1. Have a healthy pregnancy: This is I think the best tip of them all! If you eat clean and remain active during your pregnancy....it will be WAY easier to lose the weight fast because you won't have that much to lose! My last pregnancy was by FAR my healthiest. I ate 90% clean the entire time. Although I didn't really workout...I remained active and took care of myself. I focused on my nutrition and my hydration and had a super easy pregnancy. I gained 28 lbs. and lost half of that by the time I got home from the hospital. Check out my tips for a healthy pregnancy here.
Picture on left was 32 weeks pregnant during my 2nd pregnancy and picture on right was 32 weeks with my 3rd pregnancy.
2. Give your body time to heal: I didn't start working out until my baby was 5 months old. Yes....I was cleared for exercise at 6 weeks but my body wasn't ready and I knew that. I spent every second of my first 5 months postpartum loving on my baby, eating healthy and not stressing over trying to fit in hour long workouts. I was stressed enough with transitioning to having 3 kids and building our house. I knew that I had to wait until my body was ready and mentally I was at a good point to start focusing on losing the weight. So listen to your body.....you just had a baby...enjoy it and wait until you are 100% ready mentally and physically to commit to a workout regimen before you start. Now in the meantime....focus on your nutrition. It is important for your healing process.
3. Pick a date to start a workout regimen: Now after those 5 months of focusing on my nutrition and healing....I lost all but about 10 lbs of my baby weight. I knew to get the last bit off and to tone my body back up...I had to start working out!! I chose the 21 day fix to jump start my post-baby fitness and it worked out great for me! My advice is choose something you love. If you love the gym....get a trainer and do that! If you love working out at home...pick a DVD workout regimen and do that. Just commit to it and stick to it! Don't make excuses....find time in your day and do it. For me, it worked out that my babies first nap of the day was my workout time. I could only fit in about 30 minutes...so that is what I did. I had great results and it really pushed me past my plateau and made me re-focus on my nutrition. Watch my video here where I tell you all about my experience with the 21 Day Fix if you are interested.
4. Stay consistent: Ever since I started working at....I have stuck with it. I took a 6 week break in working out due to a pinched nerve that I was trying to heal. I don't have a lot of time....I never workout more than 30-40 minutes at the most but I do it. I have dabbled in 21 Day Fix workouts, T25, Piloxing, free workouts on Youtube, blogilates and now I am loving the Tone it Up girls. I do workouts that I love and that I enjoy. I don't force myself to do a ton of cardio or running because quite frankly...I hate that stuff! I do some quick HIITs for cardio and spend the rest of the time doing exercise that I like to do and that works well for me. Check out my Pinterest {fitness} board for some of my favorite free workouts!
5. Don't be so hard on yourself!! It takes time. I know we all wish that we could deliver these precious babies and look like supermodels but let's face it....that rarely happens. I have lost all of my baby weight plus a few pounds and I did it by eating clean and doing exercises that I actually enjoyed. Listen to your body. Don't expect the drop the weight in a matter of weeks. Don't try crazy diets or magic pills. Just eat healthy foods and stay active. Make this your lifestyle. Not only will you feel great but you will be an awesome example to your sweet babies!
Now that I am finally at my goal weight....I plan to focus on building muscle and improving upon my nutrition. There is always room for improvement and getting stronger and healthier is always my focus!
This will probably be my last postpartum update ever! My life is so full with my 3 beautiful babies. I am not 100% sure if there will be anymore WFNB babies but for now I am happy and complete!
Click here to see all of my pregnancy/postpartum posts!
