Losing Weight with a Newborn and Two Toddlers in the House

After two of my sons were born in 2007 and 2008, I decided it was time to reclaim my body. It was time to start dieting and losing the baby weight. This decision, however, was made difficult by the fact that I was working as a waitress at International House of Pancakes on third shift where we were too busy for real breaks and only got to snack here and there. It took discipline and planning but I did lose the weight...just in time to get pregnant in late 2009 and have another son on July 4, 2010. Now I am sitting here making my plan to lose the baby weight again with two toddlers, a newborn and working as a freelancer.

Problem Picking

The main source of unwanted calories in my diet is from snacking as I cook and from eating 'extras' with my toddlers. Self-discipline is something that I lack when it comes to food. If I feed my toddlers cookies as a special treat, I HAVE to eat a cookie too. I have decided that the best way for me to combat this is to keep track of every bite I take throughout the day in a food diary. At the end of the day, I am going to put the information into the LiveSTRONG Daily Plate so I can actually see what my excess calorie consumption is from the picking.

Time to Cook

I am a convenience cook. We eat a lot of prepackaged foods at my house. I do, however, find time to cook a few times each week. In order to start feeding my family healthy foods, I am going to start making large batches of food each time I cook. I may cook more than one meal when I cook. By doing these, I can spend the same amount of time cooking as I do now but we will have home-cooked meals. My ultimate goal is to feed my family convenience foods no more than once per week, not including Sunday lunch out after church.

Time to Exercise

With an unpredictable newborn and the two toddlers running around, I am really concerned about being able to exercise. While I know that I won't be going to the gym to exercise, I plan on taking my kids (with my husband's help) to the park on a daily basis. This will give the boys time to play outside and I can walk on the track around the park. Since my husband will be watching the toddlers, I am going to put the baby in a snuggli or a sling and take him with me on my walk. I figure this will be wonderful boding time for Michael and I while my husband gets time with the two older boys.

I live in Michigan, so working out this winter will be challenging. Hopefully by then, my newborn will be on somewhat of a predictable schedule and I will be able to wake up early and exercise before everyone wakes up. If that doesn't happen, we may all head to the gym. I can walk on the indoor track with the baby while the older boys and my husband go swimming in the indoor pool.

Conclusion

While it will take some major changes, losing weight with a newborn and two toddlers in the house is possible. By losing this weight, my quality of life will improve and I will improve my chances of living long enough to see my children grow up and hopefully have a family of their own.