How one mom lost nearly 40 pounds postpartum: HER story

How to lose 40 lbs postpartum

I was never one to consider myself physically “fit.”  I struggled most of my life with a binge eating disorder and body dysmorphia.  I quit sports I loved when I was around 145 lbs in junior high under the premise of wanting to put all of my time and energy into academics.  The reality was that I felt embarrassed by my size.  I felt I did not look like an athlete and, therefore, could not be one. 

Me in 2012, weighing 145 lbs and believing that I was “too fat” to be an athlete.

With time I learned that this mindset is bogus.  What does an athletic person even look like?  Bodies come in all shapes and sizes.  No matter how active I am, I will have the same body shape forever.  Perhaps it will be bigger, perhaps smaller.  The shape will remain consistent.  

I got pregnant with my first daughter at 21 years old weighing between 165 and 170 pounds.

My husband and I when I was 5 weeks pregnant, weighing 170 lbs.

At the height of my pregnancy I was 191 pounds.  I had tachycardia, which is really just a fancy way of saying an unhealthily fast heart rate.  Looking back, I think my weight, fitness level, and overall health played into that.  

I gave birth to my daughter at 41 weeks pregnant to the day.  I underwent a three day long induction which was rather strenuous and exhausting.  I came out the other end pretty much right back at my pre-pregnancy weight.  I looked at my beautiful daughter and knew that I wanted to be healthy for her.  I wanted to battle these body image demons I had so that I could model self-love for her.  I began slowly, as is the only real way you can when it comes to health and fitness.  I got really serious the July after my daughter was born.  I went from 174 lbs to 137 lbs (37 lbs lost total) in nine months.  This is how I did it.

Here I am on the left, roughly 6 months postpartum weighing 174lbs. On the right I am 5 weeks pregnant with my second weighing 137lbs.

Step 1: Do Your Research

Congratulations, by reading this article, you are already beginning this step!  I wanted to get down to the science of health, fitness, and weight loss.  I was tired of diet culture and people trying to make money off of my health struggles.  We all have access to good old Google, so I decided to use it.  I learned all kinds of things that I had never considered before.  Reading this blog post is great! I am so glad to share my experience and hopefully inspire others to reach their health and fitness goals.  However, I am certainly no professional.  It is important that you look for other information on reliable websites.  There are professional health articles and scientific research publications at your disposal.  I used them, and they helped me change my life.

Step 2: Use an Online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) Calculator

A TDEE calculator will take your gender, height, weight, and activity level to determine the number of calories that you specifically need for weight loss, weight maintenance, and weight gain.  It will also tell you your “ideal weight”, BMI score, and macronutrients needed for weight loss, maintenance, and gain.  This gives you a guideline to follow.  When I started, I was going into this with essentially no knowledge, so the TDEE calculator was a great starting point for me.

Step 3: Download a Fitness Tracker/Calorie Counter App 

I chose to use MyFitnessPal simply because I had used it in the past and found it to be user friendly.  I had not used MyFitnessPal for anything besides calorie counting before.  I had not used its fitness features.  My attempts at “health” prior to this I later learned were actually extremely unhealthy.  My goal was always to be “skinny.”  I never cared about the overall composition of my body or my nutrition.  This app does give you some nutritional information for free.  You can buy a premium version for more content, but I find the free version to be sufficient.  By no means did I track everything “perfectly.”  I personally don’t think it’s healthy to obsess over exact calorie measurements.  I like to use MyFitnessPal as an estimate to give me an idea of where I am at.  It also helps to have a general idea of what calories are in what foods.

Knowing the calories you are consuming is vital in maintaining a caloric deficit (Using more calories than you are putting in). Your TDEE calculation will help you determine how many calories you need to consume to maintain this deficit. That number will be whichever the calculator says is calories needed for weight loss. If you are eating those calories, you will be in a deficit.

Step 4: Get a Wearable Fitness Tracker

This is optional as these can get expensive, but I highly recommend getting a wearable fitness tracker such as an Apple Watch or Fitbit.

I lucked out in that my husband had an old apple watch that he no longer used and was more than willing to gift to me.  I am now near constantly attached to my watch.  The watch has exercise recording capabilities and keeps track of the calories you burn during any given workout. It also informs you of your heart rate range during the workout. You can log workouts from mixed cardio to strength training. It is highly motivating for me to close my move, exercise, and stand rings every day. There are also monthly challenges you can participate in as well which I find helps to keep my motivation high. I never could resist a good challenge. Lastly, I especially appreciate how the calories I burn can be transferred right into the MyFitnessPal app. All I had to do was pair my watch to the MyFitness Pal app, and now the calories my watch tracks are automatically added to my daily calories burned on MyFitness Pal. 

Step 5: Create Your Exercise Plan 

I don’t recommend going into your fitness journey without a plan for what kind of exercises you will incorporate. During the research phase of my journey I learned that, for optimal fat burning and muscle building, it is important to have two to three days of strength training.

Therefore, I made a simple schedule consisting of two days of strength training spread out between three days of cardio. Typically my week would consist of a daily walk with my daughter in her baby carrier or stroller, and a 30 minute fitness video. On Mondays and Fridays, I would do a video that was focused on strength training. Tuesday-Thursday, I would do cardio, dance, yoga, whatever I felt like doing to get my body moving. I gave myself the three day gap between strength training days because I found that this gave enough time for my muscles to recover properly before tearing them down again.  Saturday and Sunday were my rest days. Usually, on Saturday we would do things as a family that often included physical activity such as hiking, biking, yard work, etc. So I suppose Saturday was more of an active rest day. Whereas, Sunday served as a true rest day. We attended church in the morning and then would go to my Mom’s with the girls for lunch, games, movies, and other easy going family fun. Rest is vital to your fitness journey. You may think that you should be sweating it off every day, but that simply is not true. Giving your body time to recover allows you to put your all into your workouts and build up your strength properly. You don’t have to tell me twice, I’ll sit down and binge watch some Bridgerton thank you very much.

Step 6: Execute Exercise Plan and Maintain Caloric Deficit

Once you’ve got your tracking devices and a plan laid out, you are ready to begin. Motivation is key. Fitness is more mental than most people realize. If your brain isn’t convinced, your body is not going to be able to keep up. How many times when working out have you started to think, “I CANNOT do this for one more second or my legs are going to fall off!” and then the fire burning in your calves seems to magnify? That’s because your brain is literally telling your legs that what they are doing is physically impossible. Have some faith in your body. It is miraculous and strong! When I catch my thoughts moving towards giving up, I try to redirect my thought process. “I am strong. I am powerful. I have birthed two whole babies, and this is NOTHING compared to that!” So far this has been pretty effective for me because, seriously, a few weighted lunges ain’t got nothin’ on childbirth.

Another thing that helped to keep me motivated when I first started my journey was a picture of my newborn daughter hanging above my tv. Any time I started to feel like turning off a particularly challenging workout video, I looked at her and remembered that she was my why. She was the reason I wanted to take control of my health. I wanted to run and play with her. I wanted to live for her. Now, I have pictures on my walls of both of my daughters, cheering me on while I work to better my health.

Step 7: Maintain, Maintain, Maintain

Now you’ve reached the step I find myself at. Maintenance is the tricky part isn’t it? However, if you’ve made a lifestyle change, rather than simply dieting, maintenance should come pretty naturally. I’ve committed myself to a more active lifestyle. I make an attempt each and everyday to move my body with purpose. As moms, we chase around kids all day long, that in itself is physical activity. However, it’s important to take the time to be intentional with your fitness. Thirty minutes a day is all it takes. Get that heart rate up, get those weights out. Consistency is key. Stick to your routine. If you miss an active day, don’t sweat it! (Pun intended) There is always tomorrow. Punishing yourself gets you no where! Often times, feeling guilt over missing an active day or overeating at your friends’ cookout results in a spiral where you stop exercising the remainder of the week because you’ve “already screwed it up.” Do NOT fall into this trap. Your brain is lying to you. One day doesn’t set back your progress. Rest is important, and as moms, our schedules get absolutely insane. Give yourself the space to love your body, while honoring the need for rest.