Three months ago, I opened up on the blog about my fitness journey since my teenage years. It’s a series a I am documenting to show what I did over the years to achieve the level of fitness and body shape I’ve always wanted in hopes of helping others.
In episode 1, I left off at the Glamour diet that helped me lose some of the weight I wanted rid of 18 months after my first pregnancy, as I wanted to lean out more.
In episode 2, I showed you what I did after my second pregnancy to losing baby weight I gained in episode 2. Part of my success was attributed to the Thyroid Solution Diet.
In the 3rd episode I discussed the 2nd part of the Thyroid Solution Diet.
This 4th episode discusses what I did during my 4th and last pregnancy to ensure I can return to my normal weight after birth a well as what I did for the first 3 months postpartum.
Keeping my From Gaining too Much During the Pregnancy
At this point in my life, expecting my third chid was great. Yet I feared the weight gain and struggle I was going to face after. If you’ve read the previous episodes, you’ll remember me saying that you have body memory. Your body remembers what you did to it a while ago to lose weight, and it worked. When you come to do it a second or third time, it won’t accept it and nothing moves. I was 100% sure this was going to happen, so how do I avoid I from now? I didn’t have anymore tricks up my sleeve. I also told myself that since this is my last pregnancy, I was going to get the best body I’ve ever had after it.
At the beginning of the pregnancy, I followed a good diet mostly comprised of clean eating and continued exercising at the same intensity, slightly less to ensure my body temperature wouldn’t be too warm for the fetus since that’s dangerous.
However, as most moms know, you get to a point in the pregnancy where you are so hungry you feel you can devour a whale. Yet, like with all my other pregnancies, I was extremely nauseated for the whole time I was pregnant. Needless to say, I couldn’t eat much, even if I wanted to. So there as no point to watch what I was eating because I was eating very little that I pretty much had to eat whatever would make me throw up or nauseated the least.
I gained a total of 20 pounds on this pregnancy.
Losing Baby Weight After the Pregnancy
Shortly after birth, I started to watch what I ate to start losing baby weight I gained. I then starting tracking weight watchers style, but it didn’t have a major effect. I went back to the Thyroid Solution Diet.
I was nursing at the same time which helped a little. I ended up losing a few pounds, bringing me slightly above my pre-baby weight. If you are new to the Thyroid Solution Diet your body will very much respond.
But as my body had already done the diet before, the effect isn’t the same as someone that’s virgin to it. Mind you, it did help me drop a few pounds after pregnancy as mentioned above even after having already tried and done the diet.
Losing Baby Weight with Sara Fennell
I knew I needed something new to start up losing baby weight I had remaining, but what?
I remembered that while pregnant, my fitness model friend, which I wrote about here, had enlisted a coach, Sara Fennell, to help her get to her goals for her first competition. A friend enrolled in the program and gave me a sneak peak to follow. I began to see some results.
Exercises
The program was easy but needed consistency.
Monday – Arms and abs
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Barbell curls
- Dumbell overhead extension
3 sets of 10 reps each arm curls machine
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Alternating dumbell curls
- Dumbell kickback
3 sets of 10 reps each of Bench dips
3 sets of 12 reps each of Ab bench crunch machine
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Kneeling cable crunch
- Ball pass
Tuesday – Arms and abs
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Smith machine squats
- Bodyweight squats
3 sets of 10 reps each ball hamstring curl
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Dumbell Bulgarian split squats
- Bench step ups
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Leg extensions
- Bodyweight walking lunges
Wednesday – Day Off
Thursday – Back, Chest & Abs
4 sets of 10 reps each of lat pulldown machine
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Dumbbell bent over row
- Barbell rows
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Flat dumbbell press
- Dumbell pullover
3 sets of 10 reps each of push ups
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Decline crunches
- Scissor kicks
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Kneeling cable crunch
- Ball pass
3 sets of 10 reps each of ball pass
Friday – Shoulders
4 sets of 10 reps each of seated dumbbell press
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Dumbbell lat raise
- Barbell upright row
Superset of 4 sets of 12 reps each:
- Dumbbell rear delt
- Dumbbell front raise
3 sets of 10 reps each of seated Arnold dumbbell press
Saturday – Plyo Circuit
4 rounds of each exercise back to back without stopping with 1-2 minutes rest after each round. If you do it in the morning on an empty stomach, it burns more fat.
Superset of 4 sets of 10 reps each:
- Wide bodyweight squats
- squat jump
- Explosive push ups
- Mountain jumpers
- Scissor kicks
- Split squat jumps
- Burpees
Food Regimen
The food was pretty straightforward. Eat clean. I was fairly new to this concept so I didn’t venture much outside of what I was given as I was not all that familiar with clean recipes.
Here’s a sample menu of what I used to eat:
Breakfast
- 1 cup of egg whites
- 1 slice of Organic Ezekiel sprouted grain bread
- 1-2 cups green vegetables
Snack #1
- Natural whey protein
- 1 cup of pineapple
Lunch
- Green beans
- 4 ounces of chicken
- sweet potato
Snack #2
- All natural smooth peanut butter
- 2 butter pop corn rice cakes
Dinner
- Salad
- 4 ounces of chicken or fish
- Olive oil & balsamic vinaigrette dressing
I lost a total of 5 pounds, which was an amazing achievement for me.
My body is very stubborn and doesn’t easily drop weight. It always wants to stay where it’s comfortable. I was now slightly under my pre-baby weight and have build some muscle mass.
The Jest of it
To continue on to losing baby weight I gained during the pregnancy, I tried to maintain a healthy diet while pregnant. However as I suffered from terrible morning sickness all 9 months, it was hard to eat.
After birth, I took up some of the older programs I followed such as Weight Watchers and the Thyroid Solution Diet. They worked for the first few pounds but I knew I had to re-ignite my system with something new. I took up Sara Fennell’s program, which brought me to a little bit under my pre-pregnancy weight.
What did you do to start losing baby weight you gained? I’d love to hear your stories.
I leave you with one of my #ootd’s from my Instagram feed. Check it out and Instagram and let me know what you of it.
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, you might like to receive my fashion, beauty, fitness, home décor, and DIY tips and tricks that will save your life right into your inbox! Get a free health hacks download when you sign up!
This is Grace
Grace from Color & Grace. Based in Troy, Michigan, Grace is a 41 year-old petite woman who loves colours. Born and raised in China, she moved to America for love in 2007. Her day job – teacher. Her dream job – fashion blogger. Make sure to go and check out her blog and leave her a comment on her awesome outfit.
It’s Time for You to Link up
Make Sure to Follow Your Host
- Bloglovin: Grace & The WardrobeStylist
- Google +: Grace & The Wardrobe Stylist
- Instagram: Grace & The Wardrobe Stylist
Here’s a list of the linkups I link to. You can also sign up for the link up there.
chichi says
needed this today!!!
https://www.thestyletune.com
The Wardrobe Stylist says
I’m glad it’s helpful! Make sure you get to the other parts of the series too as it may be helpful.
Lisa says
You look gorgeous!! Love that black jumper XOXO #LINKUPWITHLISA @ https://www.beauty101bylisa.com/2016/08/linkupwithlisa-63-navy-blue-halter-dress.html
The Wardrobe Stylist says
Thank you Lisa! You are too kind. You’re always looking so stunning yourself!
laura says
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing!
The Wardrobe Stylist says
Thanks for dropping by Laura!
Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom says
You really look great and it sounds like you had a plan in place even while you were pregnant to stay healthy and to get the weight off after giving birth. It can be so hard! I took up running after I had my daughter and it really helped me lose the weight. I also used an app called Spark People to monitor what I was eating and to stay within a certain calorie range.
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
The Wardrobe Stylist says
I’ve never heard of that app. I should check it out. Thank you! I did because I had made a promise to myself and I wanted to stick by it. Now I weigh the same I weighed before my last pregnancy but I sculpted my body so I look different and a lot more toned. That’s the difference and pay off!
nicole says
Thanks for linking up to Top of the World Style
The Wardrobe Stylist says
Thank you for dropping by Nicole!
Happiness at Mid LIfe says
Great job mama! You look fab!
Thank you for being a part of TBT Fashion link up and hope to see you soon!
Alice
http://www.happinessatmidlife.com
The Wardrobe Stylist says
Thanks Alice! It’s always fun to see what you will be be wearing.