New blog journey: LOSING THE BABY LUMP! It’s time.

It’s been 7 weeks since my baby was born and I am finally ready to get my post-pregnancy ass back in shape. Well, I’ve been ready, but I guess I’m ready to say it “out loud”, so you, the people, can hold me accountable! I’m aware that once I say this on my blog, I have to actually stick to it and post positive results regularly. This is intended to be my way of losing weight and having to show for it, but I also hope to inspire others to get on board and lose the post-pregnancy weight – or just the weight, baby or not! It’s not going to be easy, but it’s gotta be done. This vein girl can’t live with this fat tire around her waist any longer! Ugh!

Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was so freaking huge that all I could talk about was getting back in the gym and slimming down to my pre-pregnancy self. I figured; I’m so tired of being a hippo that when I finally can work out after childbirth, I’m going to be like a machine and just melt away this blubber in no time. Hey, I ran a half marathon when I was 5 weeks pregnant and I completed a 65 mile bike marathon all in the last year. I can do this no problem…..right? Well, it’s been nearly two months, and I can definitely say: it ‘aint that easy.

All functionality is pretty much back in my body, aside from sore knees from carrying around this extra weight, but other than that, I’m A-OK. Immediately after childbirth I thought I was all set to start walking and doing chores around the house, which was a big mistake. Five days after popping out my baby, I was out on the trails pushing a jog stroller trying to walk this weight off. Plus, I was running around the house doing laundry, cleaning, etc. and what I was doing was actually setting my healing process back, when I should’ve been resting and doing nothing else besides taking care of Annabelle. Because of this, my doctor recommended I continue resting through 4 weeks postpartum. Usually they say you’ll be feeling better and healed at 3 weeks, but that’s only if you take a chill pill and relax – not push your weak body and over exert yourself!

Breastfeeding sheds pounds!

One of the super positive results from breastfeeding is that you lose a lot of your baby weight like, super fast. I’d read this and hoped it would be true for me; and thankfully, it was…to a point.  I quickly dropped 25 pounds within the first two weeks postpartum. From there, I was thinking this was going to be a piece of cake losing the baby bump! I mean, here I am eating whatever the hellz I want and I’m thinning down in my sleep – this is amazing! But you know where I went wrong? I gained a freaking shit ton in pregnancy – way over the recommended 25-35 lbs., and so I have a lot more to lose!

In an effort to be totally honest during this weight loss journey, I feel I should disclose to you that I gained about 55 lbs. in pregnancy. I know, I know. I took this “eating whatever I want” business way overboard. And honestly, most of it came on in my third trimester. I just got so uncomfortable and I felt like my body was so out of my control at that point, that the only thing I could control was the food I ate! It was the only thing that brought me comfort in the midst of my bitchass sciatic nerve pain, among many other ailments. SO, I may have dropped 25 lbs. post-pregnancy in no time, but I still have 30 lbs to go! OMG!

And let’s just be honest, finding time to go to the gym or work out at home is really hard with a newborn. If the baby isn’t napping well or long enough during the day, you don’t really have that window to put the baby down and pop in an exercise DVD. But I’m bound and determined to make this weight loss journey work! So this is where you need your husband’s support — and extra set of hands!

I want a Beach Body!

When I was as big as a house at about 9 months pregnant I found myself enamored by an infomercial showcasing an exercise DVD set called Turbo Fire, which is a part of the whole Beach Body phenomenon. I’d never heard of Beach Body before this, but I came to find out it was a huge weight loss business with a massive following that included other DVDs like P90X and Insanity – which a ton of insane coworkers of mine do nightly in an office conference room after work! Well, I finally started using my Turbo Fire DVDs this week and I’ve hit the gym a couple times and I’m feeling great! On the days I can’t make the gym or do a DVD, I go on walks. And thankfully, once Annabelle is 8 weeks of age (one more week!), I can start taking her to the childcare at my gym so I can get in a daily work out, baby free – WHAHOO!!

Diet matters too

One thing that is going to be almost more difficult than the working out is the diet. When you go for so long just eating whatever you want, it’s difficult to break that habit. I may not be losing any more weight due to breastfeeding, but I’m certainly not gaining any despite the crap I shovel into my mouth each day – thanks to breastfeeding. But if I have any real hope to slimming down to my pre-preggo bod, I’ve gotta cut out the fast food and pizza. So I’m working on it – gradually!

As a reminder; this was me 7 weeks ago!

And this is me now, down 25 lbs. from breastfeeding, and a few more from exercise!

SO, as a part of the whole Beach Body weight loss program, I took some before pictures of myself before I really dive into this challenge with the whole idea being that I’ll take some after pictures when I look totally fab! But I plan to do this on a bi-weekly basis so I can document my weight loss regularly. I’m going to hate myself, I know, but I need to push myself. Keep in mind, I’m a very vein girl so it’s mucho difficult to take these pictures and post them to my blog. I mean, I’ve barely taken like FIVE pictures of myself with my baby because I hate the way I look, so to post these, it’s making me feel so EXPOSED! But this is just me now….not the ‘me’ I’m going to become! So hopefully you’ll follow my journey and cheer me on! Hell, why dontcha join me along the way?! 🙂