Losing the Baby Weight

I couldn't have been more thrilled when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. After struggling through nearly two years of infertility, my pregnancy and impending motherhood was like a dream come true. And though I grimaced a little bit as the numbers on the scale went up and up at each OB visit, I accepted the weight gain as one of the prices of achieving my dream. Also, I was sure the weight would disappear as magically as it had appeared, once the baby was born.

Yet four months after my daughter's birth, I still weighed nearly as much as I had the day she was born- and the numbers were on the way up, not down. I'd always scoffed at women who obsessively checked their weight every day, but even I had to admit that my weight was reaching a dangerously unhealthy level. It was time to do something.

Six months after that, I'd dropped 40 pounds, was in the best physical shape of my life, and was wearing clothes 2 sizes smaller than what I wore before I got pregnant. The surprising thing is that it wasn't really even all that hard. Here's how I did it- step-by-step.

Hired a Personal Trainer

Yes, it may seem like an extravagant indulgence. But I'd been essentially a couch potato before my pregnancy- I had no idea how to even begin to go about devising a fitness plan. Melissa, my trainer, drew up a simple schedule for me- when to do cardio, when to do resistance training, when to rest. And she gave me some invaluable advice on how to stick to it- "treat your exercise time like you would your baby's doctor's appointment- you'd never miss one of those!" I'd never done any resistance training at all, so she designed a routine for me involving nothing more than simple hand weights, and showed me how to so them. She also advised me on what equipment was essential, what was optional, and what was just a waste of money.

Speaking of money, Melissa also turned out to be not all that expensive in the long run. She charged $50 per one-hour session, and I saw her roughly four times in the first two months. After that, I didn't need her! I had my routine down, knew how to do all the exercises she's presented me with, and had already begun seeing some results. I was ready to proceed on my own.

For those who were avid fitness buffs before pregnancy, a personal trainer truly may not be necessary. They know how to do resistance training, how to get and keep their heart-rates in the right zone during cardio, and what schedule to do these on. But for those who are exercise neophytes like me, a personal trainer can be a wise investment. If you can afford to hire one indefinitely, that's great! But if you can't, just tell your trainer that your ultimate goal is to be able to train on your own- and make sure the sessions you do pay for are geared towards getting you there.

Revised My Diet

Pregnant women are advised repeatedly not to diet. The growing baby needs all the nourishment it can get. The thing is, women who have just had a baby really shouldn't be dieting, either. In fact, women who are breastfeeding actually need more calories than normal. Even non-breastfeeding moms of newborns are more tired and stressed-out than usual- not an ideal time to be trying to cut back on food. Instead of counting calories, I just concentrated on making healthier choices.

Things like candy, burgers, fries, and ice cream were gone from my diet. I made a lot more salads, and bought only whole wheat bread. I learned to enjoy my sandwiches without things like mayonnaise, ranch dressing, and cheese. Soda had always been my downfall- I drank gallons of sugared cola every day. I swore I'd give it up altogether before switching to the diet stuff, too. But I knew I'd never really be able to give it up, so I started experimenting. It turned out my objection to diet soda was mostly just an objection to the diet version of the brand I liked. I tried different brands of diet soda until I found one that tasted almost as good to me as my old brand of regular soda. I made the switch, and the pounds started coming off almost instantly. And now I'll preach it to whoever will listen- don't drink sugared soda! Obviously, soda in any form is unhealthy, but even people who, like me, can't bring themselves to give it up should switch to diet. I'm convinced half the weight I lost would have come off even if I'd done nothing but that.

Engaged the Support of My Husband

This might seem like a no-brainer- what husband wouldn't be supportive of his wife trying to get healthy? But my weight loss crusade forced my husband to make sacrifices, too. Resisting the siren call of ice cream was much easier when there wasn't any in the freezer, but I wasn't the only one who ate out of ours. Plus, much as I tried to gear my exercise routine to things I could do with the baby around, there were some things that were just easier without her. I laid out for my husband up front what I had planned- how our grocery shopping would have to change, how often I'd need him to watch the baby, how much money it would all cost. He became my biggest cheerleader, praising me effusively as the weight came off, watching our daughter whenever he could- and learning to sneak his burger fix in at lunch at work, before coming home to cheerfully munch on salad with me for dinner.

Learned to Exercise at Home

Even people who were physically active before and during pregnancy might find it hard to exercise after entering motherhood- you're sleeping less than you ever have in your life, and when you're awake, your time is no longer your own. That's parenting. For me, going to a gym (which many people suggested when I announced my intention to lose weight) seemed out of the question. First, I didn't want to commit the money to something like that until I knew I was going to stick with this whole "exercise" thing. Second, what would I do with the baby while I was there? Sure, some gyms offered child care, but it seemed like when it come to newborns, the hours were short and the restrictions many. So I learned to do all my routines at home. Resistance training wasn't hard-I worked with the weights like Melissa had taught me, right in my own living room while my daughter gurgled happily nearby. Cardio training was harder- I started off by riding my bike outdoors. I wasn't proficient enough to figure out how to take my daughter along on the rides, though, so I'd wait until my husband got home. Then winter set in with a vengeance, and that wasn't an option anymore. I tried doing Step and Kickboxing routines to videos, but while many women swear by such videos, choreographed cardio just wasn't my thing. It was my husband who eventually came up with the perfect solution- a boot that fit on the back of my outdoor bike, lifting the back wheel up and allowing it to spin freely. It tuned my outdoor bike into an indoor one, and I set it up in my guest room. My daughter and I spent many, many happy hours there together, me on my bike and her in her bouncy chair. It was too easy- no more waiting until my husband was available, no more dragging the bike in and out of the garage. When spring came, I left the bike where it was.

Steadily Increased the Amount of Physical Activity

No matter how much or how little you have to lose, the weight's not going to come off in a day. I started off slow- and hour of resistance training two days a week, half an hour of cardio two or three days a week. The better shape you're in the more you can start off with, but it's important not to do more than you can handle initially. Could I have walked out my front door and run 10 miles the day I decided to lose weight? Absolutely not! Could I do it today? Absolutely! As I lost more weight, and the exercise got easier for me, I gradually added to my routine. I upped my cardio workouts to an hour each, and then upped them to four days a week. As my resistance routines got easier, I added more reps, used heavier weights, and increased the difficulty of the exercises.

It's been over three years since I decided to lose the baby weight, and I've kept it off. Of course, the same methods won't work for everybody- the important thing is to find what does work for you. Parenting is easier when you're happy and healthy, and, more importantly, every baby deserves a happy, healthy mom! By the way, just a little under a year after I made my decision to lose the baby weight, I found out I was pregnant again. I kept right on exercising (moderately, and at doctor-approved intensity levels) and eating healthily through the pregnancy. Once I gave birth to my second daughter, I started up my exercise routine again as soon as my doctor said it was safe. And that time, it did seem like the pregnancy weight magically disappeared!