Losing the Baby Weight Update

It’s been a bit since I’ve checked in and given an update on my postpartum weight loss, so I thought I’d share what’s been going on and clarify a few things.

This is a photo I posted the other day on Instagram. It was a big day for me, because I stepped on the scale to find that I have lost a total of 60 pounds since giving birth to Clive three months ago! I weighed 210 pounds when I gave birth in June and now I am 150 pounds. I basically lost a 4th grader, which is cray.

If you’ve been following along, you know that I did a Whole30 challenge in July and then took August off. I started back up with another round this month (September). I’ve received a lot of questions about this (along with some skepticism) and I wanted to address some of these things…

Question: “How can you act like you lost all of this weight just from doing the Whole30? You just had a baby, it’s normal to lose weight postpartum.”

Answer: I have never claimed that all of my weight loss was the sole result of the Whole30 plan. In one of my posts I addressed the fact that 20 of these 60 pounds were the result of immediate postpartum weight loss within the first couple of weeks. That said, this isn’t my first rodeo…I had a baby once before and I know how hard it can be to lose baby weight. This is not a typical weight loss situation for me. I have been on diets on and off throughout most of my adult life and I can tell you with certainty that the Whole30/paleo eating truly has had a huge hand in contributing to my weight loss and changing my body.

I gained 55 pounds with my first pregnancy and lost 35 of those pounds right away within the first week. After that, the rest of the weight just stuck around. I truly believe that it is the lifestyle changes I’ve made that has helped me shed weight so quickly this time around. Sure a couple of pounds are probably the result of nursing (FYI: nursing did not help AT ALL last time around and I didn’t lose that extra weight until I weaned Fern at 17-months), but a good portion of my weight loss really is Whole30 related. I know that I don’t need to justify it, but I just wanted to be clear that I’m not trying to mislead anyone. I get no personal benefit from sharing my Whole30 success with you…it’s not like some food and fitness pyramid scheme and I have no affiliation with the creators of the Whole30. I only want to share because I know how hard it can be to lose that baby weight and I hope to encourage others. It really has changed my entire relationship with food. Also…at 150 pounds I am still not back down to my pre-Clive weight, but I am wearing smaller jeans than I’ve worn in years. I attribute this to the fact that I’m less bloated since cutting out grains and dairy for Whole30/paleo eating.

 

Question: “What tips do you have for someone considering starting the Whole30 challenge?”

Answer: I wrote a blog post that will answer a lot of these questions, but feel free to e-mail me if you have others that I didn’t address (“The Lazy Girl’s Guide to the Whole30”). Also…READ THE BOOK. I know a lot of people are jumping on the Whole30 bandwagon and understandably have a lot of questions, but most of them can be answered by reading the book. I’ll admit I wanted to skip reading it myself, because seriously who has time for that? But, I’m really glad I read it because I think that was a big key to my success in sticking with it. If you don’t understand the “why” behind the Whole30, then it might be easy to become frustrated and see it as a bunch of stupid rules.

 

Question: “I’m nursing and wanted to know how eating this way affected your milk supply?”

Answer: It didn’t! I know many women have reported having a decreased milk supply while on the Whole30, but if you make sure you’re getting enough healthy fats you should be good. Obviously I’m not a doctor so I can’t guarantee any of this and you should definitely seek medical advice if this is a concern for you, but I had no problems. If anything my milk supply was better! When I was nursing Fern I ate a very carb and dairy heavy diet and I always struggled with milk supply. It could be totally unrelated to diet, but all I know is I make heavy whipping cream this time around. Clive is 3 months old and already 17 pounds! The book has tips for nursing moms, but for me I simply ate when I was hungry. On the plan you’re supposed to avoid snacking and overdoing it with things like nuts and fruit, but since I’m nursing I allowed myself to eat whenever I felt hungry…usually one or two snacks a day…and I definitely ate more fruit than what might typically be eaten when doing a Whole30. I didn’t want to get too crazy with it and nursing was definitely more important than weight loss, so I was extra cautious.

 

Question: “Do you work out too?”

Answer: I didn’t start working out until about a month ago when I got back to taking Barre3 classes. I’ve only been taking 1-2 classes a week, but since I hadn’t worked out since I was 37 weeks pregnant, my body has been responding in a notable way. I can already tell that my core and my legs are stronger and it’s definitely helping to tone things up. I’m excited to step up my workout routine and do online workouts as well once we get into a better routine around here. For now, 1-2 times a week is all I can manage with a very needy baby.

 

So there you have it. Those are the questions that I’ve been asked most. As for my second round of Whole30, it’s sort of turned into just eating paleo. I already know how my body reacts to certain foods, so I don’t really need to do it for the elimination aspect. I know what kind of foods fuel my body and make me feel good, so I’m simply sticking to those. It’s all about making it work for me and for now this works for me. I feel great and I definitely plan on sticking with this lifestyle!

If you have any other questions that I didn’t answer, feel free to ask in the comment section or shoot me an e-mail: loveoflittlethings(at)gmail(dot)com.

 

Love,

Lauren