I’m so relieved to say that 8 ½ months after having my baby girl I have officially lost every last bit of my baby weight — all 57 lbs. of it! Yep, I’ve said it a million times by now, but I gained way too much in pregnancy, my bad. So let’s move beyond how ridiculous my weight gain was and focus on how great my weight loss has been m’kay?

Despite my hefferness at the end of my pregnancy, I totally thought I was going to bounce back into pre-preg shape in like 3-6 months. Hey, I’m an athletic girl; I should be able to do that no problem, right? Well, not unless I’m Jessica Alba and getting paid for the skinnies. For me, it’s been a much slower process, and totally because I wasn’t putting forth the effort to lose the weight. I’d exercise, but my diet was whatever sounded good. Essentially, I didn’t care WTF I ate, I just ate it and enjoyed every last bite. It was easy to not care about my food intake because I was breastfeeding and losing weight in my sleep due to all the calories BFing burns, so I just got complacent. Not to go all Dr. Phil on you, but I think I was even sort of hiding behind the flab. I figured no one found me remotely attractive during that phase of my life, so why even bother?

This was me at 7 weeks postpartum.

After childbirth, once I felt physically able to exercise at about 4 weeks, I started. But it was sporadic. I did get into a pretty good groove eventually and the weight loss really started to kick in, but then I went back to work and my exercise routine came to a screaming halt. And my weight loss slowed significantly. By January I had totally plateaued with 10 lbs left to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. Still, I struggled with motivation. I started thinking about my friend’s wedding in May and how I’d like to get back to my old self by then, so I decided to just bite the bullet and join Weight Watchers Online.

The weight melts off like butter on a hot knife

I’ve done Weight Watchers online before and I know it works. I lost 13 lbs for my wedding over a period of 6-9 months, so I figured why not give it a shot again. This program is the closest thing to a regular eating plan than all the other “diets” out there. WW is more of a lifestyle change than anything. You can still have pizza, Mexican food, movie popcorn, etc. — but all in moderation. And one of the great things Weight Watchers does is motivate you to work out. The more exercise you get, the more points you earn back in a day to EAT! Yay for more food!! The program has changed since I originally did it, too. The new WW Points Plus now gives fruits and veggies zero points, so I can eat all the grapes, apples, and bananas I want and it doesn’t add to my point total. So whereas I used to eat junk food when I was hungry, I now reach for fruit to fill the void. Once you start this program, you definitely learn what foods and drinks to avoid and what you need to have on hand at all times. Alcohol is one of those things that you want to limit. A glass of wine or a beer is 4 points – UGH! But I’d rather eat my points than drink them, so I cut out alcohol Monday-Thursday. Not that I drank much, but I had gotten into a habit of having maybe a glass of wine a night — not anymore. Now it’s a weekend treat.

One thing I recently discovered since getting an iPhone is how EASY the Weight Watchers app is to use. I find that I’m much better at tracking my daily points on my phone than when I wait until I’m in front of a computer and log on to the website. I can get lazy and forget to log stuff and that’s when you fall off track, so if you’re doing WW download that app!

Another thing I started doing was no longer eating after dinner, usually around 7pm. I used to snack around 9:30-10pm when I’d get hungry, or have a huge glass of chocolate milk (my guilty pleasure!), and then I’d go to bed. But now I just drink water the rest of the night and go to bed. If my body gets hungry during the night it’ll have to eat stored fats vs. the junk food I consumed at 10:30pm. I notice that I feel lighter on my feet every morning because of this.

I wore this dress the weekend I conceived Annabelle!! (Yes, I remember when it was!)

I’ve made a commitment to exercise. I make it a point to go to the gym 3 days per week. I discovered this high impact Tai Bo class on Fridays at my gym and it’s become my exercise obsession! It’s super freaking hard, but fun. The music is so awesome and just gets you in the mood to MOVE. For one full hour of high intensity working out, I earn back 9 points – HELLZ YA! On Saturday I run 3 miles and lift weights, and on Monday I do the bike for 45 minutes and lift weights. That’s my routine, and it’s working.

I’ve been on Weight Watchers for 5 weeks and I’ve officially lost the final 10 lbs of baby weight. Thank the lord! I feel more a sense of relief than anything, like I don’t have that monkey on my back anymore. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing and enjoy life. It’s not even hard, it’s so easy. You just have to be ready for the lifestyle changes and willing to cut back on the junk and wine! If you need help losing those tough pounds, you should join Weight Watchers, too!

Now the fun part — shopping! All my clothes, even pre-preg, are baggy on me now which is annoying. But it’s a good problem to have!

The next thing I need to do is figure out how to tone my tummy. I may have lost the baby weight, but my stomach still shows the signs of being stretched to the max and back again. It’s nice and soft to the touch. Sexy! This is the next challenge on my to-do list!

Have you had success losing the baby weight? If so, share what you did in the comments section!

 

6 Comments on It’s official – I’ve finally lost all of my baby weight! See how I did it…

  1. Hi Courtney,

    I stumbled upon your website when I found out I was pregnant 2 months ago. I think I was searching working out while pregnant, so I got so lucky to find your blog which talks about that and everything else motherhood, especially for a first-time mom. I just got married last December so for the wedding I lost about 10 pounds (those pounds that always hung on for dear life no matter how much I worked out) and I was in the best shape ever. So although I am so excited about welcoming my baby to the world, I am also anxious about the weight gain (call me vain too)! I am SO proud of you after reading this post! You did it! I have to be honest, since I didn’t see many updates on your weight I figured you gave up or just weren’t doing well which can happen to anyone. So congratulations on such an achievement!!! I know it’s easy to get complacent, but you didn’t let it take over. I look forward to doing the same at the end of the year – but first and foremost I look forward to having a healthy baby. Thanks for sharing all you share, it’s certainly helped me throughout my first trimester, and after my baby is born in October I am sure I will be going through your old posts to get your perspective, because you keep it real. Thanks for that!
    -A fan of your blog from NYC!

  2. Hi San – Thanks so much for your kind words! I’m glad you’ve found my blog and it’s helped you as you’re navigating through pregnancy. It’s such an amazing journey in life that you just have to embrace all that comes with it. I loved being pregnant! In terms of losing the baby weight, my suggestion would be to not let it rule your thoughts in those first weeks postpartum. I pushed myself to go on walks and stuff and I set my healing progress back some, so just relax for a month and enjoy mommyhood. When you’re strong enough physically and emotionally ready to commit to a diet/exercise plan that is when you’re the most successful. Back in September or October when I did my first “weight loss journey” blog I don’t think I was emotionally ready to give up the yummy junk food. Physically I was, but mentally, no. That’s why you didn’t see any posts about it until now! Like I said in my post, the saying about it taking 9 months to put the weight on and 9 months to get it off is so true! A few ladies in my mom’s group all said this week that they’ve finally lost their baby weight 9 months later. You’ll get there! For now, enjoy the baby bump, lady! Congrats on your little life changer! 😉

  3. Holy crap, once you set your mind to it, you really lost that weight fast! Or at least it seemed fast to us in blog world, but I’m sure it was a lot of hard work on your part. Good for you! You look absolutely fantastic and I’m sure you feel much better, too. Sadly, I haven’t been quite as committed as you… but this post was definitely motivating! It’s nice out today… I should lace up those running shoes and hit the pavement…

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