36. Losing 10lbs in 30 Days After Having a Baby: My Postpartum Weight Loss Journey

My postpartum weight loss journey so for I wasn’t sure when i would be ready so i didn’t set a start date… I put no deadlines or dates on this- it’s important for you to let your body and schedule lead The first month Waiting until you’re ready Starting weight/current weight Started at about 160/165 Currently at 132 Overall goal is 120 to 125 Mindset was my number one focus: How do i want to approach this: With love for my body and what it is going through Taking time to look in the mirror and admire my body as it is…my stomach all stretched out and my skin loose LOVE NOT about pain, punishment, restriction or deprivation Those get you into the pendulum This is a hectic time, mindset is really important With all of the craziness i anchored myself to: I want to lose weight more than i want to use food to manage my emotional state Emotions i focussed on: Love Calm Confident: Really easy to get pulled into doubt, worry and overwhelm that you are not doing the right thing, that your body can’t handle it Grounding myself in confidence that my body knows best Wary of: Doubt Stress Overwhelm Anxiety I experienced all of these! And I am still experiencing them to a lesser degree. These are some of the most common emotions that we eat to negate, so be aware of them What i teach my clients and what i did in this process was anticipate them and decide ahead of time how i would handle them. I was always willing to make changes that were best for my body and my baby if my milk production changed I took a break from losing and just maintained during three weeks of December/January You can always take a break and maintain! Lessons learned This process really deepened my connection to my body and if you look at it that way, that this is an opportunity to love your body more, appreciate it more for what it is capable of, then this is really a wonderful honor in many ways Take it at your own pace. If you are just starting with this approach you will need to give yourseslf grace to work on this while also taking care of your baby. You will have some frustrating moments, that’s ok There were days I made food and it got cold before I ever got to eat it, there were days my husband made me breakfast and it was just a bunch of cinnamon rolls but I couldn’t really get to making myself anything healthier or better. There were days i felt a ton of stress or anxiety and snacked a bunch- beating yourself up over this is not helpful Pitfalls Other people’s opinions: You wont make milk You didn’t want a baby Breastfeeding will melt the fat off Lead into eating whatever you want and still be able to lose weight which may not be true Really similar to what we hear about eating for two when pregnant Breastfeeding wont melt the fat off Your hormones will prevent you from losing weight You wont be able to lose weight until after you stop breastfeeding You’ll be too thin to make milk Breast feeding- do you need all the carbs or you won’t make milk Whatever the opinion is….it is just taht, an opinion. Don’t take it as fact. Do your own research, most importantly listen to your body!! Carbs and milk: i looked this one up and there were some studies done Eating really quickly Sleep Hydration I had a worry that my body would never bounce back, you hear that all the time that you can’t lose the baby weight, your body wont be the same- people told me taht while i was pregnant and I didn’t know if it was true, what to believe What i found was that those were also opinions! Yes, things change, but you have so much more power than you realize!!!! Do not get sucked into other peoples mindset, create your own A client of mine is actually postpartum and she had had difficulty getting the weight off. She thought it was 100% hormonal. Here is what we worked on When you believe it is 100% your hormones, you stop listening and go into all of these thought patterns: Whats one more bite I may as well because hormones Nothing i do works so… And when i told her to just slow down, only focus on her bodies signals she realized she was eating way more than her body needed! It was there all along she just didn’t see it until i pointed it out For this reason I am really confident that what i do with clients helps no matter the hormonal or metabolic state- because that becomes a mindset and our eating shifts because of that mindset. There is always wiggle room Is it ok to be hungry This is something i talk to my clients a lot about because what we focus on is letting our bodies signals lead. I let my body tell me when it is ready for fuel as my guide to when i eat There is a lot of talk out there about eating enough to keep up with milk so i was actually worried about experiencing hunger because of what might happen to my milk supply…so i experimented with it and have had not one issue with milk supply and hunger Individuality This is my experience. First and foremost you have to honor your body and your unique situation. I spoke with someone who wanted to work with me and she said her baby wasn’t sleeping. I told her this is not the time to get into weight loss, once your baby is sleeping and your hormones get a chance to regulate then let’s talk Don’t do anything until you feel ready