Losing The Baby Weight

I gained 28 pounds during this pregnancy. I wish I could say it was because I ate super healthy and remained fairly active during those 38.5 weeks. That would be a lie.

I can honestly say I went through a "red meat craving" phase where we ate steak (tasty organic, grass fed angus) every night (at 11pm mind you) for a week during my second trimester. We called it Night Steak. It was delicious. I also went through a Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Phase. I'm surprised I didn't gain 100 pounds.

Breastfeeding has been a huge factor in getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight (150 pounds). At my 6 week postpartum appointment I had already lost 14 pounds. Since then I've started calorie counting to help keep the weight coming off. I am currently 3 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight (25 pounds in 13 weeks...not too shabby). Once I get back to my pre-preggo weight I want to lose an additional 15 pounds in order to be at MY ideal weight aka what I weighed when Tim and I got together 3 years ago (about 135 pounds...15 pounds in 3 years...I blame the Ultimate Chocolate Cakes, bricks of cheese and bottles of wine that we indulged in on a WAY too regular basis...*sigh* the song "These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things" is currently playing in my head). I'm hoping to get there by April 6th (that's when i'll be officially 6 months postpartum).

I'm pretty proud of myself so far. The holidays set me back about 3 pounds but I've come back from it pretty quickly. I LOVE calorie counting. I have this awesome app for my iPhone that helps me keep track of everything I eat. I plan out my meals and snacks for the day before I even get out of bed in the morning; calculating and estimating what my calories will be for that day. It's like a fun game! I always give myself about 200 calories of wiggle room, just incase I NEED an extra handful or two of almonds mid-day.

I really need to start Pilates and 30 Day Shred again too. I'd like to get my stomach muscles back to where they were pre-pregnancy (or at least pretty close to where they were).

Also, starting the 1st of the year we decided to cut out white flour, white sugar, preservatives and processed foods. So far, so good! I already feel SO much better then I did a week ago. we've been eating A LOT of beans, lentils and brown rice (plus various veggies). This week is actually the first time in almost 2 weeks that we've had meat (Pork chops were BOGO free at Price Chopper. How am I supposed to pass that kind of deal up?!). Pork chops and sauerkraut tomorrow!!