Over the past few weeks I’ve read a lot of posts by courageous bloggers expressing their desire to lose weight and change their eating habits. It is always hard to write about a part of yourself and put it out there for everyone to read and this subject is no different. While I have very little weight loss experience, outside of my pregnancies, these bloggers have given me something to think about. And write about.
These are just my ideas. Use your own judgement and talk to your doctor.
When it comes to losing baby weight my very best trick is nursing. I gained 70 lbs with both pregnancies and it all came off with very little effort and no eating restrictions. The weight we gain during pregnancy is meant to sustain us while we breastfeed our children, most of it anyway. The best way to get rid of it is to breastfeed. And you need to stick with it. In my experience 6 months is not long enough, at the 9 month mark however, it’s very possible that you will be high school skinny. It’s kinda awesome. The downside is that when your period starts back you will gain some weight because your body is getting ready to grow another baby. But whatever, 10 lbs is better than 70 lbs. I know breastfeeding is not everyone’s choice but if you opt for bottles know that you will need to do some serious work to lose the baby weight.
Sometimes it’s genetic. We all owe it to ourselves to be healthy and fit but don’t compare your healthy with magazine cover healthy. And for heaven’s sake don’t think the ladies on the Real Housewives of OC are real people.
If you are aiming to lose weight and be healthy you have no business eating at a restaurant that offers drive thru service. If you are healthy and fit and happy with your weight, by all means go for the occasional drive thru adventure.
Breakfast is an absolute priority. Everyday. No exceptions.
Less meals or less food is not the answer. Eat well balanced meals. 3 meals and 2 snacks everyday. Plan your daily food intake. Avoid getting hungry and desperate. Desperately hungry people make bad choices. This I know.
Eat real food, that which grew from the dirt or had a mother. No diet, low-cal, low-fat laboratory produced food like substance is going to help you and they are nutritionally void. Fill yourself with foods that will energize and strength your body.
When you choose “diet” foods and drinks you are sending yourself a negative message that you need to lose weight. And again, nutritionally void.
No low-carb, cabbage soup, grapefruit, atkins, magic pill diet is going to help you in the long term. There are success stories for every diet type. But there are many more discouraged miserable people who feel like failures because none of diets worked. Don’t be those people.
You need to make a choice. Learn to cook and make time to prepare healthy food or stay overweight. Excuses won’t get you anywhere.
Excercise will help. Clothes that are too tight and uncomfortable will make you miserable. Get active. It feels fantastic when your clothes start to fall off you and when your husband points to your flabby parts and says “You are starting to trim up there”.
We owe it ourselves to feel good. We owe it to our kids to show them how to eat well and excercise and be healthy. Fight this battle so your kids won’t have to.
If you need help, get it. If you need support, get it. I am happy to help. If you have questions about food choices or just need someone to chat with, email me. peaceloveandmuesli@gmail.com. Let me know how I can help you feel great!
What do you do to feel great? How to you manage your weight?
I think I fall into the 1% of people who did not loose weight breast feeding! But I did join Weight Watchers because I had no idea how much I was supposed to be eating. I was starving but wanted to make sure I wasn’t over eating and just using nursing as an excuse. It helped so much and even gives you extra ‘points’ when you are nursing.
10 months into nursing I would still like to lose another 10 lbs but I’m down about 30 since giving birth so I guess I can’t REALLY complain.
Here’s the catch. If your period has already started those last 10 lb are a struggle. If not just keeping going. It’ll come.
I’ve heard some pretty good reports about weight watchers. It might be an exception. I’ll look into it more and maybe do a post about it.
I’d like tips on how to keep my produce fresh longer. I feel like in order to have fresh fruits and veggies for my family I have to live at the grocery store.
There is a Tupperware product called Fridgesmart. Designed to extend shelf life of produce. It’s great. Have a party when you are settled at your new house, then you can get it for free.
Great Post Kristin!
Thanks Becky.
Great post and I agree with you. It’s funny, I was never a cook my parents spoiled me and I didn’t learn how to make anything. When it came to my daughter that I dad 10 months ago, I was determined to make all her meals (which I am doing and will continue to do) and I said to myself one day, why am I not making my own healthy meals.
I’ve learned hard work and good nutrition is the way to go to lose weight.
I believe the right road is almost always the hard road.
It’s a huge disservice to your children to not teach them to cook.
Nice post. However, you think everyone is sensible about their eating behavior. I can be for months at the time, and then it goes wrong, for months at a time.
I like unhealthy foods and my downfall is eating too much of it. I also like healthy foods (just to make that clear). My main problem is that I’m too “nice” to myself, I allow myself more than is good for me.
The last 10 years or so I have gained weight, been on diets, gained it again, and I expect it to be like this for the years to come. Two good diets (the only ones I ever do) are
1) Eat three times a day for no longer than 1 hour. This diet I thought of myself: the idea is that if you are only allowed to eat 3 times a day, you’ll stop thinking about food all the time because you’re not allowed any snacks anyway. Works fine for me. The hour limit is to make sure you don’t keep snacking and pretend it’s still part of your “meal”.
2) An online diet here in the Netherlands which allows you 1300 cals per day divided over carbohydrates, vegetables, meat/egss/fish/veg. option, dairy products etc. You HAVE to eat enough in each category. But if you do exercise (incl. house work), you can eat more. Works brilliantly for me, because it means I’ll do the exercise!
I like a diet that allows me cakes, cookies and still loose weight. These two do.
We are going to have to agree to disagree Judith. I believe “diets” are not a healthy choice. Though your limited eating time plan is a smart idea.
And you are right, we all fall off the healthy wagon sometimes.
Great post. I have some recent experience with this. Before I got pregnant, I weighed around 140 pounds and was not unhappy with my appearance. I ate WHATEVER I WANTED, but largely, what I wanted was healthy.
I gained 23 pounds while pregnant, I had to be extremely diligent about diet due to gestational diabetes. The weight absolutely fell off while I was breastfeeding. I was 10 pounds lighter than before pregnancy.
When my daughter was about two, I was diagnosed as “pre-diabetic,” but really, my morning glucose level qualified me as Type II. I saw a nutritionist and learned how to count carbs (I concept I used to abhor). I kept a food diary for awhile to track everything I was eating. It was a big eye opener for me in terms of realizing how much I had been eating before that my body didn’t need, and was actually having trouble processing. I also learned that exercise is an incredible tool for glucose control.
I am now about 120 pounds and very fit. Here is what I do:
-Eat a small breakfast within 30 minutes of waking
-Eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. About one carb (15 grams) for a snack, ALWAYS combined with protein and fiber, and about two-three carbs for meals (30-45 grams).
-I don’t eat processed carbs (white things)
-I exercise vigorously at least 3 times a week and moderately a few more times per week.
-I drink ONLY water and 8 ounces of coffee in the morning.
I look and feel better than I have at any other time in my life. I’m only sorry I didn’t learn all this sooner. Again, great post. It is possible to lose weight healthfully and it’s worth the effort!
AWESOME!! That is exactly what I think of when I think of healthy eating. Do you want to write a healthy snack combination post? I find it really hard to get protein for snack. and lunch too really.
I’m one of those women who all other women hate. I drop all my baby weight in 2-3 weeks. And that’s without really breastfeeding.
I don’t hate you. Lucky genes!
I’d love to write a snack post! I’ll throw something to together this weekend and shoot you an email.
This post is exactly right.
We have to eat this way since our 3 boys have multiple food allergies. We can’t do dyes, or MSG, or sulfates, or BHT.
It has to be real….and we feel so good and never have to watch what our weight is. We just don’t gain: it’s natural eating, and our body uses it. That’s why we don’t mind eating the way the boys do, it is a great way to live..
Thanks for your wise words!
Thank you for your encouragement. I used to be ill and agitated after every meal. I feel great now. I need to work on dyes, one of my next challenges.
Kirsten, but dieting IS good if you’re overweight! You may be thinking of diets with ridiculous food suggestions (only grapefruits, or no carbs), I’m talking about a healthy food intake (that includes a little bit of unhealthy food, why not), just less of it than normal so you can loose some of the fat.
Ahh, the word diet in North America is synonymous with fad diets, low card, grapefruit. That’s why I don’t use it.
You and I are talking about the same thing.
And you are right, all healthy eating needs a little unhealthy.
I am currently breastfeeding my 6 month old (we are introducing solids in the next week or so) and I am so hungry all the time! I feel like my day revolves around meals and snacks. I think I probably eat a lot more (at least a lot more often) than woman who are heavier than me, but I try to focus on eating plant-based foods, so I need a lot of these foods to get enough calories. I also avoid empty calories. Although I’m certainly not perfect
Great article and sound advice. It may seem like a no-brainer to us, but clearly good nutrition is very difficult for many people. One of these days I’m going to blog about losing the baby weight!
It is near impossible to eat enough to sustain yourself when nursing. I have a picture of my sister feeding me a gigantic burger while I nursed. It does get easier as they start to eat more solid food. Though it took me a long time to readjust my portion size and eating habits.
I think you hit on all of the major points. I try to focus on filling up on what is good for me rather that what I shouldn’t be eating. I make sure to drink lots of water and always get in my 6 servings of fruits & veggies and that way I never let myself get too hungry.
I also never deprive myself. If there is something I really really want, I’ll have a small piece. On the same token, I won’t be the garbage disposal either. If I am going to eat something decadent, it’s going to be worth the splurge.
Garbage disposal is a great way to discribe it! I am always tasting as I cook, then I eat my dinner and finish up what the kids left. In the end it’s a huge portion.
This post made me think of one of my favorite books, by Michael Pollan, “In Defense of Food.” In it, he says, “Eat whatever you want — as long as you make it yourself.” His point, of course, is to eat Food, not stuff disguising itself as food. He challenges anyone who wants to “diet” to try living this way and just see what happens.
I have totally fallen off the breakfast bandwagon, and I have no idea why. I’ve always, always, eaten breakfast. And, I’m drinking way too much coffee.
Jolyn- eat your breakfast!! You can’t drive the family bus unless you are well fueled. Even a yoghurt and banana will do it.
I really like Michael Pollan too. Wise man.
Yep! I’m at the 8 month mark and I’m almost high school skinny. So true. Breastfeeding the the BEST diet. Because I can eat whatever I want, and still lose the weight.
It’s fantastic! Little tricky on the clothes budget but no one’s complaining.
Great post with great info. I always think it’s kind of common sense, but turns out it isn’t. For me, the breastfeeding gets all but 5 to 10 lbs off (40 lbs gained with all 3 pregnancies). I have to get it off before my period comes back, or it is so much harder. I’m just starting to work at it right now by increasing my exercise and trying to eat only 2 healthy snacks a day. (I’m so hungry I eat 4 snacks a day right now.) It comes right off if I eat like a normal person while breastfeeding.
You are right, as soon as the period starts the weight gets stubborn. And it’s gets easier to excercise as the kids get older.
After 5 years of pregnancy and breastfeeding it took me a year to readjust my portion sizes.
I am so guilty of grabbed prepared foods more often than I should because I wait to long to eat and I’m STARVING!
Hungry people made bad health decisions. I do it more times than I’d like to admit.
Great article! Everything is so true!! I often eat a terrible afternoon snack b/c I’m run ragged. Can you believe I got my period back after only 3 months with Nathan! Man, was I pissed! With my first I was skinny in 4 months. Now, I’m breastfeeding like crazy and still trying to lose the last 15 pounds and he’s almost 9 months, ughhh! and I have way less time to exercise now that there is 3…however he just learned to cruise, soon he’ll be running and i’ll be chasing!! Here’s hoping that will do the trick
When he starts really moving maybe his appetite will increase? 3 months is really unfair.