My Top Ten Tips On Losing Weight After Having a Baby

My husband estimates that I’ve lost a total of over 480 pounds since I’ve started having children. After each baby is born I only lose 10 pounds. I don’t mean just within the first week, either. I mean one month, two months, even three months after I give birth, if I do nothing to consciously lose weight, then I will have only lost 10 pounds. This can get disheartening, especially when I gain 30-50 pounds at each pregnancy.

Over the years (and after 12 babies) I’ve learned a little bit about how to lose weight in the most efficient, gentlest way possible.  Granted, I’ve tried every diet program out there in the hopes of finding one that will work just a little bit faster or easier.  I’ve learned that there is no easy way to do this.  It’s just going to take work, unfortunately.

My Top Ten Tips:

1.  Water, water, water.  I’m sure everyone knows this already but drinking a lot of water helps big time.  Not only does it help fill you up but it helps your entire body run better.  It helps you have less bathroom issues, wash out all the impurities losing weight releases into your body, and avoids you from getting dehydrated.  Believe it or not but when you get dehydrated sometimes you mistake this feeling as being hungry.  Then, guess what.  You eat when you should be drinking.  And, since water has zero calories, when you’re trying to lose weight it’s obviously a better option to reach for a glass of water instead of a chunk of food.
2. Lift Weights!!  Muscles burns more calories than fat, and looks better too!  The more muscle you have the thinner you will be/become.  I always have a harder time losing weight if I’m not also lifting weights.  Just walking/running/doing aerobics isn’t good enough for me.  My weight loss still happens but at a much slower speed than when I lift weights.  For me, the ideal combination is walking a few miles a day and lifting weights for 20 or so minutes every other day.
3. Add walking to your day.  Ideally, I like to walk right after I get my kids down for their afternoon nap.  This doesn’t always happen.  And, to be truthful, recently it hasn’t been happening hardly at all.  But I can tell you, it helps immensely with my weight loss to add some walking to my day.  If you have a hard time with this I’d recommend taking the kids with you.  They would enjoy the time out with mom!
4. Take your vitamins!  I take All-One powder vitamins.  I prefer the powder vitamins as I believe they assimilate into your body better/faster.  Your body doesn’t have to break down a pill.  I have a friend that works in the port-a-potty industry.  I don’t remember the exact details but I do remember him telling my husband and I that he had to pay to get rid of all the vitamin pills his pump sucked up.  Rather gross thought but also quite disturbing as we pay for all these vitamins that our body is just tossing out!!
5. Make one meal into a shake.  Be careful with this one.  It doesn’t take much to make your shake have too many calories to help you lose weight.  My shakes vary each time I make them.  Recently I’ve been making the Garden of Life Fit shake but sometimes I like the Garden of Life Meal shake, mainly because it’s easy and I just don’t want to think about it.  However, before I was introduced to these shakes I made shakes out some frozen fruit (strawberries or blueberries, usually), some almond milk, All-One powder vitamins, protein powder, and greek yogurt.
6. Cut out anything and everything that is processed in any way!  This is extremely hard, I know.  Today’s modern conveniences are so addicting.  But, if they are packaged then they are full of ingredients that God didn’t originally put into food.  If it isn’t a natural occurrence in food, then our bodies probably don’t know what to do with it.  This, unfortunately, results in inflammation and fat storage.
7. Reduce your fruit intake.  Depending on how much fruit you are currently eating will determine how much you should reduce it.  I generally try to eat fruit once per day, maximum.  I personally like eating a sliced banana with a teaspoon of peanut butter.  Another good suggestion is eating berries for your fruit.  Berries have the lowest amount of sugar in them.
8. Find an accountability partner.  Find someone to diet with.  Have your best friend or husband join you in your quest to become more healthy.  They don’t have to need to lose fat either.  They can just want to focus on becoming healthier.  This is the ideal anyway.  By eating more wholesome food and living a move active lifestyle we will naturally lose weight!!
9. Join an online exercise program.  Fit2B is an excellent choice.  She offers hundreds of videos that are tummy safe as well as options for your children to exercise with as well.  And, since she dresses significantly more modest than most exercise instructors, I’m much more willing to allow my children to use her programs.  An added bonus for sure!!
10. Be patient.  Sometimes it’s hard to be patient and just wait for the weight to come off.  It can be frustrating especially as you get older.  I realize how hard it is, especially now that I’m over 40, but you need to just relax and live your life with your family.  Be in those family pictures.  Take a selfie with your children and post it on Facebook even though it shows a double chin.  Your children love you just the way you are.  Yes, they will also love the thinner, more active you.  But, they also love the fluffier you.  They want to be with their mother and have a few pictures of her when they are older.  Bless them with the memories of your smile!

Added Bonus Tip:  Love your baby.  Your baby is worth the little bit of work it’s going to take to get your waistline back.  Hug them and love them for soon they will lose that dependence on you.  And, you will miss it.

I hope I’ve helped a few of you find some ways to incorporate some healthy changes in your life.  Adding a few of these tips should help you live a healthier life and hopefully drop those baby pounds!