Baby Weight Update

We are going on Caribbean cruise in two weeks so I have gotten really serious about losing this extra weight!  I stopped nursing a little over a month ago and since then I have lost almost 10 lbs.  I'm trying to lose at least another 5 lbs. before the cruise.  Unfortunately that won't be all the weight that I need to lose in order to be at my pre-babies weight, but I'm getting closer.  I can tell my body is changing a lot and I'm fitting into more of my regular clothes.  It feels so good to see some of my former body coming back. I have definitely had to work a lot harder at losing the weight this time around.  After Damon was born, I was back to normal when he was 9 months old.  It took me about a year after Monson.  It will probably take me a little over a year this time, but it is much harder than after Monson. I have to be so careful with how much I eat and make sure I exercise.  I don't know if it's because it was my 3rd baby or because I'm getting older, or maybe both.  But I'm determined to get back to my normal weight and I won't stop until I'm there!

Baby Weight

I am having the hardest time losing my baby weight!  For some reason it is much harder this time then after the previous two pregnancies.  Sophie is 6 months old and I'm at the weight now that I was after Damon and Monson were 1 month old.  And I had to work really hard to get to this weight!  But I still have a LONG way to go before I'm back at my pre-baby weight.  It is pretty frustrating and I don't know why it's so much harder this time.  Maybe because I'm older or because it's my 3rd baby.  I don't know, but I can't stand seeing myself in pictures while still having all this extra weight on me.  I have always lost all my baby weight and I am determined to get my normal body back, but it's super hard this time!

Baby Weight

It's never easy to lose weight.  Some people think that after you have a baby, as long as you breastfeed, the weight just comes right off.  For some people that may work, but for me it is the opposite.  My body wants to keep the weight on so that it has enough to feed my baby.  I have never been able to lose all my baby weight until I stop nursing.

This time around, it has been even harder to lose the extra weight.  I always gain a lot of weight while I'm pregnant, but I have always been determined to lose ALL of the weight afterwards and with each baby I have always gotten back to my pre-baby weight before having another baby.  Now that I've had my last kid, I've even more determined to get my body back to normal.  However, it has been harder.  For the past 3 months I've tried to watch what I eat, but I stopped losing weight after just a few weeks.  I know my problem is the sweets.  I love sugar and sweet things!  I kept telling myself that I could still eat sweets, just not as much.  That didn't work so I finally convinced myself that I had to go off sugar to start losing weight, which is how I have done it for my past two post-baby weight loss.

I've been off sugar and sweets for almost 2 weeks now and I've lost 8 lbs!  It's working!  It's not easy, but it's the only way that seems to work for me.  I also exercise at a mom exercising group and go running when I can.  Seeing such good and fast results keep me motivated to stay away from the sugar and keep on exercising.  I want my body back!

Pre-Baby Weight!

Thanks in part to the It Works! products and also in part to this recent illness, I have officially lost all of my baby weight!!!!  This time around it definitely took me longer to lose it than after I had Damon, but it's gone and I can finally fit into all my clothes again!  It feels great to be me again!

Weaned

Monson will be 10 months old in three days and as of two days ago, he is officially weaned.  Anthon and I are leaving on a trip in two weeks, without children, (yay!) so I've known for a couple of months that I needed Monson to be done nursing by then.  Damon weaned himself when he was 8 1/2 months old (one morning he was just done) but Monson would probably have continued had I let him.  It was not a hard transition though.  I went from all the time, to morning, noon and night, to morning and night, to just morning, and now nothing.  Monson was slightly more fussy the past two days, but not bad at all.  I'm a little sad to be done because I think my babies look so precious while they nurse, but it is also a huge sense of freedom to be done.

I have also noticed an immediate difference in my appetite.  For the past few months....ok, let's be honest, since I got pregnant....I have had major cravings for sweets!  I can't stay away from them.  This has been a huge hindrance in losing the baby weight of course.  I've lost most of it, but it hasn't been easy.  When I'm nursing, my body wants to hang on to a few extra pounds.  However, I realized that in the past two days, I have not craved sweet things.  Today, I grabbed a handful of M&Ms and after eating five, I was done.  And normally I like to eat dessert after dinner, but last night I had two of Damon's fruit snacks and felt completely satisfied.  So hopefully these last few pounds will be coming off soon so I can start wearing my normal clothes again.  I've been wearing the same few, fat clothes for the past nine months and I'm ready to have my wardrobe back!

Back into Running

I'm not a runner.  I don't really like running.  But I think that is the fastest way to lose weight (while still being able to eat food) so I am trying to become a runner.  I have tried becoming a runner in the past and I've been able to get to the point of running a couple of 5Ks, but then I got preggo again and that sets you back quite a bit.  But I'm fully recovered from that and I'm getting into running again.

Anthon got me a treadmill for my birthday this year, which has been great, but it's still hard to find time to run when you have one crazy 2 year old and one needy baby.  My cousin, Christa, recently ran her first half marathon and she has become a runner and she suggested that we run together.  (She wants me to run a half marathon with her in November.  I'm still not sure I can do that...ever.)  I don't normally like running with other people because I'm REALLY slow and I feel like I slow them down, but she said she would go as slow as I wanted.

We ran together for the first time last week.  The only time we can run together is in the morning, before my boys wake up.  So I got up at 5:30am so I could meet her in Draper (that's where she lives) by 6am.  We did a total of 2.5 miles that morning and we ran the first mile without stopping.  That's pretty good for me! 

We ran again this morning and we ran 2 miles without stopping and a total of 3.5 miles.  I usually get bored while running, even when I'm on my treadmill watching a movie, but when I run with her, we talk and I don't get bored so I can run longer. 

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to run a half marathon, and certainly not a full marathon, but I feel good about the progress I'm making and I hope it shows on my scale pretty soon because I need to lose the rest of this baby weight.

Baby Weight

Trying to lose baby weight is the WORST!  Some women can lose it just by nursing.  My body likes to hang onto the extra weight BECAUSE I'm nursing. 

After I had Damon, my friend Karen had also just had a baby and she and I had a little challenge going to help us lose the weight.  I tried to convince her to get pregnant with me again after I got pregnant with Monson, but it was a no-go, so now I don't have anyone to help motivate me to lose this weight that remains.

I know I could lose the weight a whole lot easier if there wasn't so much candy in my house, but my husband likes to have candy around and since I'm home all day, the candy calls to me and I eat it!  Luckily I have a mom exercise group that I can go to 3 times a week, but the best and fastest way to lose weight is by eating right, so that's what I really need to get serious about.

I can't wait until it gets a little warmer outside so that I can use my new double stroller and go running with my boys.  Running is the other best way to lose weight. 

Speaking of exercise, it's time to go to my exercise group. 

Baby Weight

Before I had a baby, all the skinny girls would tell me that when you nurse your baby, all the weight just comes off.

NOT TRUE!

I had to work hard at losing my baby weight.  No sugar.  Exercising at least 4 times a week.  Watching what I ate.  Still, I was afraid that I would be 5 lbs. heavier for the rest of my life.  It wasn't until I stopped nursing that the final 5 lbs. came off.  Only recently did I get to see my pre-baby weight on the scale.  It took A LOT longer than I thought it would to lose all the weight, but apparently part of the issue was nursing.  I feel like my body was hanging on to those last 5 lbs. while it was making food for my baby, just incase it needed it.

Even though not all my pants fit yet, I am proud to say that I am at my pre-baby weight!  I'm going to Cancun in a month so I needed to lose those last 5 lbs.  Now if I can lose 5 (or 10) more it will be perfect.