Weighing In

It's been almost two months since our precious little Nugget was born, 

which also means I am two months into the quest to return to my pre-baby body. 

While I was still pregnant I decided that I wasn't going to think about or worry about losing any weight the first month (yeah right). I wanted to give myself a good 4 weeks to adjust to life as a mama and recover from childbirth. As it turns out, having a baby is a bigger adjustment than I anticipated and while I've obviously thought about losing weight, I haven't been beating myself up about eating a certain way or exercising, but now I'm ready to take this more seriously. 

 I gained a total of 34 pounds during my pregnancy and was about 8 pounds heavier than I would have liked before getting pregnant. 

SO, as of today I am declaring my total weight loss goal to be 

42 pounds.

After almost two months of my blood & fluid volume getting back to normal, my uterus shrinking, the general benefits of breastfeeding and the almost 7 pound baby that I pushed out, plus the holiday eating marathon, I have lost a total of 17 pounds.

So at the start of my weight loss adventure, here's where I stand: 

Total weight gained: 34 pounds

Weight loss goal: 42 pounds

Total weight loss: 17 pounds

Pounds to go: 25

I found a great article on BabyCenter.com that has some tips and advice for healthy post-baby weight loss. I thought I'd share some of the highlights for all you other mamas and mamas-to-be.

◦ Don't start dieting too soon
Like I had mentioned, you need to give yourself time to recover and adjust. Not to mention you need to make sure you have enough energy to care for your baby and are getting enough calories to breastfeed {if you chose to do-so}.

◦ Be realistic about weight loss
A lot of women are just never the same after giving birth...be realistic about the fact that your body may never be exactly the same again.
{I have a REAL hard time with this one}

◦ Embrace exercise
A healthy diet mixed with exercise is crucial for losing weight--not to mention making sure you're losing fat and not muscle {if there's any muscle left under there}.

◦ Lose weight slowly
Most women need about 1,500-2,200 calories a day to stay healthy and more like 2,000-2,700 for those of us who are nursing! So cut calories without dipping below these minimums...and if you find you're running low on energy, up the calories! Also, losing too much weight too fast can mess with your milk supply!

◦ Eat up - and take your time!
Don't skip meals! You need your energy, so try to eat several small meals a day.

◦ Be choosy about food and drinks
This one's sort of a no-brainer...be smart about the foods you're choosing {again, a hard one for me}...a healthy mix of fruits, veggies, whole grains & protein is best!

I'm hoping that by following the tips in the article, using MyFitnessPal and getting back in to yoga I'll be able to jump start this weight loss journey! 

Wish me luck!