One of my goals with marathon training and changing my eating habits was to get back into my pre pre-pregnancy clothes. You’ve had a glimpse inside my closet before :), and by now you know that I love clothes. Getting back to my size was so important; there’s no way I could afford another closet in a different size!
With my daughter, I went from starting the pregnancy at 135ish (my goal weight) to weighing 180 when it was time for her arrival April ’12. Post pregnancy, I waited the full 6 weeks before starting any exercise. I began with hot yoga and loved it! I thought it was the best transition into beginning to do other exercises. I began casually running soon after and then decided to register for RnR Arizona 2013.
When my daughter was 7 months, I was around 15lbs away from my pregnancy weight when we discovered we were pregnant again. I was happy I had lost enough weight to have a starting point that wouldn’t make it impossible to lose once I was done with this second pregnancy. I continued to run throughout the second pregnancy and ran a 5k when I was 8ish weeks and then RnR AZ ’13 when I was around 15 weeks.
When it was time for my son to arrive that July, again, I reached 180lbs. I thought this was great though considering I had an extra 15lbs at the start.
Left: 40 weeks w/ my daughter; Right: 39 weeks w/ my son
And finally, six months later and after 2+ years of not wearing my “normal” clothes, I’m finally back to my pre pre pregnancy size!
Left: 3 days postpartum w/ my son; Right: about 2 weeks ago
I know that deciding to have goals to work towards, RnR AZ 2014 and of course my first marathon, is the reason I was able to get back to my size so quickly (for me, 6 months is quick!). And I didn’t make extremely drastic changes either; I still indulge–In n Out is my replacement for McDonald’s–but I’ve just become better at limiting my indulgences. This biggest change I’d have to say, have been curbing my fast food intake and decreasing my soda intake. Just those two alone have made a huge difference. Of course training for Phoenix marathon has made me workout like a machine, so with changing my eating habits and exercising, I’m finally here, finally out of maternity clothes and stretchy pants lol!
It takes a lot of discipline. Anyone training for a race knows that it does. But, having small goals and big goals have been my motivation and fitting into my clothes was one of those goals. Dusting off a pair of jeans I haven’t worn in years (yes, there was dust on them!) and finally being able to put them on was pure joy!
–Have you ever worked towards losing weight?
–Does setting goals help you lose weight? (It definitely did for me!)
–What is your biggest struggle with losing weight? (Easily fast food 😦 )
Wow this such great motivation! That is wonderful you got back to your original weight because I know that so many women struggle with that. I find that races are the best motivators to keep the running up because you pretty much have to! I am about to sign up for my first half marathon that will be this May and I couldn’t be more nervous and excited at the same time!
Thank you! You are going to do great in your 1/2! How exciting that it’ll be your first 🙂
Oh yes! I definitely did! As one of the many other souls who gained some weight during my university years, I was determined to lose 15 pounds that bothered me so much. I always have a pair of jeans that I put on from time to time to see where I stand lol. Before I was used to look at the scales a lot; however, when I started running and my muscle weight started going up, I stopped weighing myself every day, and do it maybe a couple of times per week, just to stay on track. My biggest struggle to this day remains my huge appetite a week before my period. Not that I eat junk or anything, but ti seems like I could eat a cow! Haha!
However, it’s important to mention also that I am pretty happy with my weight and I am not looking to losing some weight anymore. I am trying to focus more on a healthy lifestyle and staying fit.
xoxo
Olena
PS. You look amazing after having 2 kids! I hope it will be the same for me after I decide to go ahead with family planning 🙂
I definitely put the scale away when I was on this journey to lose weight lol! I totally did the same as you; I would try on my clothes periodically to see how close I was getting 🙂
And thank you! Good luck in your family planning journey!
Ohhhh yes. That terrifying 40 lb gain with my daughter. Thanks to running and cleaning up my diet, I’m 25 lbs UNDER what I was when I got pregnant. Looking back I felt comfortable in my own skin then, but I do feel even better now!
6 months is not long AT ALL to lose that weight and as you know, I think you look fab!
Thank you! And I don’t think 6 months is long either! For me, that’s fast 🙂
You look uh-mazing too, friend!
You go girl! That’s pretty amazing that you started your second pregnancy 15 lbs heavier than your first, but finished at the same weight. I love the pictures of you with the ribbon around your stomach- very cute!
My biggest downfall in weight management is sweets. If something has sugar in it, I’m likely to eat way too much of it. I’m trying to get better at curbing my cravings, but it’s always a work in progress.
I feel ya! My fast food eating is always a work in progress lol!
You look amazing! That takes a lot of hard work and dedication! I’m back to my pre pregnancy, but not as toned as I was, so I would definitely like to try to get my muscle tone back!
Thank you!! I’m def needing to tone up as well 🙂
Way to go!!!! I had gained some weight for the first time in my life about 2-3 years ago due to some poor choices and stress. But I really worked hard to control what I eat and continue working out and I’ve lost almost all of it!
Good for you!!
That’s awesome! Congrats on being able to lose that baby weight! And fast food is also my biggest struggle. Chipotle will be the death of me!
Thanks friend and my husband is obsessed with Chipotle! We share a mutual love for fast food 🙂
Congrats! Fitting into your clothes again is the best feeling. (besides buying cute new ones, haha)
It took me about 6 months with my grist two kids but FOREVER with baby number 3- 10 whole months. Not sure if nursing + working out + hardly sleeping made my body hold onto it or if it was just because I was over 30 but ugh. Glad to be back in my skinny jeans now.
I think it’s amazing that you’re running a marathon so soon after having a baby! Way to go, Mama.
Thank you and congrats to you for also losing the weight after 3!! (10 months isn’t that long either but I know for us it feels like an eternity lol!)
I too, gained and lost weight with both pregnancies. I gained more with my second but looked bigger with my first pregnancy for some reason. I worked really hard after Lilly was born to lose the weight but it didn’t come off until I stopped nursing her, same with Hilary. I find not looking at the scale is important and going by how you feel and how your clothing fits is more important. I’ve lost all the baby weight from Hilary’s pregnancy and working towards a life time weight goal for me – basically, I want to lost another 10-12 pounds and on my way 🙂 I find having little goals are important to me. Goals of trying to workout each week, running races (distances) – they are all little goals but are moving me towards the bigger picture. Thanks for sharing this, I meant to comment the other day but didn’t manage to until now. Hope you have a great weekend.
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