postpartum weight loss

Yes You Can Lose Your Pregnancy Weight!

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / 9 Comments

Yes you can lose your pregnancy weight cover

With each of my five full term pregnancies I gained 25-30 kgs! (55-66 lbs).

With my last pregnancy with Willow I gained just as much even though I was eating reasonably healthy foods. I didn’t gain much in the first and second trimesters but by the third trimester I really stacked on the kilos. I was really hungry and I let myself eat and eat without giving it much thought. I usually lost 5 kilograms by the time I came home for hospital (baby, placenta, fluid) and then a long road was before me as I slowly lost the weight I had gained.

But over the years I have learned some things about weight loss. Sometimes it was really hard. Sometimes I had great successes. Sometimes I couldn’t be bothered and was tired and emotional and gained a few kilos back. Sometimes I just ate too much because…well, I love food!

As I had these experiences I learned what worked. I observed other people who had too, been successful with weight loss. I took note and wrote a lot of information down.

I discovered dessert in a whole new way! I have now learned how to make all my old favorites in a nourishing way using whole food ingredients. As I lost weight I ate pancakes, carrot cake, choc chip cookies and brownies! Making desserts into healthier creations has helped keep me be happy, healthy and satisfied while the kilos came off.

Last year all I had learned about weight loss got written down…

…and became a book!!

And…I am very very excited. The moment I have been waiting for over a year for is here!

My brand new e-book is now online and available for you to download!!!

It is a step by step guide for your own postpartum weight loss journey! And anyone would benefit from this book, not just mothers.

If you are wanting to lose weight but you need a bit of cheering on. I will be your weight loss coach as you read the pages of this book you will be cheered and encouraged along the way!

I share the secrets of people who are successful with losing weight and keeping it off.

I share how to overcome problems people face and how not to regain weight.

Yes You Can Lose Your Pregnancy Weight is not a diet plan but a book to give mothers some encouragement to get healthy and kick out some bad habits.

I also have included 10 of my own recipes which helped me have success in my postpartum weight loss. As well as a full weekly meal plan to help kick start your weight loss.

Click HERE to get my new e-book Yes You Can Lose Your Pregnancy Weight

 

Yes you can lose your pregnancy weight cover

One Week Of What I Ate For Lunch Trim Healthy Mama Style.

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment

lunch 7lunch 2lunch 3lunch 4lunch 5lunch 6lunch 1

 

Lunch for me most days is salad of some sort or leftovers. It’s summer here right now, but in the winter I eat soup, soup and more soup! I eat wheat free because of a food intolerance so these meals reflect that. I also try to avoid refined sugar as much as I can, but I don’t eat perfect all the time at all! These meals are all trim healthy mama friendly, though, I’m not following THM strictly anymore because I’m at a healthy weight and I don’t really keep track of whether my meals are E, S or XO anymore. I just eat what I feel like on the day and what I have on hand in the house. If we go out for the day I usually bring a packed salad with hard boiled eggs. Or a tin of salmon and beans or tuna and beans.

1st picture is of leftover brown rice with leftover roast chicken. I had a large salad of baby cucumbers, capsicum, avocado, sprouts, baby spinach and sprinkled with sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I usually top all my salads with extra virgin olive oil and sometimes lemon juice too. Sometimes I have mayo. I put sea salt and pepper on everything…well not everything. 

2nd pic of a quinoa, chickpea and pumpkin salad with some basil and baby spinach leaves. Also some I was trying out my mums pickled beetroot recipe and had a little of that.

3rd pic is of leftover lemon herb drummies (from the THM cookbook) with a salad and some leftover pumpkin and chick pea salad. Looks like I had a few slices of metwurst too.

4th pic is my fav, paleo bread ( this was from one of Lola Berry’s cookbooks) with cabbage, carrot, parsley, red onions and hard boiled eggs. This was my birthday lunch shared with my parents who came to visit that day.

5th pic is zucchini noodles with leftover bolognese sauce. I grated a little goat cheese over the top. I eat completely dairy free apart from a little goat cheese occasionally.

6th pic is a salad with some chickpeas and seeds for protein.

7th pic is pumpkin and chickpea salad with tin salmon and beetroot, red onion and greens.

If I’m still hungry after lunch or feel like something sweet I’ll have a few squares of dark chocolate or some coconut yoghurt and fruit. Sometimes a medjool date or two if I have some.

That’s it! One week view of my lunches. These meals keep me feeling healthy and give me a huge energy burst and are great for digestion. They don’t take me long to prepare either. If you have any questions about any of the lunches or the way I eat leave me a comment.

Blessings, Peta

You may also like to read: One Week Of What I Ate For Breakfast Trim Healthy Mama Style.

 

 

 

Vlog – Day In The Life Of Us and What I Eat In A Day To Maintain My Weight Loss.

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment

In this video:

What I eat in a day to maintain my postpartum weight loss.

Come with me for my bike ride and see a day in the life of us including seeing the aftermath of baby Willow eating her tea. Also see a little of our family devotion time and family worship.

Blessings, Peta 

I lost all my pregnancy weight for the 5th time!!

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment

Announcement…

 

I have finally reached my pre-pregnancy weight!

Yay!

It has taken me the longest this time – about 14 months. But I stuck at it and here I am 16kg lighter and at the same weight I was before I became pregnant with Willow.

that pic

I’m also feeling the fittest I’ve felt in a long time. I’ve been running and cycling outdoors 3-4 times a week and walking on the other days. The exercise has benefited me in more ways than one. I was prescribed exercise as part of my treatment for the anxiety attacks that I had been having and it has helped a lot. Not only does exercise release serotonin, the ‘happy’ hormone. It also gets rid of stored up adrenaline in the body that contributes to anxiety. I always exercise outdoors which gives me a boost of fresh air and sunshine, which are both great mood enhancers and give me an energy burst.

This may be a good time to make another announcement…

I have been writing a book on postpartum weight loss.

The content is 3 quarters of the way finished. Then I am getting some photography and graphic design done to bring it all together.

The release date of this book – which doesn’t have an official name yet- is mid 2018.

I will give you more information as the time of release gets closer.

DSCF5273_edited

So what did I do exactly to lose all the weight again? I mainly followed the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating. Sometimes strictly and at times pretty loosely. That may explain why it took me so long this time. Over time as I began to learn more about nutrition and what foods help me lose weight I began to write my own detailed weekly eating plans. The plans include a weeks worth of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, drinks – everything. I am including these plans for you to see in my new book.

DSCF5264_edited

It feels great to be able to pull out some clothes that have been packed away for so long in my ‘too small’ clothes bag. Trying on new clothes is exciting again because I am enjoying the size I am. It hasn’t been a smooth weight loss journey either. For the first three months postpartum I lost nothing. I wasn’t really being very strict with my eating at first though. In the past I would lose weight initially without even trying much then later on I would have to work harder to lose the last 10kg. This time was different. I had to be strict with what I ate if I wanted to lose any weight at all. I had to say no to comfort eating. I also reached a plateau when I only had 1kg to go and I stayed that weight for several weeks.

I almost gave up and decided that I feel okay at leaving my weight where it was. It was a healthy weight for me and that would have been fine. But I took a look at some of the pre pregnancy weight clothes that still didn’t quite fit and thought – I’m not going to give up!

I revved up my exercise sessions to 45 minutes each instead of 20-30 and I followed the eating plans I designed for myself more strictly and was extra careful about what I ate after tea.

And…I did it!

Now it’s time to enjoy and maintain and set some new goals.

Blessings, Peta xo

DSCF5256_edited

Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook review

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment

Image result for trim healthy mama cookbook

I’ve been following Trim Healthy Mama on and off for around 4 years just after the first book was released. Initially I followed it strictly and I lost the last of the weight I gained from my third pregnancy quite quickly.

Since then I seem follow THM passionately for a while, then I go off it for a time and go with Sarah Wilson’s JERF philosophy (Just Eat Real Food).

Right now I am losing weight from my fifth full term pregnancy. Once again I’ve been using THM, a bit loosely mind you. I have the original THM book but I also purchased the new cookbook.

In a nutshell here’s my review:

I didn’t like it at first – but now I do.

I opened the book when it first arrived and was horrified to see that the THM ladies had made their own sweeteners and baking blend. I’m not a fan of ‘fancy’ ingredients and I didn’t want to order their expensive products. I just wanted to make healthy recipes out of easy ingredients I could buy locally. I tried a couple of recipes that didn’t use the special ingredients and wasn’t that impressed. We got busy moving to a new house and location and I was pregnant with my fifth baby. I tossed it on the bookshelf for a year.

I tried again.

The summer school holidays just passed I pulled out my book and decided to give it another go. I even ordered the baking blend and some THM sweeteners. The recipes I tried this time – I really enjoyed.

The drinks ‘Shrinker’ and ‘Singing Canary’ – wow!

And I love the wicked white chilli, the lemon herb drummies and the pancakes. I love to eat, so eating pancakes while losing weight is a winner for me.

I won’t be ordering their baking blend again because, lets face it, it’s expensive. Instead I will make up my own baking blend based on almond meal. I’ll keep using stevia though. It’s a natural sweetener that’s very low calories and keeps your blood sugar low. Sounds good to me.

I think it is possible to follow THM without ordering the expensive products or using specialty ingredients. But if you want to buy the products then go ahead – they are top quality.

So what’s the verdict? Is it worth buying the cook book? I’ll say yes.

Blessings, Peta.

 

 

 

Postpartum weight loss update

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment
dscf4413_edited

Our first zucchini and tomato in our new little veggie patch!

I am now 8 and a half months postpartum after the birth of Willow our 5th precious bundle. I have been slowly losing weight. At first, when I was still breastfeeding her, I lost nothing, then just a little here and there. Now that Willow is fully weaned and drinking from a bottle my weight loss has sped up. I have trouble feeding my babies past six months old (except for my first who fed for 13 months). My milk supply, no matter how hard I try, just isn’t enough for my hungry babies when they get older. But that’s another story.

I’m here to happily say that I’m almost there – 5.5kg away from my pre pregnancy weight. I have lost 10.5kg since coming home from hospital and have gone down a few dress sizes. The weight is coming off slower than previous postpartum times but I’m getting there. Progress, no matter how small, keeps me motivated. I gained a little weight over Christmas – whoops! But thankfully lost it again within a few weeks of being extra careful with what I ate.

How am I doing it? Trim Healthy Mama. This program is my go-to whenever I have weight to lose. I’ve used it after my last 3 babies to lose weight and it has been effective every time. I am learning to practice mindful eating and not just shoving food into my mouth whenever I feel like. I try to think before I eat.

As for exercise, I have a half hour slot in my schedule that I allow for exercise. I am loving taking my bike out for a ride. I find it really calming and it clears my head. I walk too, and sometimes run for a few minutes during my walk. My aim is to exercise 5 times a week – but usually I get in 3 half hour sessions.

I’m really thankful to have been successful so far in losing my postpartum weight. But I know that many of you haven’t been so successful. Yet.

I want to give you a big hug. Your body is beautiful, it has bore a precious child. Don’t be hard on yourself, your body changes SO much after you have a baby. Give yourself some time and you too can lose weight if you want to. Feel free to have a chat in the comments if you have any postpartum weight loss related questions. I’m happy to help or have a chat.

Blessings, Peta

Postpartum weight loss

/ 2punkshadabunchofkids / Leave a comment
dscf0940_edited

That moment when you come home from hospital after giving birth and weigh yourself…eep

Once again I’m trying to lose weight. I don’t know why it’s so important to me. It just is. I feel uncomfortable when I’m overweight, even a little bit overweight. I like to be able to just pull anything I like off the shelf in a certain size and know that it will fit and that I’ll look good. I like being healthy and eating healthy foods appeal to me. But even healthy foods can cause weight gain if I go overboard. I am now 5 and a half months postpartum and I’ve lost 5 or 6 kilos since returning from hospital. I’ve been eating my usual diet of mostly healthy foods, no wheat or dairy (due to food intolerance), lots of vegetables and fruit and low on processed foods and sugar. If I ever want to speed up my weight loss I do Trim Healthy Mama. This program works for me. Every time I follow it strictly, the weight falls off me. But I get lazy with it and that makes my weight loss slower. If I follow the plan 100% though, which is easy because it’s a great plan,  I spring back into shape in no time.

I started Trim Healthy Mama again 2 weeks ago. The first week I lost 1kg and the second week I lost half a kilo. Those results are enough to get me excited and motivated again to lose the last 11kg to get me back to pre-pregnancy weight. Trim Healthy Mama is a great plan – there are even guidelines so you can follow it during pregnancy to stay healthy and not gain excess weight. I tried to do this during my pregnancy with Willow, and I did quite well up until the third trimester when I was SO HUNGRY ALL the time! I ate and ate and ate some more, and began stacking on weight.

Some tips I have for anyone wanting to lose weight is to not go on a diet. Sure you can follow a diet plan to assist in the initial weigh loss but instead of ‘being on a diet’ you should ‘eat healthier’ – for life. This is one of the secrets to maintaining weight loss. If you go back to your old way of eating after you finish your ‘diet’ – you’ll put all the weight back on again and more. Guaranteed.

Don’t start eating healthier tomorrow, or next week, start with your very next meal. Also avoid all or nothing statements like ‘I’m not going to eat chocolate for the rest of the year.’ or ‘Ever again.’ I used to say things like this years ago but I don’t anymore. The best way to make changes to my own diet has been by making intentional gradual changes. For example, about 6 years ago I noticed Luke and I were eating a few blocks of chocolate every weekend together. This wasn’t doing anything good for our health and I was struggling with my weight at the time. I decided that instead of buying a block of chocolate on the weekend I would just buy a chocolate bar instead. I would sit down and really enjoy my chocolate then after it was finished, that was it – no more. Eventually I found that dairy was making me sick so I stopped eating milk chocolate and bought some 85% dark choc. It was bitter at first but I found that I slowly developed a taste for it and now I love it!  After most of my life being addicted to chocolate I was able to make some intentional changes and have great success. I can sit down and eat 2 squares of 85% dark choc and I’m quite content with that.

If you are overwhelmed with where to start when you want to lose weight and be healthier, just begin with breakfast. Scramble some eggs, or make a green smoothie, or have some natural yoghurt and muesli. Once you eat a healthy breakfast everyday for a few weeks and you are getting the hang of it, move onto having a healthy lunch. Make a large salad and toss in some chicken and avocado and feta cheese for protein. Then do the same with tea, and snacks and drinks. Make small positive changes that you can commit to.

I’m getting excited now – this is one of my favourite topics!

I’m off to have a chamomile tea.

dscf2488_edited_edited

Blessings, Peta