My story starts off with trying for 3 years to have a child with my husband and when I finally gave up I had concieved, YAY! I started my weight at 5’6″ 136 pounds. I was a 36-C and had a beautiful body… I had morning sickness until I was 7 months pregnant, EVERY SINGLE DAY! I had very good weight gain until I hit 6 months and and all the sudden I exploded. I can tell you how depressing that can be when people constantly tell you how beautiful you are and how amazing your body is. The attention just wasn’t there anymore and I think all of us can agree that when we took our clothes off and saw our hips, legs, tummy, arms, chins, cheeks and even our toes get bigger it was just depressing! I mostly want to tell you my story because I want everyone to know that it can be done, it’s hard but it can be done…
I had a hard pregnancy being sick for 7 months and then after that was all over I had horrible contractions that kept me from being very active by the time I was finished with my morning sickness. I started having pains in my lower stomach and come to find out I was going into preterm labor. That is a very scary thing to have to go through and they suggested I stay in bed for 5 weeks, untill I hit the 37 week point. They did an ultrasound and told me that either I hid my baby well or she was very small…I had a thought in my head even though no one told me to do so but figured if they were telling me earlier in my pregnancy that the more I gained the bigger the baby would be. So I ATE AND ATE AND ATE AND ATE hoping that if my baby arrived early she would have some extra weight on her. My daughter was born at 38 weeks and 3 days via emergency c-section. She was an extremely healthy, beautiful, alert 7 pound 10.8 oz baby girl…before we went in I had weighed an amazing 196 pounds I lost 17 pounds at her birth and I stayed at 178 pounds for about 6 weeks. I decided this wasn’t working for me and I WAS going to lose the weight because I had a bunch of skinny sisters joking around with me calling me fatty because that’s just the kind of family we are. I wanted to prove to them I could do it and I started to eat healthy, I cut out all liquids other than water. Juice was my big problem, I never realized how many calories were in a cup of juice and I had literally been drinking 92 oz a day. Breastfeeding was making me thirsty!!! If I couldn’t eat and I forgot to eat due to hacing to feed the baby, change the baby, give the baby my full attention I stopped losing weight…You have to eat in order to lose your baby weight. I use to forget to eat before I had her and I would drop weight like crazy but now I have to make an effort to eat 3 small healthy meals a day with two healthy snacks in order to lose anything. My daughter loves to go on walks, it’s her “alone time” and that doesn’t bother me because I get some what of a workout doing it. I am not a fanatic about working out and I do it now to get my muscle tone back, but it’s about 10-15 minutes a day lifting 5 pounds weights and strapping the 5 pounds to my legs and doing leg lifts.
I want to tell you that I have lost 56 pounds and my daughter will be 8 months tomorrow. My breast due to breastfeeding are still bigger than they would have been but that will go away when I am done. I encourage those of you that can to breastfeed because not only is it the best thing for your child but it burns 500 calories a day. I don’t care what people say it does or it doesn’t…When my daughter would go through her growth spurts I would lose a ton of weight and my uterus would shrink a lot. Every month I made an extra effort not to give into my period cravings and every month during that time I dropped 5 pounds. I have not lost weight like other women do, a pound a week, no…It takes me a whole month of eating well and waiting for my period to come and go to drop the 5 pounds and within that week, every day I will drop a pound a day. I also can tell you I had a horrible csection scar and it is fading drastically with the cream I cover it in over night…It’s from bath and body works it is called, “Lay it on thick” I did not get a ton of stretch marks but I did get some and the ones I got I put this cream on and it took them away, you can barely see them. I also used it while I was pregnant and I believe that is the reason I didn’t get any of them. I hope this story helps others who are sturggling because I was there. It’s taken me 8 long months of eating right to come this close. I still have 5 pounds left and while I realize my body will never be as tight as it was I love every minute of what I’ve got. My body carried a life and was able to create a life that has made mine so much better. For all you mothers who don’t know what you’ve done, you are amazing and you’re beautiful no matter what! Good luck to everyone and congrats on the lives that you’ve created!!
I hope you all enjoy the pictures, as you can see through them I got to be quite big and now I’m back to the old me, so don’t get down, it will come off, for some of you easily for others like me, it will take a little bit of work but you can do it!
Thank you so much for your post, it is just what I needed to hear. You are very inspiring and you have an amazingly positive attitude…Well done, you should be very proud of yourself and your beautiful daughter!
You look really great!
You look amazing! I am also 8 months pp…but with my second baby…both cesareans. I am 135 right now and hope to get to 115 (I am only 5’2″). My problem is that I got REALLY bad stretch marks with both of my baby boys! On my tummy, hips, butt, thighs, boobs…everywhere (I am still breastfeeding my second). I am 23 and used to weigh 105-110 before my first (who would now be a little over 3…he passed away when he was 19 months old…you can find me on here under child loss “2.5 months pp, 2nd cesarean in 2.5 years”). What did you do for exercise? I cannot see your belly very well because the pic won’t get bigger…did you get any lose skin? I have a bunch :( What did you do for your meals? Again, you look great!!!!!
you look great! dont worry about the boob part, you are doing an awesome thing for your daughter!! dont beat yoruself up, you look fab! :)
Thank you so much for your post, it is just what I needed to hear.
You are very inspiring and you have an amazingly positive attitude…Well done, you should be very proud of yourself and your beautiful daughter!
Thank you so much for your post, it is just what I needed to hear.
You are very inspiring and you have an amazingly positive attitude…
Well done, you should be very proud of yourself and your beautiful daughter!
Dang I need some sisters to call me a fatty so I can whip myself in shape like you did! You look GREAT and your daughter is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your story and now I gotta head off to find me some 5 lb leg weights to do my leg lifts with! :)
It can be done! You look terrific! Thanks for sharing your story.
I’m Happy to announce I’ve lost all my weight…I started off a size 9 before I was pregnant and I am now a size 5…While my body isn’t exactly what it use to be, I got the most rewarding thing out of losing my old shape…Good luck everyone I hope my story helps!
You look great!! You should be so proud of yourself and you have a beautiful baby girl!!!
My face did the same thing! I blew up so bad I didn’t recognize myself, then it went back down after i had my baby. You’re a hot mama ;)
congrats on the weight loss and with your little girl! You look great!
Congratulations!!!!! You look great and you finally had your baby!!! Great job!!! Good luck! :)
You look great! You have some good tips too.
I know it doesn’t work for some people for what ever reason, but I totally believe that I lost the 60lbs I gained during my pregnancy by breastfeeding! I think you can find my story if you search “What 6 Months of Breastfeeding Can Do” and my updated story after 6 months of weight training “What 6 Months of Weight Training Can Do!”
You look great! There’s a HUGE difference between the pic of you holding your daughter when you’re in the white shirt and the last pics of the two of you. Congrats!
You look amazing! It can be hard to get back into the working out routine, but it’s nice to hear how dedicated you were/are! Keep it up :)
You are absolutely beautiful and so is your baby girl. Thank you for your story and words of encouragement. You are an inspiration!
You most likely already knows this, but you look fabulous. I am 24 and had my daughter (my first baby) four months ago. I had a killer body pre-pregnancy I am only 5’4″ and I weighed 125 give or take a pound or two depending on the day, also a 34-36 C. I gained 45 pounds while pregnant, ugh!!! I had a very restricted diet prior to getting prego (no juice only water, no bread, no sugar) so when i found out I was expecting I went crazy. I have lost 20 pounds but have not been dieting or doing anything to lose the weight. I miss my pre-pregos body so much. I am breastfeeding and plan to continue. I just wanted to let you know that I was inspired by your story and photos. I can see that you got a lil chubby while preggers, as did I. But to look at the pictures now, no one would ever guess. You look absolutely wonderful and your daughter is so adorable. since reading your post a couple days ago I have gone on a diet to reclaim my shape. Thank you for posting it was the lil extra push I needed. Props to you for sticking with the diet even through cravings. I love sweets but I have not had my period return since the birth of my daughter so I don’t have to deal with those monthly cravings…..YET! best of luck to you and your family, again thanks, it made me get on the ball.
you are gorgeous.
You and your daughter are lovely! Thanks for sharing your inspirational story.
You are absolutely beautiful! Thanks for posting your story. It’s very encouraging!
Hey for those who asked…I have LOTS of great tips…You don’t have to be strict let yourself enjoy some things. I ate frozen yogurt when I had a sweet tooth and if I couldn’t sit and make a meal I would order a smoothie some where or eat a salad…I watched the calories on the dressing and limited my calorie intake to 1400 a day…I ate activia for breakfast, or egg whites and one red potatoe fried and I like katchup all over my breakfast so I did that…The egg whites are only 17 calories for one egg and they are very high in protien…I would buy the jug they sell at the store full of egg whites instead of making them myself and make a half a cup. Cup of noodle was good when I was too tired or busy to make myself dinner…Take out white foods, I would eat a piece of whole grain wheat toast for a snack because it was quick. Applebees was a place my husband and I could agree to go out and eat because they had weight watcher meals. I LOVED them. I am a picky eater but they completely satisfied me, especially the chicken meal with garlic sauce…I also ordered a house salad and ate ranch with it because sometimes I like to eat lots! I just maintained my calories. Don’t think I didn’t go crazy sometimes…If I hadn’t I think I would have gone insane…My mom use to always say, “Don’t live to eat, eat to live.” I kept telling myself that and realized, “Wow, it’s kind of nice just eating to live…” Because it seems like EVERYTHING revolves around food when you’re trying to lose weight and when you’re pregnant…It’s like you’re stuck in that rut….I’m just glad when I eat now I am not ready to propose marriage to my dinner…You know what I’m talking about, food was AMAZING when we were pregnant! :) Oh yes and they sell DVDs for busy women, like moms that are only 10 minutes long. Just a quick workout while the baby is napping. I usually turn on Baby Einstien while I do a workout and that’s our break between each other. My daughter actually enjoys the entertainment when I’m working out too. As if I didn’t have enough problems with her dad cracking up at the faces I make when I’m struggling to keep up with the hot, fit, able to breathe while I’m struggling to keep up teacher!…Now I have to send them both to their rooms! :) I know you guys can do it. Also for the person that asked if I got loose skin…No I didn’t…but we are all different, our bodies do amazing things to create our beautiful babies…You be proud of that skin because it made you a mommy! My friend is teeny tiny and she lost all her weight and had skin, but she’s still hot and it has so much to do with her confidence…I have two sisters who have it and two who don’t. Thank you all for the wonderful comments…I’m so glad my story has helped!
hey i was wondering if you had any problems with your milk supply when you started only consuming 1400 calories a day. just wondering since i am breastfeeding and plan on doing so until 12 months. Thanks for the tips.
Hey M, No I had no problems what so ever…Actually I was always a breast milk machine…My daugher always ate and doubled her birthweight by 4 months…They normally double by 6 months. Man, I even had to release some of the milk myself because I made so much…Once you establish your supply I think you’ll be good…I didn’t start dieting till 2 in a half months PP…but because I dieted it didn’t mean I wasn’t eating…I was just eating lots of healthy food…Lots of squash, and fat burning foods…Chicken and high protien low fat foods…But made sure I had enough carbs…Stay on your prenatals while you’re breastfeeding though…I didn’t know you had to stay on them and started having migraines till the doctor put me back on them.
oh and my daughter is 9 months and I’m still breast feeding her…:) I wish I could do it a little longer but she is weaning herself…When they’re ready they’re ready…I’m going to miss it that’s for sure!
Wow! You look fantastic!!! Great job!
Elissa, thanks for the info, it really helped more than you know. So for the few stretch marks that you got “Lay it on thick” worked for those as well? I was so upset that I got some because I religiously put “tummy butter” and “bio oil” on while I was pregnant twice a day from about 18 weeks on. I have a couple on the left side of my tummy but more on the right since my baby girl liked the right side more, my belly looked lopsided sometimes lol. I want to get rid of the stretchys so bad but no matter how much “bio oil” I put on I still see them. You have such a positive outlook and had a lot of motivation to lose the weight. This semester is almost over and I have about three weeks off so it will be easier to get some me time. You seem to really enjoy breastfeeding, did you have any difficulties? I don’t mean technical problems lol I have plenty of milk and everything and I know it is the best for her and I do love it but I feel it is very restricting at times. She eats every hour sometimes during the day and when my and my husband try to go places I am always in the car of the bathroom of the store feeding her. It gets a little frustrating especially taking classes full time I get anxious and feel bad. I feel guilty for feeling like this but I can’t help it. What pump did you use to express, I can’t seem to find one that works good.
I am lucky enough that my husband makes enough money to where I don’t have to work…So I never pumped my milk…I do go to college but I take online classes through the college I live close to. Those help me a lot…I am FINALLY almost done with my AA…As I am 24 years old and have had a lot of things get in the way of my goal…My daughter and I had problems the first few weeks of breastfeeding but we had to learn to work together…When we would go to stores for the first 6 months of her life I would strap a carrier onto the front of me and she would face me…I would pull out my breast and she would hang there dangling with a blanket over her…She ate and fell asleep while we shopped or went to the store…yes I know what you mean about feeling restricted about the feeding…my daughter was ALWAYS attached to my breast…Like I said she doubled her birth weight by 4 months…I grew to love it…Once I started her on solids at 6 months the feedings were less and less…She just used me to get her liquids instead of all of her food…It gets so much easier and it’s more enjoyable when you start solids believe me! My daughter still wakes every two hours in the middle of the night to feed…I can’t train her not to I’ve tried everything…I realize that the time will go by so fast I am going to try to enjoy it while it lasts…My skin is good at healing with stretch marks…on the other hand, I have a pretty good Csection scar that has shrunk with the cream but you can still see it pretty well…My stretch marks usually heal to the point where you cannot see them at all without the cream…but the cream sped up the process and took them away a lot sooner…I wrapped myself in ceran (spelling) wrap with the cream on my skin and would sleep in it…I would be so miserable with the itching skin I could never sleep so I did that…I have two sisters that got really bad stretch marks…One got them so bad they were even on the back of her calves and on her arms…Her legs were super skinny too…The best thing you can do is learn to love them because…I have them on my thighs from puberty and i use to be so embarrassed…Then I realized ALMOST EVERY woman has them…If you go into stores and see blown up pictures of models on the walls…They have them on their thighs and hips…It’s NOTHING to be ashamed of…If someone is going to have a problem with a mark on my body because I grew to give life to my child then I don’t have time for them. My mom always told me, “Don’t be so worried, someone isn’t going to spend the time to worry about you as much as you think they are.”….I can tell you the sexiest and most attractive thing to the oposite sex if that’s what you’re worried about…If you have a husband or boyfriend you feel unattractive to…Is…Confidence…My husband even told me, “You are beautiful, but what makes you sexy is you carry yourself like you know it.”…Don’t be down on yourself…Here’s a quote for you…Listen to it carefully because it’s the truth, “A beautiful thing is never perfect.”….Love your flaws because they’re what make you you…I love my husbands crooked teeth…he HATES them…He loves my c section scar…He says scars are sexy…I gave him his daughter…Remember you gave your husband a child…You are the most AMAZING woman in the world to those two…Oh and, get this…My breasts are now uneven…I came out laughing and showed my husband and I go, “Well guess now you got the best of both worlds…You’ve got a C and D cup….He started laughing and now it’s a funny joke…I could go get surgery on them and fix the problem but I am not going to torture myself when I know if I’m happy with myself then that’s all that matters…It’s who you are on the inside that counts because pretty soon we will all be old and saggy…and our insides are going to be all we have left…:)
You are so smart and I am in love! LOL! You look amazing-even better than before.
i remember reading this at a couple weeks post and thought “yeah freaking right!” now i’m 7 months post and i’ve lost it all too. you were right! i’m smaller than i was before! thanks for the post!