Flab mom 2 Fit mom!

Hey everyone, I am Diana. I have struggled with about 25-30 lbs the last 10 years, and have finally made the decision to get fit for me, my son, and my family. Growing up, there weren't a lot of healthy lifestyles to learn from and I developed bad habbits early on. Too big of a portion size, little to no exercise, late night eating, eating really bad processed foods. But when I was in highschool, I was extremely active so it didn't seem to matter how much I ate, my metabolism and sports helped to keep the lbs off. After highschool I gained the average college 15, then I moved in with my now husband and gained another 20lbs of love weight, and then after that gained another 40 when I had my son! Between breastfeeding, eating healthy fiber protein and fat balanced diets and occasional work outs, I was able to get down to my previous pre baby weight. I had gone from 219 to 179.

Since I didn't really have a great role model growing up, I want my son to grow up with a great understanding of eating right, exercising, and a healthy sense of self. I am not aiming to be skinny, but I want to be as fit as possible for my own individual body.
I feel my best between 140-150 which is about another 25-35 lbs away, but slowly and surely I am getting there. Remember it takes a while to put it on, so it's going to take a while to take it off(average between 1-2lbs a week)

I have found what works best for me and our busy family lifestyle(between work, home, school, baby, and quality time) is a high protein diet. My mornings ususally start out with a whey protein isolate chocolate shake mixed with water. Lunch time is usually chicken, tuna, shrimp, or some sort of lean protein with a salad or brown rice, and dinner is another lean protein with tons of veggies, grits, brown rice, or cous cous. At points through out the day, I will start to feel hungry so I will keep a protein shake, bar, or piece of fruit with me. It helps to eat balanced meals and small healthy snakes through out the day, that way you aren't plateuing, but your metabolism stays consistent. If you are hungry, you are most likely doing it right because your body is burning calories at a more rapid rate.

Also, I try to get to the gym at least 5 days a week. I know this can be hard, but when I am there I get in at least 30 minutes of cardio, and if i can only make it 3-4 days a week, then I just make my cardio sessions longer between 45-60 minutes. Every other day I try to incorporate some sort of strength training. For me I am not trying to bulk up, but more or less to lean up. So to do that, I use between 10-15 lb weights for my arms, but more repetitions, generally between 15-20 reps, and 3 sets. For my leg days, I use heavier weights for my machine squats at around 85-95 lbs, and just body resistance for when I do my reverse lungs and free standing squats. While after doing this for about a month, I haven't lost a ton of weight, about 5 lbs, my husband is very supportive and says he can definitely tell I have lost inches and am toning up.

Bottom line is, I feel good! They say it takes about 27 days to make a habbit, but only 7 days to break one. Everyone is going to fall off the wagon sometimes. I did for about 3 years. But you owe it to yourself to get back on it. Even if you have a bad weekend(aka the holidays, a birthday, anniversary,etc.) Just pick back up where you left off.

I would love to hear about other moms stories and their weight loss journeys! I totally believe in positive reinforcement and encouragement!

Replies

  • Hey Diana! I'm also a mom and a wife as well. I've always struggled with my weight, even though my parents tried to instill healthy eating habits in me as a child. My story is similar to yours. Once in college I gained weight, and even more after I met my husband. Then even more after we got married, and still MORE after the birth of our daughter! Although I didn't gain much weight during my pregnancy with her, I gained afterward.

    I'm now down almost 20 pounds and am starting to feel much, much better! I feel my best around 120-130, so I still have a long way to go. But so far so good! By me eating healthier and making better choices my hubby has even started to lose a little weight as well! I've just now started exercising again, but I'm hoping to be able to make it more of a routine. It's just hard to be able to get to the gym without a babysitter!

    Be sure to keep up the good work! :)
  • Congrats on your weight loss, that is excellent! Have you checked out any gyms that have free child care? That is the one thing that has really helped us keep our gym days, otherwise we wouldnt make it as often. That is great to hear about your husband too! My husband unfortunately is the opposite of me and is trying to put on more mass, we keep giggling that at some point, were going to meet weight wise in the middle. Any goal though is worth sticking to, keep up the great work and congrats again on your weight loss!
  • Hi there! I am a mom of two beautiful children and have a full-time job. I started gaining weight once I was comfortable in my life (i.e. with my now husband) we both share a love for food so there it is. I've decided that I don't want to be the "fat mom" anymore, I want to be the "hot mom" or somewhere in the middle ;o) I've only just started my journey on MFP and am not sure that I'm doing everything right, but I know I'm at least headed in the right direction.

    Congratulations to both of you on your success so far!
  • jacquerd
    jacquerd Posts: 121 Member
    Awesome!!! I am a mom as well. You can see my story on my profile. :)). Congrats!!!! You're in the right place!!
  • Hi and welcome. I am a mommy too that wants to lose the flab.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Hi ladies! I'm a mum of 2. My son is 3.5 and my daughter is 20 months. Between my son and getting pregnant with my daughter I lost the weight, but with my daughter I just piled it on. In my 1st pregnancy I was able to get to the gym 4 or 5 times a week and carried on going until about 34 weeks pregnant, and I ate pretty well mainly. 2nd time I was more tired, felt more sick etc so just got out of the habit of the gym and didn't eat as well.

    I was back at the gym when my daughter was 8 weeks old, and have now lost around 60lbs and am 163lbs now (i'm 5'6 tall) and aiming for 150.

    I work part time as a secondary school teacher (in England) so spend my working days on my feet, and my days off running round with my kids who do not stop moving!

    I workout 5 times a week - gym, personal training, spinning, zumba and aerobics!