To The Mom That Hasn’t Lost The Baby Weight

Listen to me, It is okay!

I know our society loves to highlight the many celebrities who miraculously lost ALL of their baby weight (plus some) in a little under two months.

Meanwhile, you’re approaching your little ones first birthday and you’re wearing the same yoga pants that you wore from the hospital because you still can’t fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes.

The truth is, losing weight is HARD.

But guess what?

It’s even harder to lose weight when you have to recover from a c-section and can barely get out of bed on your own.

Or when you have to make sure that you’re eating enough in order to avoid a drop in your milk supply.

Let’s face it, your body isn’t what it used to be.

You want to be proud of your “tiger stripes” but deep down… you aren’t.

You look in the mirror and you don’t even recognize yourself anymore.

Take a deep breath mama.

It wasn’t that long ago that you gave birth to a whole human being!

While it’s true that our bodies change once we have children, this isn’t a bad thing mama. 

You have carried and sustained a whole little life so believe me when I say, It’s gonna take some time for things to go back to “normal”.

Then again, you have to figure out what your new “normal” looks like.

In the meantime, here are a couple of things you can do now to see significant progress down the line…

Start Walking

Got a little downtime and the weather is nice?

Pack up the little one and head to your nearest park!

Pushing your little one around the park for as little as an hour a day can easily replace the gym. Your little one will love looking at the scenery, and they may even go right to sleep.

Besides, if you’re a Stay-At-Home Mom like me, you could probably really use the fresh air.

Not a Stay-At-Home Mama? No worries!

Try parking further away in the parking lot at work.

Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Take a walk on your lunch break.

There are tons of ways to squeeze in a little activity during your normal day-to-day routine.

An Apple A Day…

You know the saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Listen, I don’t expect you to literally eat an apple every day but, by swapping out processed snacks for healthier alternatives, you’d be doing yourself a huge favor and reaping all of the nutritional benefits.

Instead of grabbing that bag of chips to snack on, opt for fruit or nuts instead. The fiber will keep you fuller longer. The same can be said for sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a cold glass of wine and I’m a sucker for a cold, crisp soda, but the amount of sugar in one can of soda should be illegal.

So do yourself a favor and grab the water instead – you’ll thank yourself for it later.

Additionally, if your little one has started eating solid foods, you could try to eat the same fruits and veggies that you’re feeding them.

If baby likes sweet potato, maybe you could both have some baked sweet potato – or even sweet potato fries! 

Take Vitamins

Vitamins are like the ultimate cheat code for optimum health (with a balanced diet and exercise of course) and a good multivitamin goes a long way!

Did you know that many mamas continue to take their prenatal vitamins well after they’ve had their baby?

A word of caution though, make sure you do your research when considering what vitamin supplements to buy and where to buy them from.

I don’t know about you but I’m pretty wary of buying vitamins from chain stores. I’ve learned that in most cases, these so-called vitamins are actually filled with a bunch of cheap, synthetic crap  and ultimately a waste of money.

BE PATIENT

All things, especially weight loss, take time.

I can’t promise that you’ll see results overnight- if that were the case we’d all be back in our pre-pregnancy jeans.

In the meantime, take a step back and soak up these moments with your little one. They grow so fast and this is precious time that you’ll never get back.

I mean, you’d hate to look back and only remember how badly you wanted to lose the baby weight.