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

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?

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’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!