Losing it...the post baby diaries...December 10

E and me, looking super sleepy...getting out for a walk and a smoothie. Carrying a baby sure adds an extra punch to your afternoon stroll!

Well...here it is. The last of my losing it posts. I can hardly believe it actually. E is 4 1/2 months old and I have actually lost the baby weight. I feel a little apologetic about it actually. Because despite my trials and tribulations, the weight came off pretty quickly. Pregnancy has definitely made a permanent shift to my body (Can I keep the chest?? Please?) but I have achieved my goal of getting down to my pre-baby weight.

So to what do I attribute my success? Here are some thoughts:

I was a healthy weight before getting pregnant. Not in the best shape at the time but not a complete couch potato and I was a healthy weight for my height before getting pregnant. I always tended to go through cycles of working out and not but I have been active for a decade. So if you are thinking of getting pregnant and aren't at your healthiest, now is the time to get into the gym and get that heart pumping. Important Note: if you are already pregnant, do not try to lose weight or avoid weight gain as it can put you and your baby at risk. 

I was a healthy eater before, during and after pregnancy. I like fruits and vegetables and eat them regularly as the foundation, not the accompaniment, of my meals. I eat beans and whole grains like quinoa and barley daily. I don't eat white bread, pastries or junk food or drink pop. I did eat a lot when I was pregnant...and more Sour Patch Kids and Haagen Dazs than I care to admit. But after giving birth, I went right back to healthy eating. Not a diet - I ate well to help me heal and nourish my little one.

I worked out as soon as I was able. I worked out 1-2 times per week when I was pregnant and as soon as I had the okay, I got back to working out 3-4 days a week. I credit the Tracy Anderson Method big time for being so freaking effective at reshaping my body. I am not an expert on this but I have a feeling that if I waited until 6 months to start working out it would have been ten times as hard to lose the weight. After giving birth, your body is still going through a lot of changes and I feel that working out during this time harnessed the capacity for change for good. Very unscientific but that is how it felt to me. In addition, breastfeeding takes a lot of energy so the combination of breastfeeding and moderate exercise allowed me not to have to reduce calories. I was able simply to focus on healthful eating. Important Note: Talk to your doctor if you want to start exercising while pregnant and you weren't active before pregnancy. Generally speaking, whatever you did for a work out before getting pregnant you can continue in pregnancy until your body tells you otherwise.

I tried a supportive girdle.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit this but I bought the ShrinkXHips. I remember when I was first pregnant and saw an ad for ShrinkXHips and was so indignant. "You just had a baby and the first thing you care about is your freaking hips?" I declared smugly. Then none of my pants fit at three months pregnant and I thought...that ShrinkXHips is looking kind of good. So I used it. Not constantly. I found that sleeping in it was easier than sitting in it all day because it shifted a lot. Did it help? I don't know for sure but my hips are back to their starting measurement. It would have been easier to determine if it didn't work...but it is harder to be sure it did. 

Do you have any tips and tricks you used for weight loss post-baby? Let me know!

Desiree

Losing it...the post baby diaries...October 25

Image from www.tracyandersonmethod.com.au

My little one, E, is 3 months old today. I can hardly believe how the time has flown and feel lucky that I got to enjoy the first few months in the sun as now the rain is setting in and I know that I will be a bit more tied to the apartment for the next 5 months. 


I have also firmly entered plateauland. Why? Because I am having a hard time breaking 4 workouts a week (and I sit on my butt the rest of the day) and I have not gone any further with my diet. The reason for this was, if I am losing weight, why restrict myself further? 


Welcome to further. 


I have 9 more pounds of baby weight to go (and 5 additional pounds to get to my goal weight). Last week I did, as promised, start the Tracy Anderson Dance Cardio DVD. Wow. Wow. I tried the routine on Tuesday and my calves turned into ridiculously painful knots for the next 4 days from all the bouncing around. Walking across the apartment was a chore. Not quite the handi-rail incident of 2009, but there was a lot of hurt concentrated in a very small area.


There are 8 dance routines to learn and the learning part of the DVD takes about 45 minutes. On Tracy Anderson's website, she recommends careful attention to diet while you are still learning as you won't be getting much of a cardio workout. However, as it has been months since my last cardio, I was sweaty and breathless throughout the instruction so felt pretty pleased with the workout.


What is so different about this DVD is that the actual workout contains no instruction whatsoever. It is just you and Tracy dancing, full out, to the music..at breakneck speed. So she has also kindly included an instructional portion of the tape where she breaks down each of the 8 routines for you so you can learn them. Not having any dance experience and being generally uncoordinated at high speeds, learning the dances is going to be super tough. However, it is a lot more fun learning dance routines than running to nowhere on a treadmill. 


I am still committed to trying to get to 5 workouts a week. For now, I am going to do the mat workout three times a week and the dance cardio twice a week. I got up at 6:30 today, hoping to sneak in a work out...and then so did E. However, I did manage to get him back to bed so I could workout so I have to pat myself on the back for persevering. 


For my eating plan, I am simply going to start paying attention to portion and type of food (no more pizza when I am too tired to cook!). I will post my food diary tomorrow so you can see what that looks like. The goal is lots of protein, whole grains and produce. 


To your health, 
Desiree

Losing it...the post baby diaries...Sept 14

I am so tired...I want to go back to sleep.

You can't go back to sleep...if you do, you won't have time to work out and get showered before A arrives for a visit.

But I am exhausted! Not sleeping is worse for me than not working out...and I could probably fit it in in the afternoon...

You know you won't...you have work to do this afternoon. Besides, you are starting to wake up. It is time to wake up. Turn on the DVD, lazy bones.

Sound familiar? That was my internal dialogue this morning before finally deciding to work out while I put my little one back to sleep, instead of going back to sleep myself. Yes, I am tired...but I feel way better that I worked out. And I would still be tired even if I got that last hour of sleep. The dark circles under my eyes have been cemented by weeks, not hours, of lost sleep.

Last week, I only worked out three times so I set myself the challenge of at least 4 times for this week. As of today, I am 2 for 2 and already, things are feeling like they "work" a little better. This is probably because I was so drastically out of shape by the time I gave birth that any little increment of improvement is evident :)The 25 minute ab work is getting easier (well, the first 5 minutes is...) but my devotion to the method is intact because I can see subtle changes already. And, my weight is down 3 more pounds....just 20 more to go! I have to admit, that this is probably way more about breastfeeding than working out at this point, but it is still motivating!

So what about my diet strategy? Right now, my only rule is that I have cut out the junk food. No chips, cookies, cakes, candy....just real food. It's funny that before I got pregnant, junk food wasn't such a big part of my lifestyle. I saved room for the good quality stuff...a nice dessert from a good restaurant, the occasional chips (my nutritional crack) and liberal amounts of cheese. But regular junk food? Rarely! Not worth the calories, in my opinion.

However, when I got pregnant...I turned into a human vending machine. Sure, I still ate all the amazing healthy foods that I always do, like dark leafy greens, whole grains and beans but for dessert or snack time...I wanted garbage. I would eat almost anything put in front of me: from generic nasty cake to twizzlers to cheap pastries and chocolate I had to have junk every single day. Talk about maternal AND professional guilt! The dietitian was mainlining processed sugar and fats to her unborn on a daily basis. I comforted myself with the thought that all the nourishing food I ate on a daily basis was "insulating" the baby from damage. Do as I say, ladies...not as I do :) Stay away from the junk if you can! Your baby (and your butt) is better off for it.

So from the 6 week to the 12 week post partum mark, my only diet strategy is one of no junk food. I have three main lines of rationale for this decision (given my nature, I can't do anything, even something this simple, without creating theories to convince myself of the utility of a strategy or decision - professional hazard I guess!).

The first theory is that research has shown humans actually have almost like a "bank" of willpower. Use it up in pursuit of, say, working on your MBA and have less left for cooking from scratch every night. This is one of the reasons why super drastic "become a vegan yogi master overnight detox" plans rarely work for more than a few days before they fail dramatically via the bottom of a bag of Sour Cream and Cheddar Ruffles. It is also why, in my practice, I always preach slow and accumulating changes to try and create habits that no longer require willpower to maintain. So, keeping the diet simple will allow me to focus my willpower on restarting and maintaining my workout regime.

My second theory is that the weight gain battle is won or lost by relatively small changes in calorie balance and simply taking the daily junk out of the diet should have a great effect, especially in light of the energy that breastfeeding consumes and how healthy my overall diet is.

My third theory revolves around supporting the breastfeeding process: drastic calorie restriction will impede breast milk production...that means a little bit of hell for a mom trying to feed her baby. In addition, I am sleep deprived and I need energy! It isn't the time to cut back too much or I may end up brushing my teeth with mascara or washing my hands with spaghetti sauce or something else related to zombie like behaviour!

The idea is that if by week 12, things aren't progressing fast enough...I will ramp up the diet efforts. But before you walk away thinking...just cut out the junk food! Full disclosure...my diet may or may not look like yours...and that matters!

5 healthy diet habits I live by....

1. Processed carbs don't live here! All my grains are whole...the only bread in my house 9.5 times out of 10 is Silver Hills sprouted grain bread and it lives in my freezer because it takes the two of us at least 10 days to go through a loaf. Many of my meals are based on beans and vegetables and intact grains like quinoa or barley instead of couscous or pasta.

2. I don't drink my calories...I drink water, sparkling mineral water, tea and the occasional glass of wine. No soda, no juice, no desserts masquerading as coffee drinks.

3. We eat fruits and vegetables...lots of them! If I don't have vegetables, I can't make a meal. Fruits and vegetables are essential for nourishing your body with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fibre in a low calorie package.

4. I love beans. I am not afraid to admit it...but the musical fruit has a starring role in our daily lives. I make a lot of one pot meals, focused on beans. I don't make salads without them and I often add them to soups, pastas and casseroles. Beans are super filling, feature lots of fibre and protein and are rich in trace minerals. A perfect food for maintaining a healthy weight.

5. I love fat...the right kind of fat. We stay away from trans fats and depend on anti-inflammatory extra virgin olive oil to cook our meals. We snack on raw, unsalted nuts and seeds and I get my dose of healthy omega 3 fats daily from Salba, hemp seeds and good quality fish oil. I would rather see a little extra fat in a dish than extra starch. Fat carries flavour, making foods satisfying and helps to fill you up and is essential for a healthy metabolism. Stay away from the cheap vegetable oils and try not to overdo the saturated fat.

Okay, I think my little one is tired of me ignoring him...play time!
Desiree

Losing it...the post baby diaries...Sept 6

"Ouch...welcome to the new you," I thought to myself this morning as I struggled through my workout. I gave birth to my son 6 weeks ago and today is the first day of my post-baby weight loss life. My wrists are sore, I feel like like my body is broken and I will never, ever have abs again. All of this awakening comes courtesy of the woman staring at me, gorgeous and strong, from my television screen: Tracy Anderson. 

I purchased the Tracy Anderson Post-Pregnancy Workout DVD online and just got it this weekend. Tracy Anderson is the ubertrainer to the long, lean and gorgeous set that I am hoping to rejoin (well, long and lean anyways...). She whipped Gwyneth Paltrow back into shape post-baby and Tracy herself gained 60lbs with her own son and look at her now. Seriously...look at her! She is proof that a mother in her 30s can look amazing and I found her totally inspiring. Tracy has created a unique workout program which she calls her "method". What I love is that the exercises are unlike anything you have ever seen before and they are tough. Super tough. My first experience with the "method" was a 10 minute leg workout webisode I purchased that literally kicked my ass. I was hooked.

Now that I am six weeks past giving birth, I have the all clear from my midwives to start working out seriously. I am devoting myself to the "method": she recommends doing the DVD 4-6 times a weeks so I am going to go ahead and make the full 6 day commitment. The workout contains a full 25 minutes of ab work, which I am considering more of a goal than anything :) A few crunches here...pause...stare at TV...try the next exercise...collapse in heap...wait for the next exercise. I bought her Dance Cardio DVD too but after going cross-eyed trying to figure it out, I decided to just focus on mastering one DVD at a time. Tracy also has a new book out this month...which I have in my Amazon shop here or on the side bar.

Image from www.amazon.com 

Am I ready for this? I think so...I am physically a bit weak but recovered. I was lucky enough to have a very positive birth experience and healed quickly (which I attribute to my lovely Hypnomammas class). I actually got into the gym, very gingerly, at 2 weeks postpartum. I did 15 minutes of no-impact cardio and some basic leg and arm exercises just to wake things up a bit. But now....it is time to get going again. The biggest challenge will be mental. I have a hard time really pushing myself when it comes to exercise and giving it the ol' "110%" instead of my typical 65% will take some willpower.

Given that I already have a blog, I thought I might share this experience with all of you. There are a couple of reasons for this: first, it will keep me honest. Nothing like making your goals and commitments public to keep you accountable. Second, because I am a dietitian. I counsel people on healthy eating and (sometimes) weight loss for a living. And being slim, no one believes that I know how hard it is to lose weight (Believe me, I do). So I am also doing this to earn a little "street cred" :) 

Even though I gave birth a full month early, I had already gained 36 pounds...the dietitian in me "knows" that a healthy pregnancy weight gain is 25-35 pounds. (This photo is me only a couple weeks before birth.) But the pregnant lady in me was hungry...really hungry. Since the weight loss was slow and steady, I assumed that my body needed the weight...so I didn't fight it. Six weeks postpartum, birth and breast feeding has helped me lose 18 pounds. Since my weight had crept up a bit before I got pregnant, my weight loss goal is another 23 pounds. So you are all my witness...I will eat and workout my way to a 23 pound weight loss and I am hoping to do so in about 6 months (which is a safe ~1lb a week weight loss). 

I will talk about food next time... until then I will be nursing my aching muscles.

Desiree