15 Lbs. of Babyweight GONE!!! PICS

First of all, a little back story. In 2011-2012, I successfully lost 25 pounds using MFP. I am 5'7" and I maintained at 140 pounds until I got pregnant. I had my baby girl in April 2013, and weighed 175 the day after I had her. After breastfeeding and eating healthy for her, my weight dropped and stabilized at 155 pounds. I started logging my food around July, but I only really got serious starting in September after Labor Day. After 4 months of intensive logging and exercise, I got down to 140 pounds. Here's what my weight loss pattern looked like. Sorry it's a little blurry.



I think it's important for people to realize that I only had 15 pounds to lose, but it took me 4 months to do it. The first time I lost weight, it took me 6 months to lose 25 pounds. If you don't have a lot to lose, it's not going to come off very fast.

And now, the comparison pics. I think it's safe to say most of my weight loss was in my tummy area, much to my satisfaction.









And now how I did it:

Food:
I followed the MFP model for logging calories. From September to November, I ate pretty much whatever I wanted as long as it was within my 1500 net calorie goal. This included everything from fruits and vegetables to pizza and hot wings. Sometimes I would go over my goal, but I would never sweat it. I still have days where I eat anything and everything and eat close to 3000 calories in a day, but you know what? It's just one day.

I started focusing on macros once December got here, mostly because weight loss got really slow. At first I was lucky to get 30 grams of protein in a day, and now I shoot for closer to 80 grams a day. It's still not a lot by any means, but I think it helped with a lot of things. Oh, and I was still eating whatever I wanted. I guess I am doing a form of IIFIYM

Exercise:
With a new baby, this was a tough one. My husband and I decided each of us would have workout days. Mine were Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. His were the other days. I wanted to keep the workouts short so he wouldn't be stuck with the baby for long periods of time, so 30 minutes was what I was aiming for. I started doing C25K in September, and the program fit my workout days exactly. This was all the exercise I did until November.

Well, life happens, and I got thrown off of exercise for a few weeks. I didn't exercise, but I kept watching my calories. And guess what? I still lost weight in November. In December, it started getting cold, so I switched up the workout routines. Still 3 days a week for 30 minutes at a time, though. I did a mixture of step aerobics (my workout passion, by the way), shadow boxing, and strength training.

Now, a word about strength training. It gets said time after time in these forums, and it is true. THIS DOES MORE FOR YOUR BODY THAN ANY CARDIO EVER WILL. I mentioned before that weight loss was slow in December, but my body changed more in that month than the other months combined. Clothes fit better, my shape was better, and I love getting stronger. My strength training was done with dumbbells, my bodyweight, and my 20 pound daughter. You ladies that have babies in the house, pick them up off the floor and lift them straight into the air above your head about 10 times. It works your body!

Weighing
I weighed myself whenever I felt like it. No set date, and not every day either. Every time I did weigh though, I recorded it. I cared about the scale just enough to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight, but that is about it. I couldn't care less what it says today as long as my clothes fit and I like what I see in the mirror. I'm pretty satisfied. :happy:

In short, here's the stats:
Height: 5'7"
Highest Weight: 176
Starting Weight: 155
Current Weight: 140

Inches lost:
Thighs: 1.5"
Waist: 3"
Hips/Butt: 3"