Losing Weight After Pregnancy
3 months after I gave birth to my third child, I decided I had to take extreme measures to lose the unwanted weight I had gained. And I mean extreme because I had decided that I was going to have to pay for my weight loss. I knew I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed someone or something to motivate me in my journey. I’ve always been skeptical of the weight loss programs that charge you so much to lose weight but I thought I’d go ahead and try it anyway.
It wasn’t easy taking that first step but I was determined. I had already been depressed enough about my weight that something had to be done. I joined a weight loss program that really worked for me. They taught me so much about nutrition and healthy choices.
I was amazed as to what I had to do to successfully lose weight. What I mean by that is that I actually had to eat more than I ate before starting the program. Having small meals every 2 hours or so and drinking lots of fluids was important for this to work. I couldn’t understand how that was going to help but after seeing the results, I stuck to it.
Eating a sensible breakfast before walking my kids to school was a MUST for me. My breakfast would consist of one egg, one toast, and a glass of milk. Walking after breakfast helped me burn some of the calories I had consumed and it gave me the energy I was going to need to take me to the next step. 2 hours later I would eat a low fat yogurt, which I would freeze in the summer to help me with the ice cream cravings.
For lunch, again 2 hours later, I would make myself a delicious sandwich with lettuce, onion, tomato, a little bit of avocado, fat free mayo, one thin slice of ham, and 2 slices of whole wheat bread, and instead of potato chips, I would opt for cold crunchy baby carrots YUMMY! Dinner was my favorite meal because I would make lots of steamed vegetables to go with my piece of grilled chicken and rice or pasta. I could have anything I wanted when it came to vegetables but it had to be one medium piece of chicken and about ½ cup of cooked rice. For my late snack, which I love to have, I would just drink a glass of milk to have with my caramel rice cake and sugar-free jelly.
Light exercise played a major role in my weight loss journey. I say light because all I did was walk more. I would park my car far from the stores, I would take the stairs instead of the elevator, and I played with my kids more, (which they loved). In other words, I kept myself more active.
This didn’t happen over night for me. It took me about one year and a half to go from my starting weight of 175 lbs to 125 lbs. Yes, it was a slow process but I am proud of myself and feel happier. Losing weight is not impossible. It just takes motivation, determination, drive, and FAITH. This is what worked for ME.
