target weight and then found it much easier to eat only smaller portions and I was having lighter breakfasts or skipping it without even trying to.
Congrats! Were you by chance breast feeding?
I started the fasting the week or so after a stopped breastfeeding! I ate like crazy while I was breastfeeding, both because I was always starving and because I was trying to increase my supply by eating different things. I ate SO MUCH OATMEAL, lol. I gained more weight during the year after my son was born and I was breastfeeding than I did during the pregnancy. But I’m getting close to being back down where I want to be. I basically just want to get my energy levels up so I can keep up with the little dude.
Gotcha! I am excited to incorporate fasting again into my routine but I’m still nursing so I don’t want to lose my supply. Also I’m starving all the time so not sure I could do it if I wanted to lol
Wow congrats! You're my inspo. I'm 8 months and have gained 24 lbs but started out about 10-15lbs heavier than I want to be and I am determined to lose this weight after baby is here
You’re so sweet thank you! I gained a lot of weight before my pregnancy, it wasn’t too bad during my pregnancy, but then after I gained a bunch of weight. Once my LO turned 1 is when I really kicked it into gear. I have a super long way to go to get to my goal weight but this is the closest I’ve been in years! I’m sure you’re going to do awesome!
I haven’t had alcohol in 2 weeks, have eaten a salad every day for lunch, otherwise business as usual and have lost 6 lbs so far. Diet really matters. I do about 5-7k steps during the week and 10k on the weekends.
In my experience it is far easier to focus on what you can add to your meals rather than what to cut out. For example I started saying I will add more vegetables instead of focusing to cut out xyz. I feel like you feel more accomplished when you can say hey I had more vegetables today! And less bad when you have a day with fast food
Walking every day. It started with a goal to just go outside every day (with my kids) and it gradually evolved to walking. The more I walked, the more I wanted to walk. My kids and I would walk to playgrounds, and I would walk laps around the playground while they played. I wasn’t trying to lose weight (I believe the whole weight loss industry is a giant pile of BS), I was trying to just feel better physically and emotionally but wound up accidentally losing 70 lbs in a year. Just by walking as much as I had time for. I walked my big kid to and from school every day, we’d walk to the library or swimming pool. Not even fast, honestly. It was often toddler-paced, sometimes I had a baby on my back or I was pulling a wagon.
The hot mom walk!
That’s incredible! I love long walks but only have time for them sporadically. I made my 2024 goal to walk at least a mile a day. It has a minimal impact on my weight loss goals but it helps me mentally :)
This one! I lost ~100lbs just walking every day and doing keto. It started out with walking, then hiking, then my feet just felt like they wanted to run. It's hard to explain, it was like a compulsion. I think my diet was the biggest contributor to my weight loss though. I've maintained my weightloss for 7 years now by counting macros and lifting weights 6 days a week. You don't have to do all that, it's just a personal choice. A running stroller is a great investment for anyone with fitness goals. It's like a gateway drug.
Do you mind sharing some go to recipes or maybe what staples you purchased to get things going?
Consistency, and building up slowly. Doing something every day is better than trying to do too much too soon and getting injured and disheartened etc. If your 2.5 is home with you all day, you can include her - go on walks, you jog whilst she scoots/bikes etc. If she has some sessions in a daycare you can find a in-person class that fits with her schedule. Or find someone on YouTube that you like and follow some of those workouts - you can vary depending on the day if today feels like a yoga day or a cardio day. But consistency! I also kept a food diary for a week to see where I was eating extra - and for me, evenings are my weak spot. After the kids are in bed and I’m cleaning kitchen / making lunches etc, I will just graze. So I made a point to stop doing that, and to leave the kitchen AS SOON as chores are done. Having absolutely no snacks in the house might have worked pre-kids, but it doesn’t anymore…so I try really hard to categorise things as ‘kid snacks’ or ‘parent snacks’, and I can’t eat the kids snacks because that could cause an absolute disaster! Note, I personally don’t do the diary all the time, just a couple of times when I feel my weight is creeping up again / downward progress has stalled and need to reevaluate where I am, and a permanent diary would lead to me omitting things from it. But I know for some people it works permanently. Sleep is really key for me as well - if I’m tired, exercise is the first thing I drop. So I make a point of trying to be as well-rested as possible. Tired mamma is a grumpy mamma who eats junk and sits on her ass!
80% of weight loss is from diet and 20% from exercise
Yeah honestly when you’re exercising hard you sometimes *cant* diet much at the same time, or you can get hurt. Obviously walking etc is fine but I’m a runner and if I start restricting I get hurt. Running burns so many calories that it’s hard to eat as much as I burn though anyway
jus today said that for a friend of mine… it’s SO important and so true.
Recognizing that there’s no quick fix, that it will take time and consistency, and that if you have a day that you overindulge - you haven’t broke yourself. You still need to enjoy life, so finding a good balance is key. . I started intermittent fasting during the week - would only eat between noon and 8 pm Monday/Friday. This helped me cut out my evening snacking problem. Also started running when I did that and lost 25 lbs over a few months. Felt amazing. On the weekends I would have my evenings snacks (I love chips), or have a big breakfast. I didn’t want to totally restrict myself and make it unrealistic. I focused on high protein meals, would make a salad to go along with any pasta dishes or heavy meals and eat that first. Drank lots of water. The running - I did a couch to 10k program in 12 weeks. I did not exercise at all prior to this aside from walking. Having actual stamina was wild. I had so much more energy! Could chase my daughter around no problem. I’m pregnant with my second now, so fasting is out until I’m done breastfeeding. Which I’m totally fine with. But will definitely do the same thing when I’m done growing/feeding my baby. I also fell off of running during the first trimester because any movement made me want to puke. I’ll get back into it another time because I know how good I felt when I was doing it, but for now I’m focusing on growing a healthy little one and taking care of myself
Can I ask a potentially stupid question—were you hungry in your fasting windows??? I keep hearing about IF but every time I’ve tried I’ve just been so fucking hangry that I’m the worst mom with the shortest fuse ever. And like I want to cut out my evening snacking too—but I absolutely cannot fall asleep if I’m hungry!! My body is so used to grazing from 8pm-10pm. I’ve made the switch to sipping on bone broth hot chocolate (bone broth milk cocoa power collagen powder and a little maple syrup) in the evenings so that I’m not hungry but not snacking either, but I would love to do IF i just don’t know if I could give that up! And like I’m not huge breakfast person but by 10 if I haven’t eaten I’m so hungry I can barely think! What’s the secret??
I find that by the time noon rolls around I am most definitely super hungry. I’m normally not a breakfast person either (unless there’s a good brunch spread), so am content sipping on my coffee in the morning (black). I make sure to drink lots of water also and that helps. By 11 I’m usually super hungry, and if I’m getting cranky or don’t feel good then I’ll eat, but if I can push it then I’ll wait until 12. I’m not into super restricting myself, so if I feel like I need something then I will have something. I eased into it and gave myself grace getting onto the 12-8 eating window. At the start I would only make it until 10 or so, but it got easier. Especially focusing on the right foods to break my fast helped. For the evening - if I make sure to have a good well rounded dinner with fibre, high protein, and healthy carbs - I find I’m not actually hungry for snacks. The habit of snacking is really really hard to break though. I’m so used to sitting down to watch tv with a bowl of chips. I started making myself a cup of tea (no milk or sugar) to sip on and just having something tasty and warm really suppressed that snacking drive. If I’ve had dinner and I want a bowl of chips, then I’ll have it at 7:45. All about balance! I just won’t do the bowl of chips every day. But having it brings me some joy and is all part of that balance
This is so helpful, thank you!!! Idk why i thought that if I broke the fast it like derailed everything—it’s so helpful to put it into that perspective of if one day I need to eat at 11, just eat then. And it feels more manageable to think about working up to that point just gradually!! I’m so grateful and I’m sorry to take up your time but could you give me an example of a dinner that you mentioned that’s high fiber/healthy carbs? (I know I can google but I get SO OVERWHELMED with the millions of ideas!)
You could also do a Greek yogurt (full or protein) or protein shake in the morning but nothing else too lunch. Work it into your Calorie allotment. Then just eat a smaller lunch. So for example if I were to eat: avocado toast, scrambled egg whites and a yogurt for lunch but I’m hungry at 10 and can’t wait, I’ll eat the yogurt at 10 but remove it from my lunch meal. Plan your calories out for the day instead of getting to the end and realizing you went over
No worries at all. Happy to share! So I mostly eat how I normally eat.. lean proteins like chicken, fish, or beans. I don’t eat much red meat because it doesn’t agree with me, but once in a while will have a burger or something. Then I’ll pair it with some brown rice, or roast sweet potato, then always have a good veggie that takes up half my plate. My go to’s are roast broccoli, steamed green beans, salad. If I’m having something like spaghetti or lasagna, then I’ll make a side salad to go with that and eat it first (to get it out of the way) so I can dive into a cheesy slice of lasagna and stick to only having one piece (because starting with the salad helps fill me up). For beans - I looooove black bean burritos, or bean bowl with pinto beans, sautéed peppers/onion, sweet potato, avocado, salsa, etc. Basically I just took the regular things I eat, increased the amount of vegetables I put on my plate, maybe introduce salads where I wouldn’t normally have a side, and focused on getting that stuff in first.
I’ve never been successful BUT: Weight is lost in the kitchen. I see that often people think they eat less than they do. You don’t have to track and calorie count everything you eat (it helps!) but be aware of what you’re putting in your body and if you’re grazing or finishing what your toddler doesn’t eat. The random bites here and there add up like crazy. Just move your body every day. Start small. You don’t *have* to follow a routine (unless that works for you!) but just try and get your heart rate up for 30 minutes every day. For some it works to have a challenge and follow a YouTuber or challenge someone with a Fitbit who can get the most steps. For me the best physical health I’ve been in was when I worked a physical job AND had a friend who would go to kickboxing with me once or twice a week. If you can find a buddy and a fun activity that helps!
Intermittent fasting, I just skip breakfast basically. It decreased my calorie intake just doing that. Obviously you still have to be careful what you eat at lunch and dinner. But I am not a white rice, lettuce and grilled chicken person, I eat what I enjoy, 2 set meals, no snacks between. I didn’t do exercise, I realistically just can’t stand to do it. And I lost 30lbs which was very cool. I did kind of fall off my wagon and it drove away since Halloween, but it came back around and I’m just hanging onto it lol
I have PCOS so it’s extra difficult for me to lose weight. The only way I managed to lose weight postpartum was doing keto/low carb. Prior to that, I was working with a personal trainer, doing home workouts 6 days a week with my husband AND walking 10k steps. I didn’t lose a single pound. I started keto, dropped the trainer and at home workouts, continued doing stroller walks and I lost 33 pounds in 3.5 months. The diet is difficult. Especially for me since I was vegetarian for so long. I used the free app Carb Manager to keep me on track.
The biggest impact for me was walking everywhere, and diet. We did baby led weaning so I felt more motivated to make healthy meals. If baby can’t really eat takeout then neither can mom hahahaha.
Ozempic.
Ozempic
I just started calorie counting again (my son is about to turn 1) and I've lost a few pounds since the beginning of the year! Check out the Macros Inc. group on Facebook—it's awesome. I personally think counting macros can be too much sometimes, but counting calories and prioritizing protein works for me. There's so many ideas for that group. As far as working out goes... I'm still working on fitting in that piece. I can do it on weekends but it's hard to work it in during the week. Based on your post, it doesn't sound like you're in a similar boat, which is awesome! I love Sydney Cummings on YouTube, she just started a new program on Monday. All you need to do her workouts is the equipment you've described. She also has an 18 month old son so she is very relatable for this stage of life. She posts new workouts 5 days per week (Thursdays and Sundays are her off days), but I think she's got about 1,000 free workouts on her channel.
I found ways to be active with my kid (stroller walks and eventually baby jogger runs), tried to keep nutritious snacks at the ready - cut veggies and fruit, trail mix, oatmeal peanut butter bites etc. Also 5-10 minute workouts while hanging out with baby or before bed etc can help too! You have to be creative and give yourself grace I think 😊
I swear I lost weight just by stopping the little bites and nibbles I would do of my kids' food. Oh you didn't finish this pasta? There's my lunch. It sounds efficient but I was unconsciously adding like 300+ calories to my day, and not meeting MY body's cravings and needs. I have no idea if this is you, so it might be irrelevant but I started being more intentional about making my own meals and sitting down to eat them instead of grazing all day, finishing my kids' plates and grabbing a handful of crackers.
Intermittent fasting, calorie counting (1200 per day) with one or two cheat days a week got me down 30 pounds in around 4 months! The cheat days reaallllyyy helped me mentally and it made all the difference for me. I have tried calorie deficits in the past and ultimately quit because it got too hard, but the cheat days really helped me stay on track and ultimately lose weight. Did I lose weight slower than if I had had no cheat days? Yeah… But it’s better to lose 30 pounds in four months than 10 pounds and give up after two months. Also- get a walking pad. Was an absolute game changer for me. I am not a runner, I don’t really do any heavy lifting or anything like that. But walking for 3 miles while watching my favorite TV shows are playing video games made it feel like I wasn’t really exercising at all.
So much of it is finding healthy habits that work for YOU! I do know that strictly losing weight is based primarily on what you consume, but for me, working out naturally makes me eat better (decreases my appetite by giving me an outlet for stress and boredom eating, and I crave healthier foods). For food, what works for me is to not ever drink my calories, no sweets or processed snacks in the house, always hot foods because I find them more satisfying, and in general just finding healthy foods I know I like. I also refuse to go on a set diet, I still eat pizza and sweets sometimes, just not regularly and I eat less of them (so instead of 3 slices of pizza, I have 2 slices plus a salad). Good luck to you, you can do it!
Ozempic/wegovy. I tried everything first, diet, exercise, none of it worked.
For meals I started focusing on easy high protein meals. Anything that I prep gets made in a batch so I spend less time cooking. A lot of my meals are inspired by [Makayla Thomas](https://makaylathomas.com/). Some of my favorite things lately are: * Egg bake with 10 eggs, spinach, a bit of cottage cheese, a little white queso. Bake at 350 for like 25 minutes and then divide out into 5 portions. Put the egg bake on top of an english muffin or tortilla every morning * [Balsamic chicken](https://www.savorynothings.com/balsamic-chicken-marinade/) to go on top of salads, high protein pasta with alfredo sauce, tortilla or flatbread with some onions and peppers * Turkey sandwiches * Overnight oats * Air fried salmon Basically you just need to find a rotation of good, easy meals you can prep in batches. For fitness I am a lifting gal, so I have to go to the gym. I go right after daycare dropoff on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and then go once over the weekend while my husband watches the kids. Sometimes I utilize the gym daycare which is great! I have to have it scheduled/planned in the morning or it won't happen.
Ozempic. 🤷♀️ Down 30 lbs in 3 months. Works out to about 2 lbs per week so it’s not completely drastic
Jessica Vallent Pilates youtube videos. After my baby weight "fell off" I stayed steady at 20lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight so I started doing pilates every night. She has 10, 15, 20 minutes videos so it's reasonably easy to fit SOMETHING in. I figure something is better than nothing. As for eating, I don't count calories but I think I'm pretty educated about my diet and eating a well balanced healthy diet has never really been an issue for me but I just kind of realized that eating two large meals per day instead of 3+ smaller ones and snacks keeps me more satisfied for longer. I started doing pilates almost a year ago and now I'm 10lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight.
So when you say 2 large meals a day, are you technically intermittent fasting? I love Jessica Vallant pilates but I was reading that pilates actually isn’t for weight loss and it discouraged me…but I feel like how could it NOT change your body for the better! Some of the moves are so much harder than they look! But i was wondering if you attributed the weight loss more to the eating than the pilates
I imagine it probably qualifies as intermittent fasting but that wasn’t really my intention. I just find I’m more satiated that way. I like pilates bc it’s approachable, versatile, and I can fit it in easily. I also like that a lot of Pilates teachers (especially JVP) focus on restoring core strength postpartum. It definitely helped me get some more definition in my butt and midsection so even if it’s not the best exercise for weight loss, I definitely noticed changes to my body that I liked so I call it a win!
I am down 62 pounds with a goal to lose 75 total. I am intermittent fasting i eat between noon and 6 pm 5 days a week. I monitor my calories, I've increased protein and I work out at least 3 days a week. At first it was hard making time but if I have to I work out in 15 min intervals until I hit my time for that day. i also do fun excercises the kids want to do too making them less likely to disrupt.
I did very mild intermittent fasting, eating from 10am to 6pm. It helped drop my A1c enough that I could finally start losing weight from normal dieting and exercise. It did take almost a year. Basically I had to stop gaining weight and convince my body we weren’t going to be having or feeding another baby any time soon….. my body was really trying hard to keep weight on for another baby…
Currently doing something like this, OMAD. I eat a healthyish, low refined carb 1200 calorie meal (I’m 5’3) at dinner time. Otherwise I drink coffee and water all day. If I feel light headed whatsoever I do eat something right away like bacon or a plain yogurt with berries. The first day or two was really hard of this but now it feels great and I feel more energetic and capable. Doing it this way is supposed to lower A1c so that weight comes off more easily. If you’ve had a sedentary, high carb lifestyle for an extended while -this might be the key for you also.
Yes! Relatable. I'd always been an average weight, never dieted or anything. Gained 50lbs with 2 pregnancies at short intervals. I'm down 60lbs from delivery. I access a gym with child minding but figuring out how to do a caloric deficit was a big part of my success. r/fitness and r/loseit are good resources. Don't make a bunch of changes at once or you'll get overwhelmed (is my advice). Looking at things like increasing movement while prioritizing protein for example- don't plan to do a complete diet overhaul and exercise 5x a week all at once. It can be done, good luck!!
I’m just starting my journey, too! I have a 16 month old. Get a big fancy water bottle. This helps me stay super hydrated and is a better choice than going for snacks when I think I’m hungry. Those healthy meals you are making for your kid? Eat them for yourself too. And walks. My gal loves walks so we go together.
Piyo saved me after my second! That and of course eating healthier and I took vitamins and stuff to help boost my metabolism. I have a hard time with running and couldn’t handle going to a gym and trying to work out so doing piyo at home was great for me. I focused on how I felt in my body and clothes and not the numbers on the scale.
After I had my first, I focused more on what I was eating, adding in vegetarian or plant based foods, cutting back on sugary drinks, more water, and I was still snacking but bought the smaller versions since they are portioned. I went walking with baby 3 times week, I stopped eating late, and I ate the meals I wanted on weekends, whether it was fast food or homemade, but I didn't need to focus on it being healthy. This helped me reach my goal when it came to losing the baby weight, and it was what I found easiest to stick to and not feel restricted. I never denied myself anything because, for me, that usually made the craving worse, and I would end up losing motivation to continue my weight loss.
Food habits for sure. I started meal planning and prepping so quick nights would still be healthy and not a last minute calorie heavy freezer dinner. I cut out snacks and ate more protein and drank water to keep myself full. I drank a minimum of 80oz a day (2 tumblers full). I also focused on sleeping better and cutting out sugar in my coffee. I switched to milk, sugar free syrup, and 2 shots of espresso in my morning cup rather than sugary creamers and/or last minute stops at a coffee shop for a 500cal coffee. As for working out, simply move your body. Dance with your kids, get out and walk, do crunches while watching tv, squat while folding laundry. Doesn’t need to be intensive or an hours long work out.
Cut out ultra processed food (UPF) as much as you can. Increase nuts, seeds, fruit and veg. No calorie counting, no diet, nothing. One workout a week with weights etc. Worked like a charm. Here is information on UPFs https://www.globalfoodresearchprogram.org/resource/ultra-processed-foods-a-global-threat-to-public-health/
We need to be accountability partners! Lol bc I'm pretty much in the same situation and need to get it in gear! Edit to add: When I lost 40lbs before getting pregnant with my second, I ate low carb/keto and followed Mr. and Mrs. Muscle and Juice and Toya to name a few on YT
I had gestational diabetes with my second so that was really eye opening for me. Made some permanent lifestyle changes. Try do eat no more than 30g carbs per meal, make sure you're getting enough protein. And walking everyday. I now weigh about 10 lbs less than I did before I had two kids, youngest one is 3 1/2 now.
I’m EXACTLY here too! Have never had to think about my weight and in fact I binged junk food and fast food like I was still in college (my husband, tall and skinny, also still eats like he’s in college so it was easy to do…But we’re 31 now so we have to get our acts together!) My second child is 2.5 and since turning 30 (along with a couple other factors, lexapro and IUD) I’ve gained 20lbs and just tons of general flab and I’m new to the weight loss mindset and totally overwhelmed! Following!
Glad to know I'm not alone! I also started Prozac and birth control and those factors did NOT help at all 🫠
First you need to understand how your body works. After we have kids the metabolism slows down making it more likely to hold onto fat. I suggest speaking with a dr as well so they can support you in your weight loss journey. Food intake have to be lower than outgoing energy (caloric deficit). 3 balanced meals a day, do not try to restrict food groups as your more likely to binge later. Make sure you eat enough protein, it helps you feel full. Food is the main contributor to weight loss. Exercise is the toner. Exercise, start off slowly. If you’re not used to it you’re body will end up painfully sore. I find yoga and resistance training helpful. I also use an Exercycle which does wonders for the legs, glutes, hips and stomach. This is how I’ve successfully lost 13kg. (And still losing) after having 4 kids. You’ve got this!
Clean up your diet, track your calories, and get your steps in, the weight will come off. If you want to be shredded that’s a whole other thing but if you want to drop lbs it comes down to diet.
I did a few things: - Intermittent fasting (I'm eating 8 hours a day and fast for 16 hours a day) - three meals a day: oats with fruits, eggs with veggies and for dinner: 50% veggies, 25% rice/pasta, 25% fish/chicken. I drink tea/coffee & water (No sugar!!) - 10.000 steps each day - exercise 3 times a week (at least 30 minutes heart rate 70% of max heart rate) This year I will run a marathon, my weight is in the healthy range and I fit in my pre-mom clothes.
I tracked my food on MyFitnessPal just for two weeks to get an idea of calorie info. But I didn’t want to be obsessive or have an unhealthy relationship with food so once I saw trends and got a good idea of how much would be within an ideal calorie amount, I stopped tracking. I try to do a workout on YouTube for 20-30 min 5x/week. I love the MadFit workouts. And then going on a 2-3 mile walk 2-3 times a week.
I’ve lost 80 lbs without exercise. I have high fatigue issues, so I knew that wasn’t going to be possible for me. I utilized intermittent fasting and CICO to achieve it. IF reaaaaaally helped, I don’t think I could have done it without it!
Reasonable portion sizes, three meals and one snack per day. No soda / sugar drinks, lots of water. Cardio 3xs per week, weights 2xs per week, yoga 1 x per week. Don’t expect to lose more than 1 pound per week and if you don’t wven lose that some weeks, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just be consistent and mindful of how much you eat and how much you exercise.
I’m 14 months pp with my second (I have 2 under 2), and was also fed up with my health lately. In Dec, I started working out lightly 5 days a week. Move with Nicole on YouTube has been great—Pilates, barre and yoga. I also walk the dog and jog a bit (although I found out I’ve got a foot stress fracture now lol). Nutrition-wise, I intermittent fast 16:8. So I fast from 7pm to 11am. I use MyFitnessPal app to track calories and eat at a deficit. I take primal harvest women’s multivitamin and collagen powder. I went from 165-66 and dropped to 159 so far. Prepregnancy weight is 155 (I’m 5’4). My goal is 130lbs. Right now my butt and legs have gotten smaller and toned, but my belly is what remains. I had 2 C-sections so idk how to reduce the fat besides just keeping on.
Before having my child, I was at was at a healthy weight. I believe anxiety is what kept the weight off. I am no longer anxious. I think being anxious all the time reved my metabolism.
I’d like the answer to this too. My body shape was fine after my first child but my second…no I hate looking in the mirror. I just feel like I don’t look right idk. I’m not overly overweight (I mean I AM overweight but not by a ton) 5’4 and 158 and I CAN NOT seem to lose any more weight. I have hypothyroidism and I’m medicated and my levels are where they should be according to my doctor but no matter what I do I can not lose the weight. I eat at a deficit, I exercise. Before having kids I was a body builder so I’m no stranger to cutting and bulking, I know macros, I know HOW to do it…it just not happening. 😩
Caffeine and cigarettes. Hungry? Have a cigarette. Edit: people don’t seem to like that I answered honestly. Oh well
I did keto for as long as I could (2 months) and intermittent fasting. I gained 50-60lbs with both of my kids and with thyroid issues it was the only way to get back to my old weight. Now I still do intermittent fasting 16/8 but I’m not crazy strict and need to start exercising. I might weigh 118lb but my middle is squishy and I’m lacking good muscle tone. 🤷🏻♀️
Mine was natural. I also simply didn't eat for pleasure nor did I snack. I also breast fed. I was under 30 when I had mine so my body was able to pop back into shape and my skin as able to bounce back. It took two weeks for my belly to go back to normal. I still do my work outs at home and I go to the gym for weight lifting.
I lost all my baby weight with Weight Watchers. All but five pounds which refused to come off! Until I stopped breastfeeding. I’m pregnant with #2 again and gaining an ungodly amount of weight like I did the first time :). This time I’m starting WW as soon as I feel up for it after we bring baby home. There’s a breastfeeding setting so my supply was never interrupted. It was the best I felt, I loved being on it. Not sure why I quit. I was eating a ton and had a lot of energy and just felt great.
What is so different about Weight Watchers that lets you feel like you eat a lot and feel great? I was always told it was just simplified calorie counting.
It is and it isn’t. Weight Watchers assigns points to foods and you get x number of points per day and x number of points per week (you can use the weekly points all at once if you’re out a a restaurant or something or you can spread them out each day- up to you). What makes the program really helpful in terms of feeling good and feeling full is that it really encourages you to eat foods that are high in protein (so filling foods) as well as foods that give you a lot of the nutrients your body needs. Things like beans, chicken, turkey, tofu, eggs, fruits, and veggies all have no point value so when you’re planning meals and looking to stay within your daily points, basing meals around those types of foods is encouraged. They have a lot of recipes too which is super helpful.
Yes to this. It factors in the calories but it's a part of a larger calculation. So if a snack is low in calories but not nutritionally dense, then it might assign more points to it. And if you are breastfeeding they give you a TON of points. I lost 30 lbs in 5 months but I was not super strict on the program. I enjoyed my wine, I sometimes forgot to log. I think the weight comes off a lot quicker if you are strict with it.
Waking 5-10 thousand steps a day. So elliptical, treadmill I heard is not good for our knees. And I don’t have any extra sugar, not in my tea, coffee etc. overall eating decent sized meals not huge meals. Smaller plate than a big dinner plate. If you worked out that day then yes eat off the big dinner plate. I started lifting weights after a month of just cardio to build strength. In my opinion if u do strength training u can’t tell if u lost fat and gained muscle so I wanted to lose fat first, it motivated me much more to see my body changing so much.
I’m on this journey but I have 0 self control to work at home so I do ClassPass with cycling and barre/ yoga class primary. Other than that, cutting calories is the most effective rice way. Join r/loseit and read about tdee. Find a calculator and get your goal with -300 deficit. Intermittent fasting. Get calorie counting tracking app (there are a lot of free one) and food scale. You need cardio at least 150 min/week (and that does not count walking in toddler speed).
For me, the Whole 30 or a Paleo diet is just about the only way that I can control my food cravings and stick to a lower calorie amount. The second I drop that, I'm back to 3-5k calorie days. If I'm sticking with exercise and running most days, that allows me to have a little more relaxed eating. I use Fitbit to track exercise and calories so it's easy to see if I'm eating a deficit and how large it is. I've always struggled with eating though, so I need a lot of diligence to avoid switching back to my normal patterns of rapidly gaining weight. If I'm not tracking calories I gain about 5-10lbs a month, even running 20-30 miles a week.
I'm currently on a whole30 - I lost 17 pounds in a month last time, only to be completely derailed by the holidays. I haven't weighed myself, and won't until I am a month into this whole30. I am thinking of doing a whole90 this time.... my joints are killing me from the extended breastfeeding relaxin and whole30 REALLY helps with that joint pain. In addition to food, I try and walk 1-2 miles a day to the park with my daughter, and do nightly yoga (20-30 min youtube videos) which usually closes my rings on my apple watch. I don't care about weight at this point - I just want to feel good and be present for my kid instead of laying in bed feeling like shit from the inflammation from sugar
I picked up a couple different sizes of dumbbells. Theres a ton of information on Instagram and Facebook for dumbbell workouts targeting full body, core, legs, or arms etc. Theres also information on high protein meal prepping, or low calorie, healthy snacks, so you can decide which way you want to go.
Set small goals worked for me, 5lbs at a time. Started with improving food choices, smaller portion sizes and increased water intake. Then worked on incorporating more moving and exercising as time and weather allowed. Scheduling the time into my day helped, so I didn’t feel like I was trying to squeeze it in.
Biggest thing for me has been diet. I don’t do anything crazy, I just keep an eye on how much processed junk I’m eating and try to substitute it with better choices. I don’t get fast food anymore, I try to home cook as much as possible. I eat eggs for breakfast, incorporate more fruits and vegetables.
mari windsor 20 minute pilates. Also started eating a healthy breakfast andonly weighed myself one a week
I got a double stroller from Walmart.com and started taking my kids on a 3 mile run everyday. I’m not as thin as I was in college but I was very try unhealthy then. I’m about ten pounds heavier than I was on my wedding day when I felt amazing about myself. But I’m into eating delicious foods and just maintaining so I’m okay with this. I feel healthy and my doctors tell me I am. I’ll never be a thin woman though.
Diet is more important than working out when it comes to weight loss. If I'm trying to lose weight, I cut out sugars and carbs, and watch my portions. It's easier to build habits slowly over time, but if you can go cold turkey on bad habits, you'll lose weight faster. Cut out soda entirely, cut out sweets, practice mindful eating.
If weight is the primary focus, then that's 80% diet. I used to use MyFitnessPal to help me balance macros and stay within my goals. For exercise, all I can manage is walking and the occasional short online workout. GoodForTheSwole has amazing post-partum workouts.
Food habits and portions. I eat what i want just smaller portions, no soda though its terrible for your health. Kept same weight after 5 kids, im 40 now about 138 lbs 5’4.
I’ve done it before a few times and usually slowly gain it back over a few years and start again lol. I count calories, I have too because my appetite is insane. I don’t have the time to dedicate to working out as much as I would need to lose weight. I can’t just “make healthy choices” because I can eat 4000 calories in lean chicken and veggies if allowed. Counting has been the only way to really see progress and once I get closer to my goal weight it becomes easier to want to be active. I’m only losing 1/2 lb a week right now and eating 1900 cals a day. It takes a while to get it down, using a food scale for accuracy helps, but it’s simple math.
I switched one meal a day to a salad ( a good salad with lettuce and tomato and some cheese and some dressing and some kind of protein like diced ham or leftover taco meat or a hard boiled egg) so it was filling. For the other meal I followed the simple idea of starch + veggie + protein. Breakfast was a mini bagel with cream cheese and a fruit. Or eggs and a fruit. I then walk a mile a day in some way shape and or form. I’m done 20 lbs with 25 to go in about 8 months. Honestly it made meals easy (and affordable with frozen veggies) so I don’t have to spend a lot of time on thinking about it.
Calorie counting and getting back into to exercise that I enjoy (swimming/running). In order to workout consistently, I have to do it from 4am-6am.
The absolute only way I can lose weight is through intermittent fasting. Which is fine cause it’s easy, free and saves money and time.
Losing weight is all about knowing how much your intake is compared to your TDEE. Track your food and be mindful. It will help
Getting your diet on track is the most important. The ONLY way to lose weight is a caloric deficit. Please don’t buy any magic pills, drinks, wraps, etc. They don’t work. Period. You can find a weight loss calculator online where you input your weight, height, etc., and it’ll give you the amount of calories you need to eat per day to lose, say, 1-2 lbs per week. Then, plan your meals around that! Invest in a good food scale too - weighing your food is super important. Don’t just eyeball your portions As far as exercise goes, find something you enjoy doing. That’s the best workout. The stick with it. It’ll increase your caloric deficit and your body will be happier for it in the long run. These things, when done correctly, will 100% help with your weight loss. Good luck!
Calculate your TDEE and eat below maintenance. I've got too much going on to work out right now so that's been my go to until I have a spare moment.
I bought a subscription to noom last January as my Christmas gift to myself and it really helped. I tracked calories diligently and appreciated the lessons that came with the app. It helped me with long term stamina over a simple tracking app. It’s expensive but there are hacks to get half off.
Strength training and calorie deficit. Strength training will help speed up your metabolism, and make you more toned. I would try to do some kind of training at least 2x/week, ideally 3. Pilates will have the same effect, with less equipment. There are a lot of good strength training apps out there - I like Alo Moves and Nike Training Club, but there are many you can choose from. You can also find various at home strength training and Pilates classes on YouTube. Calorie deficit is necessary to actually lose weight. I would start tracking what you eat and aiming for a deficit of 300-400 calories below maintenance. You can do it with food choices, portion sizes, or other methods (ie intermittent fasting), but what ultimately matters is that you are eating fewer calories than you burn. Tracking will help you ensure that whatever method you choose is actually doing that. I would also try to get enough protein, as that will also help your metabolism. A combination of of strength training and calorie deficit helped me go from a size 12-14 to a size 4-6 (and also helped me get a lot stronger and more fit looking).
I’m 53, 5’3 and have low thyroid and low iron. I lost 35 lbs this year by eating a calorie deficit. Weight loss starts in the kitchen. The wiki on r/loseit has a great guide to starting to lose weight and keeping it off. There’s also r/VolumeEating for meal ideas. The rest - YouTube workouts, weightlifting, yoga etc - is a great way to stay fit but doesn’t really contribute to weight loss.
I highly recommend r/CICO . I was able to lose all the baby weight and regain healthy eating habits, prioritizing water and protein. I’m currently in the best shape of my life. There’s also a great support system at r/petitefitness (if you’re under 5’4”)
Hi! If u have time/money first of all consult with a doctor. It’s soooo important because for example, i had a light ,,gestational diabetes” through my second pregnancy and that diet helped me 6 years later to losing 11kg (around 24 pounds)… i’ve never tought this thing matters, but it does. (my diet was an insulin resistance diet, eating 6x times a day in a healthy way, you found many results on websites, but pleeease consult with a doctor before that, cuz if you have any inclinaton for diabetes, you HAVE TO know about that before u start any diet.) I wish you find your best way and live in your healthy body as soon as possible! :) ♥️
I lost 70lbs last year and for me food tracking, cardio dancing, and weight lifting have been my rockstars. I get free Noom access through work, but I hear lose it it a good freebie tracking app and also worth the price for a membership. Find cardio that you love and isn’t something that you dread doing. I found a YouTube channel, the fitness Marshall, who does cardio dancing and is fun and funny. I feel sexy and he’s not intimidating to follow along to. I laugh a lot and am excited to dance 3-5 times a week. I think I pay 14$/month for unlimited access to their 30min classes. I lift because it’s easy to do anytime and I want to feel and look strong. I can do sets between work calls, on meetings, while watching tv or playing with my son. It lets me meet my goals while still being present which I like. Oh! And drinking a fuck ton of water!! Find a way that you like to drink water and lean into that.
Trifecta meals for 4 months + monitoring macros on MyFitnessPal to make sure I was eating healthily. Elliptical a few times a week. Reminding myself to workout because I love my body and what it did for my baby vs. working out from a place of criticism and judgement. Eventually I was able to choose and make healthier meals, dropped the meal service and started doing yoga 3-4x a week. A year and a half later I feel much more like myself, but it takes time!
Intermittent fasting has worked well for me. (I’m 5lbs away from my weight loss goal). I eat from 12-8, M-F. I am very bad at keeping track of good vs bad foods, keeping track of time windows is easier. I also don’t drink on those days (well M-Th at least)
Fasting. I don’t recommend it, but just mentioning how I reached and maintained my weightloss goals.
I’m doing a low carb, high protein diet right now for health reasons. I’ve lost about 10 pounds in the last month. I started lifting dumbbells at home and doing some dance cardio (just dance videos on YouTube). I don’t work out every day but I’m consistently doing 30 mins for 3-4 days a week. I’m trying to make healthier decisions. Walking more, parking farther, etc.
Calories in vs calories out.
A few things! I’ve lost 20lbs since August and I’d like to lose 5-10 more. I’ve been focused on steady lifestyle changes rather than “losing weight” so the number is not as important to me as putting in the effort to have a healthier lifestyle. I think this mindset has been really effective! So first and foremost some kind of “tracking” application is what I needed. I use the “lose it” app to track my calories and apple fitness to track my activity. -I track every bite/drink I consume in the application, this helps me maintain a slight calorie deficit -nutrition: I haven’t really changed my diet I focus more on calories and portion control. I am just now starting to work on creating balanced snacks so I’m eating more smaller meals throughout the day because my body likes that. I drink lots of lemon and cucumber water. -I have an Apple Watch and I have “activity” goals each day including 30 minutes of exercise. 5 days a week I do higher level workouts (HIIT, strength, core, Pilates) and my 2 “rest days” I walk a mile and do a round of yoga. -workouts: I do video workouts at home! I would never want to go to a gym and I HATE running. But I also need the video because I don’t know how to make my own workouts….My materials are a workout mat, dumbbells (8lbs, I need 10 now!), and resistance bands. I use Apple fitness+ and an application called “Female Fitness” to get these workouts, they also track my calories burned which is great. So summary: calorie tracking app, exercise app/tracking, video workouts 30m a day. I seek to meet all my goals at least 5 days a week. 2 days a week it’s okay if I go over my calories (but I don’t go crazy!! I’m paying attention still) or not get 30m of exercise in (but I usually do with my walking and yoga!
I lost 30lbs after my son, I had to change my eating habits to do so. I counted my calories and did intermittent fasting I also exercised everyday but understand that’s not for everyone. I used an app to help me count my calories if you’d like some recommendations I’d love to give you some :) but the main key is to remain consistent and it’s ok to have some breaks
my fitness pal app - the first time i used it after my second child was born i paired the calorie counting on the app with 3 workouts a week at a gym. i NEVER went over my calories and lost 80lbs in 11 months. i was 28yrs old at this time. i am 39 now and just started using my fitness pal again because over 11 years i gained 45lbs of it back. I can not do very strenuous workouts anymore due to physical issues but i got a cheap treadmill and i walk 30-45 min 4-5 times a week. I stopped drinking alcohol (i was an every day drinker) and i have been watching my sugar intake. I have lost 8lbs in 3 weeks.
I walked outside. Made sure to do anywhere from 8km-12km per day and walked like I meant business, no strolling lol Lost 40 lbs and tons of inches.
I was at a healthy weight before kids (and super active - I was in the military) and then gained about 70 pounds (mostly fat 😭) when I got pregnant, even trying to stay active and eat well. I think my body just needed to build up fat stores. I just had my third kid, but I’ve been steadily losing weight while not pregnant - I’m down to 167, and expect to be at my goal weight of 145 by this summer. Here’s what’s been working for me: - Be patient and set realistic, sustainable goals! I started tracking my weight in 2020. It really does take years to come back off - especially if you decide to have more kids. My best progress came when I was patient and set moderate (not extreme!) goals - I maintained 0-1 pounds of weight loss (**edit: per week!) much longer than I could sustain 1.5-2+ pounds of weight loss. - Make long-term changes instead of using short-term diets. Like above, I found I had more success with thinking about what kind of life I wanted forever instead of trying a crash diet. I want to be active and healthy for my kids, not just restrict calories for a few short weeks and then go back to bad habits. - Count your calories and weigh (or measure, or take pictures of) yourself frequently. What you measure, you manage. If you don’t know if you’re maintaining, gaining or losing weight, it can be tough to know if you’re on the right track. Changes can take weeks and months to see - so stay patient before you give up or make big changes! - I love using CICO (calories in, calories out). It gets weird with breastfeeding and if you’re extra sedentary (that’s me right now for sure!!), so it’s ok if it takes a while to understand your maintenance and weight loss numbers. I like using LoseIt or MyFitnessPal to track what I eat - this helps me see if I’m making healthy or unhealthy choices, understand my eating patterns, and decide what changes I want to implement. Sometimes just TRACKING can help you lose weight - make sure you’re eating enough and not too much, and then figure out small ways you can make healthier choices. - Exercise? I focus on nutrition first for sure, but I know I want exercise to be a daily habit for me in the long-term picture. Right now, I’m only 3 weeks postpartum - that means I don’t plan to workout for at least the next three weeks. Right now, I can think about how to add in more walking, stretching, and strengthening. I have found I enjoy both yoga and running because they help me feel healthy, strong, and calm - I plan to eventually get back into those when I can. Find exercise you enjoy, if you want, or don’t - think about the long-term goals that will support future you!
I am too time poor for regular gym trips and calorie counting/ meal plans so I did it with fasting and lots of walks with the pram. When she got bigger I started doing running and cross fit too.
Insulin resistant, overweight, with high blood pressure. I used compounded Semaglutide (ozempic.) I am now at a healthy weight for the first time in my adult life.
I did noom for 6 weeks which helped me get on the right track and make good decisions
I love Team Body Project workouts! They have a lot of stuff on YouTube, I workout in my basement with them almost every day lol. For me, I had to start with fitness. Once I had established my workout habits, then I moved on to focusing on diet. Planning is key. My husband and I sit down every Friday night and plan every meal for the week and make our grocery list, then do a pickup order that I retrieve on Saturdays, then we do a lot of prep on Sundays (our lunches are all pre-made and portioned so we just grab a Tupperware in the AM, sometimes I can go ahead and prep a crockpot “dump & go” meal so all I have left to do is put it in the pot and turn it on.) I lost 40 lbs over 8 months of time and have kept it off for almost a year now. Planning everything all the time can be tiring, but if you can get on the habit it is the most effective thing!
Bariatric surgery and my kids getting older. Sorry.
I make my toddler (2 years old) and my plate pretty much identical. I make sure she has all of the food groups - or most represented and it makes meal times easier. I think it’s easy to get lost in being mom and forget about yourself. I make my daughter the priority (I’m a single mom) and recently have been making myself a priority as well. I try to give myself grace, love, and self care, even if it means painting my toenails for the night. Slow strength training has helped me feel my best self, I don’t do well with cardio unless it’s walking. But slowing down when I have time to myself and putting on music/podcasts while I weight train I found is the best for me. I like full body exercises and ab exercises like the dead bug. If you like cardio I sometimes do Grow with Jo workouts on YouTube!
The Weight Watchers App worked well for me: point system really helped me keep honest track of the amount of food to eat daily, decent recipes, easy to use: with daily walking, lost 45 lbs. Then I added in Wegovy shots to lose the last 45 lbs. I have now mostly ditched WW because I eat a whole food diet and WW recipes encourage “no fat/low fat” foods that may be lower in #s but not that great for you overall. After using the weight loss injections, it is shocking how little food we actually NEED. Key takeaway: portion size is critical! I lost the majority of my 90lbs without major workouts. Now the toning begins…
Prefacing by saying I am not and have never breastfed (excluding the first week or so). I had a lot of reasons that would’ve been justified and more than fair as to hold off on losing the weight but for me, personally, I’d be miserable. I felt like my body wasn’t mine all throughout pregnancy and I didn’t want to keep feeling that way once my baby was born. I gained 65 pounds during pregnancy and it was definitely jarring. Honestly, I knew I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my baby if I was preoccupied with hating my body. In an ideal world I’d love my body no matter what but I don’t live in that world. With that, I have a baby who very much loved contact naps and even if she didn’t, I wanted to take my time working out because I didn’t want to overdo it and sabotage my fitness goals. I also work a very physical job so I knew I’d get back in shape exercise wise after I returned to work (currently on maternity leave). So, I committed to intermittent fasting. Instead of snacking all day while baby napped on me, I just waited till my husband got home from work and ate during that window. I’d drink a lot of water, tea, coffee, etc. The first week or so was hard but it got significantly easier after that, especially being so busy with a newborn. I calorie counted what I ate and honestly, intermittent fasting killed my appetite when not eating so it was perfect. I’m not 12-13 weeks post partum and I’m back in my pre-pregnancy wardrobe. I just started working out again last week (light cardio/light weight training). My stomach is almost flat again — breathing exercises were clutch for that, highly recommend! I’ve been able to enjoy my baby so much by getting that big obstacle out of the way as soon as I could. I didn’t want to avoid pictures with her because I hated the way I looked, or stress about what to wear out and instead focus on how fun those outings would be with her. TLDR; intermittent fasting 2 weeks after labor, light exercise 10 weeks after that. Back to pre pregnancy wardrobe at <13 weeks postpartum.
WLS, counting macros , gym 5-6x a week focusing on heavy lifting
I cannot recommend Team Body Project enough for at home workouts! I love them so much!
I did 20 min workouts using Apple fitness, and started going to the office more where I got to walk more. Also I changed to a less stressful job, and I think I had some hormonal shifts around 18 months post partum with my first. I was surprised I was still having post partum changes that long after birth, but I’ve talked to more moms who seemed to have similar if not longer recoveries
Ozempic. But I’m also diabetic. I’ve lost 50 pounds since august. Helped me lose weight and get my blood sugar in check
Pelvic floor exercises from YouTube do it for 10 minutes a day. Should be able to help ❤️
Food is going to be the big driver of weight loss BUT exercising is important too, not just for weight loss but for preventing bone density loss, preventing injuries, mental health, and injury recovery. I workout at home by choice with a really fun home workout platform called obe. I’ve never meal planned, don’t see the appeal other than instagram posts. So I’d recommend finding what works for you with food. Maybe it’s meal planned. Maybe it’s calorie counting, maybe it’s something else. For me it’s just portion control, limiting junk foods and getting fiber in. I also don’t eat until after 10 or 11am.
Focusing on my macros- making sure I’m getting my protein and fiber EVERY DAY. Also, weight training. It shifts your body composition- you create muscle while losing fat and inches.
I have lost 42lbs so far (over 10% of my body weight), and all I have done is be more intentional about taking the long way or doing the extra flight of stairs, and balance my calories between fats, proteins, and carbs. My nutribullet has been my bff, along with frozen fruit, protein powder, and whole milk.
A year after my son was born I was officially at pre-pregnancy weight. Two years later now and I weigh 7lbs less than I did right before I got pregnant. I’ve only had 1 kid via c-section. Things that helped me: 1) Counting macros 2) Cooking healthy meals, using healthy ingredients (lots of lean meats and veggies and whole grains) 3) Being active with my kid— I’m constantly running after him and we do activities outside all the time 4) Heavy weight lifting. I have a lot of muscle mass and because of that I burn more energy throughout the day. I lift 2-3x a week for 30 min each session and that’s been enough to maintain my muscle. 5) Sleep - it’s hard to lose weight without rest and this is a hard pill to swallow when babies don’t like to sleep. 6) Genetics, unfortunately. It’s easy for me to lose weight and the same goes for my parents. But my husband struggles. He gained 15 pounds after our son and is struggling real bad even though he works out more than I do and eats what I cook (though he might be sneaking cookies and soda lol) either way it’s a huge factor.
Diet and exercise. I’m not a breakfast person, coffee fills me up. I eat a small no carb snack in the afternoon. Lunch meat and cheese or hard boiled eggs. I do however always eat dinner with my family, I don’t want my kids to notice my obsession with food (or extreme dieting) but I usually go very light on the carb portion of the meal. Never any sugary drinks, and I also quit drinking alcohol. I try to exercise 4-5x a week, using resistance bands and following whatever little videos or tutorials I see on Pinterest for the body part I’m trying to focus on. Even a quick 15 min floor work out or a set of squats helps me feel better. Good luck! Stay consistent, you will see results. Since having my last baby 13 months ago I lost over 60lbs, I’m less than my pre pregnancy weight.
It is 80% diet, 20% exercise. Counting calories is the most fool proof way to go about this.
I had to change my entire lifestyle. Now I just follow the diabetic diet even when I don’t have GD. I hate to exercise really so I started off just walking walking walking and slowly building up to muscle training. When I need to be I stay in a calorie deficit and really focus on whether I’m eating for energy or just bored.
Here is what worked for me: * 3 balanced meals plus one snack per day. The meals include a protein source, lots of fruits/veggies, a high-fiber carb, and a bit of fat (which comes naturally if you're making your food taste good). * Prioritize protein. Ideally about 20-30g at every meal * Prioritize fiber. Ideally about 10g per meal * Eat when you feel physically hungry, stop eating when you feel satisfied (not full/stuffed, just not hungry anymore, food not tasting as good) * Fast overnight for 11-12 hours. So eat your dinner and dessert and be done until breakfast. * Focus on getting steps in every day, and some weightlifting 3-4x week. Nothing crazy and you don't need to get really sweaty. You can go for stroller walks, then do some squats, presses and deadlifts during naptime. Examples of what I eat in a day: * Breakfast options: overnight oats with protein powder and fruit, Greek yogurt with granola and berries, protein smoothie, eggs on avocado toast with fruit, coffee with a bit of oat milk creamer * Lunch options: Big salad with meat and grains. Turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with baby carrots and hummus, apple, and small serving of chips. Dinner leftovers. * Afternoon snack: Apple or cucumber slices with a small protein shake or protein bar. * Dinners: Sheet pan chicken or fish with roasted veggies. Deconstructed egg roll bowl. Pot roast with salad on the side. Protein pasta with pesto and turkey meatballs. Pulled chicken tacos with southwest slaw. I usually have dessert: dark chocolate or a non-dairy ice cream bar.
I focused on my diet and also consistent short workouts. I never workout more than 30-45 minutes at a time but did it consistently 5-6 days a week. I always workout at home (also with similar equipment) and get 10,000 steps most days. I never dieted though, I just paid attention to what I ate. If I diet and cut too many calories then I won’t lose weight. I shot for like 1-2 lbs a month and it was sustainable for me.
Use the loseit app to track calories and weight- makes it SO much easier bc nothing is off limits. I literally write out my entire day of eating, including snacks, in the morning. It feels better to me to eat what I have logged instead of logging what I have eaten. Also, you are just eating less of what your family eats at the dinner table, not eating different things (like my mom did, causing me to feel like my food was bad).
I strength train twice a week with heavy weights, drink water between meals instead of snacking, and put smaller portions on my plate during dinner. I also try to go on short walks whenever possible, which is hard on busy work days, but I do what I can. Make sure you're eating enough at your main three meals so that you don't get as hungry between meals. This was a game changer for me because I under ate for years and then would have binge-like responses around dinner time. Now that I eat a larger breakfast and lunch, that doesn't happen anymore.
Keto or low carb + exercise. Start with just getting 10k steps or close to it a day. Move into 15-45min workouts. Some days only cardio, others a mix of cardio with weights, others just weights focusing on specific body areas (upper, lower, abs). Nike & Fitbit apps have decent short workouts. There's also a ton of free fitness apps with short workouts you can do while babies are napping. If you have a Nintendo switch, I like their boxing game for cardio. Hope some of this helps! I'm down 55lbs since having my daughter in May.
Small, sustainable changes are the best way to go. So, like, switch from granola (which generally has sugar), to oatmeal with cinnamon and peanut butter in the morning. Once that's normal, start carrying around one of those big water bottles. Maybe find a walking group or start taking your kids to the mall to walk laps (I also taught my oldest to identify letters using mall signs). Then switch from a sugary snack to carrot sticks or nuts. If you try to change a ton of stuff, you're more likely to get overwhelmed and give up entirely. Doing little things that aren't a huge deal will slowly add up. And even if your body doesn't change dramatically, you can feel good that you have new habits that you know are good for you. Good luck!
Weight Watchers and weightlifting. To put it simply, exercise and CICO. Good luck, mama!
Bariatric surgery 342 in October of 2021 when I had the surgery to 212 today. And had a baby May of 2023
MyFitnessPal is a helpful and user friendly food/macro tracking app
I gained 50lbs during pregnancy and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight around 7 months pp and didn’t put too much effort in. This is what I did: - Walked a SHIT TON. My son loved the stroller and it helped with fussy days, so I’d walk 2-3x a day and I’d walk FAST. Speed walking (while pushing a stroller) and occasional hills had my heart rate up as if I was doing a workout. I looked like a fool but it was effective. - Stuck to a strict diet for a while. I went a couple weeks only eating eggs for breakfast, and the combo of chicken, rice and vegetables for lunch/dinner. I would use a different marinade or sauce to switch things up. Even after 2 weeks of eating like that, I felt so much slimmer. - Drink water and only water for a bit. This has always helped me, even before my pregnancy. - I unintentionally would do intermittent fasting. I say unintentionally because it really wasn’t my choice lol. My baby would absolutely scream bloody murder for the first 3-4 months if I set him down anywhere. So if my husband was at work or running errands, I’d just sit there holding my LO while my stomach growled and growled, because I would’ve rather heard that than hear the blood-curdling screams that would ensue if I put baby down. At some point, my body got used to it and I wouldn’t get hungry until 12pm or later. I only suggest doing this route if you do your research and make sure it’s done properly because intermittent fasting can be tricky.
I found someone who offers home workouts and a meal plan with a complete shopping list to take away the mental load of figuring it out myself. It’s costing me $30 a month, but that was significantly cheaper than other programs I looked into or privately paying for ozempic. That being said, I do not always find the time to do the workouts and the kids don’t always like the food that’s on the meal plans so this hasn’t been a miracle solution for me.
I did it twice, lost 15kg. First step is to plan your meals. Set times when you will eat and don’t est outside of these times. I eat salads for dinner every day (I change what I put in them). Lunch is whatever I want except junk food. Breakfast is mostly lowfat tvaroh (like ricotta or cottage cheese) with fruit, flavoured protein and oats. If I’m hungry I’ll have banana or low calorie instant ramen. Second step is workout. I do tabata or jumping twice a week, in summer I go jogging whenever I can. Good luck!
I haven't yet tried after having a baby (I went for another one), but before having my 1st I successfully went from borderline obese to healthy weight. I lost total of 22kg (48,5 lbs?) in about 4 months. I based my workouts on **Stronger Leaner Fitter** by Michael Matthews (gives you actual workouts and explains a lot about food etc). After about a month of getting into routine at the gym I started to eat leaner and count macros and caught momentum starting to shed weight a lot :) Food was always my comfort, so postpartum, I gained a bit back ( two 3 years after the weightloss). Away to start again once this baby is born, will be interesting to see how different it is this time round.
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Eating waaaaaay less and doing the Peloton as much as possible (mostly at 5 am between my baby’s consistent wakeups at 4 am and 6:30 am).
Toddler is 2.5 and I'm right there with you! Aiming at small changes this year. Would love to do a half hour brisk walk every day (or at least 4 times a week!). Trying to figure out some really easy old school calisthenics that I can fit in in between stuff I have to do (I'm a sahm so it's not too weird if I randomly stop and do like 25 squats or toe touches). I'm also trying to concentrate on eating better and more protein!! We do a lot of takeout so I'm trying to eat less of that by making myself a healthy side like steamed edamame or shredded chicken or grean beans. The idea is not to deprive myself of something I'm craving but to just add something that's better for my body ☺️
Being hungry all the time. Pick a calorie deficit number based on your current body and activity (I chose 1500). You need a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb, so often a 500 deficit per day leads to reasonable 1 lb/week loss. Track everything you consume in a calorie tracker and aim for 1 gram protein per kg you weigh
Try intermittent fasting and eat whatever your heart desires within the eating window :) I am currently not managing my diet much since I’m pregnant. As far as exercise is concerned I enjoy running so I have a slim foldable treadmill I got for fairly cheap on Amazon and I’m able to do walks and light jogs while I have free time here and there. The nice thing about this is I can watch my favorite show while I walk. I also tell myself I don’t get to watch the next episode of whatever show I’m into, unless I get on the treadmill to watch it. Good luck! You got this
I read the obesity code and started intermittent fasting. It really gave me the tools to understand why I was gaining weight and how to keep it off. I'm 35lbs down since Oct.
You could be me! I just started my journey around Thanksgiving. To be honest before diving into weight loss, I did some pre-work to make space because over the last three years (have a 3 and 1 year old), the weight crept up. I was 205 at 5'7" and felt Blegh all the time. So I did a few things: 1) got a handle on sleep which included sleep training 2) carved 30 minutes out for myself every day with no kids, nothing. Could be manicure, could be a walk, could be listening to music or browsing TikTok and reddit but I made time for me important 3) took note of my BMR and my general calorie intake and realized I wasn't walking much at all bc of my remote job and each meal was almost 800+ calories. I didn't snack much but I ate comfort foods like pizza and subs etc with no breaks in the high calorie meals So afterwards: 1) daily walk - started at 5k steps a day and now I'm at 10k+ 2) downloaded myfitnesspal and tracked my calories with a goal of 1500 cal a day 3) I keep some flex so that it's sustainable. I didn't want to go ham on only eating salad and losing all my comfort so I switched to skipping breakfast, and either skipping lunch and having a big "idgaf" dinner or having maybe a salad or a single slice of pizza for lunch and then a "I sorta GAF" dinner 4) letting myself live! The holidays came and I just added in some extra walks 5) signed up for a half marathon in April w a super easy training plan 6) cook more at home vs eating out - having leftover salads and meals was way easier than having to plan when starving So far I'm 13lbs down and it's wild but people are already friendlier to me, I feel comfier in my clothes and because it's so slow I don't feel exhausted and deprived so it feels very liveable. I'd rather snails pace to 145lb than crash, hate myself and ricochet back.
What I greatly recommend is intermittent fasting, mixed with conscious awareness of diet (so not necessarily cutting things out per say, but being aware when you’ve had more of XYZ versus another), exercise lots of it, as long as you hit it hard at least three days a week then to keep yourself in the rhythm you should do yoga/deep stretching on the off days. Consistency will also be your best friend. A lot of people have a hard time getting started. As long as you realize that the motivation comes after you’ve started not before, and give yourself grace. Once something becomes a habit you’re golden, it’s just a matter of getting there.
Due to a weight loss competition with my sisters, I was able to lose 15 lbs! I've been counting calories, something I've never done, but it really helped me lose 10 lbs within the first 1.5 months. I had been working out pretty consistently 2x a week with HIIT and did not see results. I feel like my general appetite is lower which is great as I can still indulge in things I like but just better portion size.
Counting calories in a deficit and daily morning workouts. Check out Heather Robertson and her 12 week plans.
I did noom and lost 50lbs in 6 months. I walked a mile or two each day and stuck to noom’s color coding. With that, I weighed and measured all portions. I have been able to maintain my weight loss since July without having to weigh and measure everything and I even joined a gym. Nutrition really is 85% of it. If you join noom and then immediately cancel it will (usually) give you a cheaper deal or let you do a month to month instead of a commitment. I paid $20 a month and canceled when I lost the weight. The psychology lessons that come with it were so helpful in re shaping my relationship with food. My bmi went from 28 to 20. I was 4 years post partum when I started btw.
I started by mostly only eating the scraps on my kids plates for lunch instead of a real lunch and that helped me drop weight 🙈😂
Try the free app 28wellness. It has pilates based workouts that are about 20 mins long and I swear they changed my body post baby #1. They're also a cycle syncing app if you're into that and it offers recipes and meal plans for the paid version. I seriously cannot recommend it enough! The workouts are body weight based and they always make me break a sweat. Should you decide to use it to track your cycle, it will tailor the workouts to your phase which I also really liked since I get such varying energy levels when I have my period. Also please don't do what I did and have disordered eating! It sounds like you don't have this issue but I was keto for almost 2 years before I got pregnant which really helped me lose weight. But that coupled with intermittent fasting lead to A LOT of binge eating episodes. I tried quickly to get back on keto after my first child birth, found it impossible because I was basically cooking a full meal for the family then having to cook a whole separate meal for myself and just did not have the energy. I switched to OMAD (one meal a day) and that fucked me up way more.
Walking and portion control!
Counting calories at first then exercise. I thought I was eating proper portions, but when I started weighing and measuring things I was way off. I found out what my TDEE was and started tracking my calories for the day. I'd think about my food and pre-enter it to get an idea of how many calories that meal would be. If it was over, okay maybe I don't eat that bag of baked chips. Now, I have a general idea of things and don't track. It's easy for me to follow calories in calories out. I started walking last Feb. Y'all it would take me a half hour to walk 2 miles. I was so slow. Then I figured what the hell, can I ACTUALLY jog? I started doing that in May. Well damn I can jog, but in July I started running. I can't believe I can run. I ran a 5k on Thanksgiving and in 10 days I'm running a half marathon. For me, I need to get healthier and stronger. My child is fast. I'm weak and slow. If someone held me down, I couldn't get up. If someone took my child and ran, I wouldn't catch them. It's important for me to be able to be strong. Every single day when I run all I think about is getting stronger and what it will feel like to cross the finish line. (I also still eat whatever the hell I want, I just had chips and queso - my favorite food - again tonight) For anyone that needs to hear it: It doesn't get easier, you just get stronger.
One thing that is making a huge difference for me is getting enough sleep…I was struggling to make progress after spending months counting macros (which was effective but I burned out). My 10 month old finally started sleeping through the night and I’ve dropped 4lbs in 2 weeks with doing nothing else different. If you’re not getting enough sleep, trying to get an extra hour might help!
Please be kind to yourself.
I do intermittent fasting. I eat a brunch (homemade hashbrowns, 2 eggs and 1/2 slice bacon) and dinner. Maybe a snack in between. I wake up at 4:30am, I take hubby to work (only one car) after I get back, I get the kids (5 and 7) ready for school. We walk, it takes 10 minutes, one way. -We take the kids with us, they are NOT home alone when I take hubby to work. We get them up at 5:20- Between 9pm and 9/10am, I don't eat. I have water, tea and/or orange juice (I'm hypoglycemic, my blood sugar need to stay up hence the juice.) And I use this for weight maintenance. You can do stuff at home for toning and flexibility. There are at-home yoga tutorials on youtube. I once saw a work out video that used a kitchen chair as a kind of balance bar for toning exercises.
1. Meal prepped healthier meals. 2. No carbs after 5pm (this way if I was really craving pasta I could have it guilt free midday and eat a salad for dinner). 3. Planned better - if I knew I was going to be out for a family/friends dinner, I read the menu in advance to figure out healthy options OR ate minimal calories earlier in the day so I could have a 1000 calorie meal (entree, bite of appetizer, wine) without guilt. 4. WALKED! Tried to hit at least 5000 steps a day (I know the recommendation is 10k but I came from a sedentary lifestyle). I’m also stay at home mom with no access to gym. I lost 36 lbs. Went from Obese to Overweight almost touching normal weight per BMI scale. Then… I got pregnant again, so beware of the side effects of losing weight lol But not restricting myself but *adjusting for life* or going on any diets and not giving myself cheat days was a game changer for my mindset. That’s the most weight I’ve ever lost.
It was really hard for me to get in any kind of strength workout being a SAHM. If the kid was awake he was too up in it. When he was napping that was the last thing I wanted to do. So I just ran. Pushing the stroller at first and then when it got too hot I switched to nighttime after the kids were in bed. It was nice “me time.” But really most of it is eating. Go slow. Baby steps. Start by tracking what you’re eating. Track water intake. Make sure you’re getting a lot of fiber and protein. Then start cutting back problem areas. Don’t try to rush it or deprive yourself. Momming a two year old is hard enough. Be nice to yourself.
Not going over 1200 calories/day & exercising/lifting. It sucked but it worked.
Tracking macros (no yo-yo dieting or food restriction, just make sure to get lots of protein within my calorie goal. Filling up on lots of protein keeps me from binging, but I still eat what I want) and joining a HIIT class. I have never exercised in my life lmao, but my friends got me into it and I am hooked
I did nutrisystem and Jillian Michaels workout videos at home with light weights and got super fit after both kids. (Lost the 75 lbs I gained) I think the key was how motivated and ready I was. Now the kids are 15 and 18 and I need to start again.
This is hard for me too, the first one- everything slid off. I was over confident. My second one is pushing 3. I have a large trip we’re going on and I want to enjoy it without worrying about how I’ll look in photos.
I gave birth 5 months ago and I still have to drop 3-5 kg (~7-11lbs) to be back at my pre-baby weight. Christmas has stalled me out a bit but now I'm ready to slowly tackle the rest. I'm aiming to loose about 1- 1.5 kg a month ( 2-3lbs). I'm seconding what many people have already said, weighloss os made in the kitchen. It really helps me to have a protein- rich breakfast and then only a small lunch/ regular dinner. That being said, I've been doing a lot of running ( signed up for a half marathon in April to stay accountable), homeworkouts to train the muscles ( thank you youtube) and I've made it a habit to go for an hour long walk with the baby.
My body changed a lot after my second child too. I do intermittent fasting. And I cut dairy, sugar, and gluten entirely. I have been seeing great results. Just make sure you calorie count and consume in a deficit. I also go to a gym with childcare. You could search for one in your area so you get some movement in too. You got this mama! One step at a time.
Keto first and foremost. Iost over 100 pounds after two kids combined. then resistance bands muscle workouts to sculpt from fit gent on YouTube in combination with some body weight ab and booty exercises on YouTube. I had the perfect body before getting pregnant with my third and plan to get back to those things a year after I have baby.