My line for the before shoot was "For my 30th birthday I am going to get the best body ever using the AB-Swift". I know you are probably laughing at this point, but it was pretty awesome. I do have the potential at this point to become an info mercial celebrity...I digress. Bottom line while the Ab Swift was great, what really helped me reach my goal was the training and eating. No surprise right? I mean everyone always says work out, eat well you will lose the weight. As many would agree it is not always that easy, if it was I would not be writing this post.
I have always had a private insecurity with my body like many woman out there today. When I found out I was pregnant with Jack I was terribly nervous about the weight gain and the post-partum process of losing the baby weight. I worked out regulary throughout my pregnancy, and ate fairly well (up until the last 5 weeks, darn milk shakes). My goal was to only gain the recommended 35lbs and all of my doctors knew that this was important to me. One of my doctors did say to me at one point "Stop being so hard on yourself, as long as you gain no more then 50 lbs you will be ok." 50 LBS!!!!!!!!!!! I was thinking in my head "This woman is off her rocker, I will die if I gain 50lbs." Then the months of August and September in Florida came upon us...warranting a daily milk shake. Then Jack was a week over due. To say the least the 35lb goal came and went. Then the 50lbs Dr. Ashby has been referring to came and went as well. My total weight gain once all the fluid and pitocin had been pumped into me was around 52lbs. See picture below. As many have said to me my whole life and during my pregnancy "You carry it well because you are tall". Never has made me feel any better, but I appreciate the encouragement.
Once my beautiful baby boy was in my arms, it really didn't matter. I knew I would work it off, and obviously since I was breastfeeding it would be gone even faster. Um...wrong again. I did lose 35lbs within the first 5 weeks, but let me tell you they lie about breastfeeding making everyone skinny. I was one of "those people" that held onto the last 15lbs until I had stopped. Actually it tooks about 5 months after I stopped to be exact. By June I was back to my pre-baby weight, but I had set a goal by my 30th birthday to be 10lbs less then my pre-baby weight. By mid-August I was not close to that goal, and that is when I discovered the info-mercial.
By October 5th (my 30th Birthday) I had lost 14 lbs, and 17.75 total inches to now be 11 lbs less then my pre-pregnancy weight. I am not going to lie I am pretty proud of myself. The hardest thing about being a mom is juggling everything and finding that time for myself. I committed to my work outs 45 minutes per day and planning my meals ahead of time so I was never forced to just grab something. The key to the weight loss for me was my eating. As I said above it seems so easy to just say "eat healthy". Well what does that really mean? To be honest the appropriate way to eat, and eating healthy is different for everyone depending on our bodys make up. In working with Briana Michel and Jim White I got one on one nutritional counseling each week that helped me figure out what my body needed to really see results. Briana and Jim do remote nutritional counseling and will help you figure out exactly what works for you. There is truly a science behind it. I am bound by my confidentially agreement for the info-mercial to not share the details of my individual plan. But what I can share are a few high level tips and thoughts on what I think made the biggest difference for me:
1. No drinking- I know that is no go for many, but it was only for 6 weeks! I found that once I had eliminated the wine I actually did not miss it (that much). I replaced that nightly glass with a cup of tea and found to be perfectly satisfied. Now that the info-mercial is over I have certainly introduced alcohol back into my diet but only in moderation.
2. Six Small Meals A Day- This was always hard for me until I put my nose to the grindstone and really planned. Planning was the key to success. I knew when to eat, what to eat, and how to prepare it at the start of each week. That piece alone took a huge stress off of me.
3. Clean Eating- You can google clean eating and find all kinds of tips, advice, and recipes on exactly what this is. Proteins, Carbs, and good fats. What Bri and Jim did for me was help me determine what protein, carb, or fat I needed to eat at each meal. You don't need a P, C, Fat every meal you have better results if you can determine what time of the day each food will help maximize your energy and weight loss.
4. High Intensity Work Outs & Free Weights- Being on the go I want to do work outs that are quick and effective. Before meeting Bri and Jim I would be in the gym for an hour on a stair climber, or elliptical reading a magazine thinking I was making a difference. I was from a fitness perspective but when they introduced Fitness Blender to me with all of its quick, hard core work out routines I was hooked. I am obsessed with HITT work outs. They are fast, burn tons of calories, and really make you sweat. Nevermind the fact that you can do them ANYWHERE, so no excuses! Here is another one I really like to go along with the one I posted yesterday. I do them at least 3-4 times per week, in conjunction with running, and free weights. I am no longer afraid to lift heavier weights as I have started to see definition in my body that I have never seen before.
The four things above were what helped me reach my goal, but the mental aspect of wanting to reach my goal and committing to it is what got me over the hump. I had the info-mercial, Bri, and Jim to keep me focused and accountable to myself. They are available to you and would love to assist in your goals their website is Here. But the bottom line is I decided that I needed to do it, and that I was not going to let the wine "win". If I can do it, you can to. See I told you I added wine back in...cheers to reaching a goal! And on a side note while we all stress about pregnancy and baby weight, I will say I have a newfound appreciation for my body and what it can do.
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