Body After Baby Q + A Part 2

Posted: April 21, 2011 at 6:37 pm

Time for Part Two of the Body After Baby Q + A! Check out part one where I discuss things like calorie counting, the baby pooch, and more. Now, more of your fabulous questions! Once again, please remember I answer solely based on my own experience.

Do you ever feel like you’re doing well but the scale doesn’t reflect it?
YES! The scale varies so much for me from week to week. I try to focus on the overall trend and also keep other measures of tracking progress. If the scale hasn’t moved for awhile, but I still see measurements going down, notice clothes fitting better, or feel and look stronger/leaner, then I don’t bother with what the scale says. So many variables can affect that reading – like water weight from what you ate recently and your hormones. I also turn to progress pictures for the most motivational progress tracking.

1weekfrontmonth 3 progress 2

However, if I notice the scale not moving and other measures not displaying progress for more than a few weeks, then I know I need to take a closer look at things to bust through a plateau. This is another reason why I believe in eating more, not cranking out 2 hours of workouts a day, etc. That way, when you reach a plateau you have room to tweak things such as cutting back a tiny bit more on food or adding a little more intensity in workouts. For me, this usually means just cutting back a little on the treats I inevitably have during the weekends and giving a little extra EFFORT (not extra time!) to my workouts.

How do you know when you’ve reached your “happy weight” and can go into maintenance mode?
I stand by the fact that if you eat whole, quality, nutritious foods the majority of the time and move your body on a regular basis your body will get to its happy place. In my opinion, you know you have reached your “happy weight” when you have energy, feel strong, and you consistently fuel and exercise your body well. Personally, by doing those things, I don’t stress myself and have steadily been dropping the baby weight.

Another thing I remember is the fact that if I have to take on practices that leave me hungry, fatigued, deprived, or less than optimally functioning in any way to lose more weight, I am likely already at my “happy weight”. I think we all need to change our ideal weight or size to match with our healthy weight or size. Be sure the two coincide and if you take care of yourself, your “happy weight” will naturally be where you feel healthy.

jump for joy

How did you determine what you were ready for physically?
I always started out with as light a workout as possible for a week and then checked how I felt. If I felt okay, experienced no soreness/fatigue, and had no signs of doing too much too soon (increased *ahem* bleeding), then I would increase my workout load. In a way, I almost worked backwards from my pregnancy. I started off with moves I could do easily the end of my pregnancy, then gradually added back in things I could do earlier on in the pregnancy until achieving my regular workout intensity. Keeping up workouts while pregnant certainly helped me regain my ability to workout sooner!

weights yoga

I listened to my body and kept feeling great so kept trying just a little bit more. After the first month or two, I found my body able to pick up where it left off quicker than I expected. I will also say though that it took me a good bit longer after Makenzie. I think my body knew what to expect more after the second pregnancy.

You always seem to make progress so easily. Do you ever struggle with the weight loss? Please, tell me you do and that I’m normal!
Of course, you’re normal! Trust me when I say that making progress in reaching my “happy place” does take work. I don’t skip through workouts and keeping track of my eating without a single care in the world. The weight does not just fall off me as I sprinkle rainbows and sing Barney tunes. Heck, no! It. Takes. Work. And a lot of it. I have an avid sweet tooth coupled with a raging appetite from nursing that I always have to be aware of with this journey. I am busy and have plenty of days where I want to not worry about cooking a healthy meal or getting to the gym. I know how much better I feel for it though, and that motivates me to keep going. It certainly is not easy.

goalsquotes

Even though, making progress is not what I would deem easy, please note the importance of not making it harder than it has to be either. I make my progress by consistently working towards my health. That’s pretty much the gist of it. I don’t try to restrict food so much that I’m starving. I don’t fatigue myself with overtraining. I don’t jump from this diet to that eating method to this cleanse to that detox and all that madness. So yes, progress is hard for me in the sense I have to persevere through things at times, but not hard in the way I approach my goals.

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24 Comments to “Body After Baby Q + A Part 2”
  1. I switch up my workouts and try something new. I’m not afraid to go to a new class or change I’m not doing. Coincidentally, I just wrote about this yesterday!

    Also, adding intensity always seems to help! If you normally run, do some sprints! Try HIIT on the elliptical, lift heavier weights, etc. Never fails to work!

    I’m so impressed by your progress and for showing us that there’s a healthy and totally doable way of losing weight.

  2. kendra says:

    Tina, thank you so much for your honesty and positive way of living! It is such an encouragement to me, who struggles with letting go of perfectionism and fear and food rules, to breathe a sigh of relief and step out, little by little, in embracing life and joy and good food and exercise as I am able, not with punishment of restriction and overtraining and fatigue. I’m learning, and am so thankful for your bright light to help show the way! You are a blessing, and God is using you to help women, including me! 🙂

  3. Awesome Tina! 🙂

    I am 6 months PP and while I have lost all the “baby weight” I still have A LOT Of stretchy skin on my stomach. I know that will take a long time to get rid of.

    Once I stopped losing weight, I STARTED EATING MORE and the pounds began to drop again. Love that!!

    I am focusing on running right now and training for some races. So while that does help me lose weight and tone my body, my ultimate goal is running so it helps that weight loss is just an added bonus. 🙂

  4. Rach says:

    Tina, you continue to amaze and inspire me. Thank you!

  5. Tina thanks for your honesty! I know when I was struggling to lose weight I really needed to just look at what I was eating and how I was exercising — once I realized how I was sabotaging myself, I was able to cut down (and eventually almost stop) those habits and get to my goal.

    You are doing so well and seriously, you are such a good role model on how to lose weight in a healthy way.

  6. Michelle says:

    I try new exercises and give myself a new goal to work towards if I find that I am not really make progress. I get bored doing the same old thing day after day, so this is a great way for me to stay excited about my workouts!
    Once again, great post!

  7. Sandra says:

    You are one smart and determined teeny tiny little fitness queen (and I mean “teeny tiny” in the sense that I can’t believe how quickly you’re getting your bod back!) You look fantastic! And you look just like my friend Tanya from school so I have this added love towards you…ahem…where was I?…right, you’re so smart. And your advice and pointers are all health minded and that is so rare in this society where perfection is what is displayed. Keep it up, I think you’re fabulous.

  8. If I reach a plateau I switch something up. Try a new routine, workout at a different time, just something to shake things up.

    You are looking fantastic and your outlook is refreshing.

  9. Stacy says:

    Thanks for doing the Q+A and being so honest with it all. I really enjoyed reading all of your answers!

  10. Lee says:

    You rock, Tina!

  11. Such great advice Tina! I haven’t tried to lose weight for years, but I know when I did hit a plateau, I ate MORE and the weight seemed to come off. So weird.

  12. I love feeling a “happy weight” as opposed to relying on a weigh-in to make me feel happy or disappointed. Gone are those days!

    I’m curious about your workout plans. How far in advance do you plan them out? I usually just go to the gym and work whatever feels the best so it ends up being a good rotation, most of the time. I think sticking to a plan might force me to work on weaker areas though.

  13. Thank you so much Tina for writing this post! It’s so hard for me to figure out what my “happy weight” is these days. I gained 43 pounds in my first pregnancy and 56 pounds with my second. I think I need to give-up on getting back to my high school weight. 😉

  14. Jen says:

    You are just all kinds of awesome!!! You have no idea how much you inspire and motivate me every single day 😉

  15. I love your honesty – you really tell it like it is! I have always struggled with my happy weight and really knowing what it is. I finally feel like I am getting to the point where I judge myself based on what I’m eating, how I’m feeling, and what my body can actually accomplish versus what it looks like. Soooo glad I started reading your blog…I think it’s really helped me!

  16. Jess says:

    Love your outlook on your happy weight – and changing your perceptions of “happy weight” if needed. I’m with you – it’s not a certain size or number on the scale, but truly it’s how you feel – energized, strong, healthy and happy (most of all).

  17. Tina,

    What a wonderful post, as always! I love that you make the point that you do not let yourself go hungry or fatigue it by overdoing your workouts. You let it naturally come to its healthy place.

    So inspiring!

    I like to mix up my workouts to break through plateaus! 🙂

  18. Naomi says:

    I hope to find my happy weight post competition! I know it will be a struggle at first, because your body gets to this place where it is just not able to maintain for an extended period…I’ll get there i know it!!! I love food too much LOL’

    I love your pictures, and honesty, Tina 🙂

  19. I love love how honest you are. I hope you know that you really do help our your readers by ‘keepin’ it real’! 🙂 I think whether its post-baby weight or just getting in shape, I love the finding out what your body can tolerate as you decide what you’re ready for when it comes to exercise. You’re absolutely right – you have to do what’s best for you and your body. 🙂

  20. Shayla says:

    I love the tip you gave in that when you’re first trying to lose weight, eat ‘more’ so that when you plateau you have something to cut back on. Whenever I think about losing weight, I think I have to go all out and restrict and workout 2 hours a day! But when you plateau from there, how can you cut back anymore?! Such a great tip and I’ll remember not to go crazy when it’s my time in the future to lose that baby weight. Like you’ve said in the past, slow and steady wins the race 🙂

  21. You are so beautiful, looks AND attitude. That photo of you jumping makes me smile, you are so radiant!

  22. What can I say? You are so inspiring I feel renewed. I LOVE that photo of you. If that’s not the epitome of happiness in a picture I sure as heck don’t know what is.

    Thank you for doing these posts, they are so encouraging for us post pregnancy mamas:)

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