LOSING THE BABY WEIGHT

Ahh such a tough topic to write about. I debated writing this blogpost so much…I didn’t want to come across in any wrong way, offend anyone or place such a high importance on this topic. But it was the number 1 requested topic…so here we are. If you read my previous post I talk about the pressures of being a mom…and well this is one of them. Losing the Baby Weight and how quickly you can do it…at least it was for me. I remember being 2 days pp and having visitors come over and each one immediately went from looking at my face to looking at my stomach area…talk about pressure! haha Pictured below is what my stomach looked like 2 days pp. For me that was reality…I looked 5 months pregnant and felt like I was a carrying around a half empty water balloon.
So I say this with a tender heart, losing the baby weight is an awesome goal to have but take the pressure off, take it easy, and be kind to your body.

When I was pregnant losing the baby weight was something I definitely thought about and often wondered how other moms were able to do it. When my midwives told me that I couldn’t workout for 6 weeks after the baby I thought how in the world will I lose the weight then…that seems like such a long time not to work out…but when that time came I realized 6 weeks is so necessary! (I am a short person 5 feet to be exact and although it may seem like I have a small frame I am not naturally skinny, I can actually put on weight pretty quickly especially as I get older so working out is key for me.)

How I lost baby weight without working out

Baby Wearing - For six weeks we don’t get to workout so this was an easy and fun way to burn calories. I wore Michael while I vacuumed, folded laundry, walked the pups, etc.
I stopped wearing Comfy Clothes. Once I completely healed down there I stopped wearing leggings + sweatshirts and started wearing my old jeans that I wanted to fit in, even if I couldn’t button them up.
Waist Trainers - My midwives recommended this to me, I didn’t realize how much our hips spread during labor!…WOW…wearing one of these was nice after delivery. It felt nice to have my half empty water balloon tightened haha it also was great back support especially for my tailbone that ached so much after labor.
Comfort Eater…ahh this is a real one for me. I am a 100% comfort eater, I eat out of emotion, boredom you name it, I will eat. And during those post-partum lows I was definitely eating my emotions away– toss in long winter gloomy days…now we’ve created a perfect recipe for more eating. So on my fridge I wrote a gentle reminder to myself…”Are you eating out for COMFORT or FUEL.”
Calories….I paid attention to what I was eating vs how much I was eating. A fitness blogger @FitnessCarli I follow really taught me how to properly look at food and I love the way she puts things into perspective. Because of her I implemented eating my veggies before anything else. This is also how my sister in law lost all of her baby weight..by just eating more veggies.

How I am maintaining the Weight Loss

Run 6 times a day ( I love to run so this comes easy for me…find something you love to do, some mommas I know love going on long walks, Orange Theory or BBG.)
Smoothies are my best friend - with so much to do during the day, this is such a quick and easy way to get in meals.
I remind myself of the WHY…find what motivates you.

*****EXCITING NEWS - WE ARE TRYING FOR BABY #2!!!!!*****

I pray you find this encouraging, if you ladies can please pray for Mike and I as we try for baby #2 that if it is the Lord’s will it may not take as long as it did for Michael, but all in all I know the Lord has written out our story. With so much love, Nioby!

HOW I LOST THE BABY WEIGHT