My Postpartum Weight Loss Journey

Well hello again!!  It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve posted here, but I just have to do a quick update and share as I start a whole new journey…..through motherhood & postpartum weight loss. Let’s start by chatting about motherhood a bit. 

My sweet baby boy, Elijah, joined us on March 28^th and it’s been a whirlwind ever since. He’s a super smiley baby, he loves to eat and he’s been sleeping through the night since he was about 5 or 6 weeks old.  He’s already 12 weeks tomorrow and will officially be 3 months next Wednesday.  It’s crazy how much he’s grown and changed already.  I seriously wish I could slow down time!!

 

My maternity leave was packed with a lot: traveling, the loss of my little brother, surgery for my mom and all the changes that a new baby naturally brings.  To tell you I feel like a completely different person, would be an understatement.  I am LOVING being a mommy.  I mean, I always felt called to be a mom, but I could never understand exactly how incredible, emotional and fulfilling it would be until now. 

Easy?! No way...breastfeeding was super hard in the beginning, hearing him cry was devastating, letting him sleep in his own crib was hard.  There are so many hard moments, but, boy oh boy, is every single one of them worth it!!  I share a TON of pics of him on my Instagram, so if you’d like to see more, be sure to follow me there: @itsmyevolution.

Now that we’ve chatted about that, let’s get to the reason I’m back to blogging.  (However often that may be…Mom life is unpredictable!). I gained 54lbs with my pregnancy.  The first 25lbs fell off pretty easily without me changing my diet or anything.  The remaining 29lbs are much more stubborn and, in all honesty, I wasn’t ready to give up all the indulgences of pregnancy and any sleep to eat healthier or fit in much needed exercise until this weekend. 

You see, it was my hubby’s very first Father’s Day so I made him & Eli matching shirts so I had someone at church take a family picture of us and when I saw it (the picture on the right, above) I wanted to run, hide and cry.  I felt awful…I hadn’t felt that bad about the way I looked since I originally started my weight loss journey back in 2011.  Since 2012 I had simply been maintaining my results until pregnancy hit of course.  Then I threw healthy eating out the window and ate whatever I craved at the moment.

I don’t want to feel that way again! I don’t want to let myself get stuck in a rut! I don’t want to have a bad body image that in any way affects my child (or future kiddos).  I want to be proud of how hard I work to get fit. I want to eat healthy. I want to get back in shape. I’m ready to commit and I hope you’ll follow along!!

Step 1: I’ve got the fridge stocked with healthy options and I’ve got a plan.  So here goes….

The Plan:

-Use the FatSecret App to track my food intake & weight.

-Use an app to track my water intake.

-Workout 5 days per week.

-Check in here on the blog once per week with an update to keep me extra accountable.

That about sums it up, a simple plan to loose those last 29lbs & maybe a few more.

Starting Weight: 174lbs

Goal Weight/Pre-pregnancy Weight: 145lbs

Thanks for following along & I’ll be back with an update next week.