Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)

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January is a great time to start thinking about moving yourself towards a lighter, healthier you. Maybe you had a few (or a dozen) too many Christmas cookies? Maybe in all the holiday insanity you forgot to go to the gym… for a month. Maybe you feel like it’s time to lose that baby weight… who cares if you baby is turning three. Whatever the reasons, and whatever your goals, this is a GREAT TIME TO GET STARTED!

Also, I’ve been there. I gained a very-healthy 60 pounds with my twin girls. Being a trainer, I started on the lean side, and my doctors made it very clear that gaining a healthy amount of weight (through nutritious food) was the best thing I could do for my babies. Whew buddy, I saw numbers on the scale I had never dreamed of. I was miserable. Everything was hard: getting off the couch, going up stairs, standing for more than 15 minutes. Everything hurt: old knee and ankle injuries flared up, my back ached in strange places. I was tired ALL THE TIME.

Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)
I walked and climbed stairs for almost four hours trying to get my body to naturally go into labor on the day I had my babies.

In the end, gaining all that weight really gave me a chance to marvel at what extra weight does to us. For the first time in my life, I could FEEL what it was to be 20, 30, 40 pounds over weight. And I hated that feeling. I did “get used to it,” to some extent, eventually; and of course, having two 7+ lb. twins made it 1,000% worth it. However, I could NOT life the life I live with that extra weight. I would not be as happy as I am, play with my kids as much as I do, have the energy I have. I would still be a great person, have wonderful friends, meaningful relationships, and a great career, but I AM BETTER AT MY HEALTHIEST WEIGHT.

Now, 15 months after the twins, and after having three kids in 20 months, I am back to my healthiest weight and pre-baby size. Don’t get me wrong, everything is NOT where I left it, and I will forever have some hard-earned marks of motherhood, but my body feels like mine again, and it feels like it’s ready to take on the world.

Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)

A Few Quick Fun Facts for Motivation

  1. A great place to start is by losing 10% of your body weight. Studies show what the benefits of just getting 10% lighter include: reduced risk of breast cancer, lower LDL (harmful) cholesterol, reduced blood pressure, fewer aches and pains from joints (including hips and knees), more energy, and overall decreased risk of death (from cancer, diabetes, heart attack, and other preventable diseases).
  2. Eating 250 calories less every day will result in losing around two pounds per month. While that may not seem like a lot, you would weigh in 25 pounds lighter a year from now – totally worth it!
  3. There are 1,440 minutes in every day. You can see meaningful results from spending 25 of them strength training. That’s less than 2% of your day – aren’t you worth that much time?!?
  4. It gets easier! Ask anyone who’s lost weight, changed her lifestyle, or made the decision to get healthier – it GETS EASIER! The initial steps of change are always the hardest. After each month the healthy changes you’ve made will become habits, so while you might have to work extra hard right now, by summer you’ll be solidly on the healthy-habit train.

Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)

Five Tips for Moms Wanting to Lose Weight (and Get Healthier)!

  1. Go ½ and ½

This is tip number one because it’s my favorite. Nearly every client I’ve ever worked with has watched the scale move after committing to this one change: go ½ and ½. It means that from now on, EVERY TIME you eat you’re going to make ½ of it a fruit and/or vegetable. Each snack should include a fruit or veggie. Half of your plate at meals should be a colorful mix of veggies. Look for ways to “sneak” in the good stuff: berries in your oatmeal, puree veggies into sauces, throw a bag of frozen veggies in EVERYTHING you cook.

If you are not used to making fruits and vegetables the foundation of your eating, this is going to take a little adjustment (and creativity) on your part, but you have to believe me — it’s worth it! A) Your body will be SO MUCH healthier, B) weight loss will be SO MUCH easier, C) your family and kids will be SO MUCH healthier (and set-up for a lifetime of healthy eating), and D) it will just become the “way you eat,” and will get SO MUCH easier.

Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)
I love these muffins because they’re almost HALF pineapple! Your brain say, “Mmmmm… muffin,” and your body says, “Yay! Nutrients!”
  1. Boost Your Metabolism

I wrote an entire article about how strength training (as opposed to cardio) helps you lose weight, but the down and dirty version is this: cardio is like a band-aid. It will help you heal temporary “wounds” (like a plate of cookies, holiday cocktails, and half of Aunt Sally’s pie), but it will do very little to actually help you lose weight and keep it off.

To facilitate long-term weight loss, you need to burn more calories every day, and to do that you need MUSCLES! We get muscles through strength training. Now, before you start thinking you’re going to look like your friend who kind of sort of got into body building competitions for awhile, fear not. When I say you need “more” muscles, what actually happens is your muscles get denser and tighter, which actually makes them, ready? SMALLER! Yes, you can shrink your body by adding muscles. I promise.

In order to “gain” this metabolism-boosting magical muscle you need to strength train three days a week. Take a class, hire a personal trainer, find a high quality program online, and GO! Make sure the workout you’re doing is hard enough: each exercise should be really, really tough for the last three to four reps. I don’t want you wasting your time, and you deserve to see results – work hard!

Weight Loss Tips for Moms (from a Mom of 3 under 3)

  1. Soul Searching

In today’s world, we end up eating for lots of reasons. Some people estimate that as much as 50% of the eating we do isn’t driven by hunger. Hunger is (generally) a sign that your body truly needs more fuel so you can keep being an awesome person. Hunger is not the result of your emotional state (sad, tired, lonely, angry), trained habit (hello couch after kids are in bed), or even skewed chemistry (Christmas cookie = spike in blood sugar = 30-45 minutes later you’re “starving” because your body wants more).

Here are a few tools to start tuning into legitimate hunger:

  • Before you eat, think “HALT.” Am I…
    • Hungry
    • Angry
    • Lonely
    • Tired
  • Spend a week (or more) thinking about these questions:
    • Why do I eat?
    • What types of situations or people tend to result in me eating even though I am not hungry?
    • What habits have I created which involve eating (whether or not my body needs fuel)?
    • What emotions tend to trigger “cravings” or a desire for specific types of foods?
    • How do I minimize my exposure to foods which I tend to “mindlessly eat” and/or which are not a good choice for me? (“Out of Sight, Out of Mind” Principle)
    • When have there been times when I was eating healthier/less/more mindfully, etc.? What can I learn from those times and use now to help me be successful?
  1. Fill Up Your Life (Not Your Plate)

This goes along with tip #3. We eat for lots of reasons, and if we’re honest, some of those are because we LIKE eating. We associate it with good times, happy memories, the pleasurable sensation of eating, and the boost in brain chemistry that results. So eating is a good thing, but as we all know, good things can get out of hand.

Think of a BINGO card. Each square represents a need you have (emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, etc.) or something which makes you truly happy and feeds the best you (yoga, taking time to walk and meditate, attending a church or other social group, getting a massage/hair done/manicure, etc).

Your job is to FILL YOUR LIFE (bingo card) with

  • People (who lift you up and encourage you to be healthy)
  • Activities (in which you find joy)
  • Opportunities (to help people, give back, grow your career, grow spiritually, personally, and build a richer life)
  • FUN
  • POSITIVITY
  • DIVERSITY (The more paths to happiness and fulfillment you have the less you will go to food.)
  • ALTERNATIVES (What can you do when you would normally “eat your feelings”? Who can you call? What can you do?)

When we have lives which are full of fun activities, meaningful pursuits, supportive, positive people, and genuinely joyful moments, we become HEALTHIER people. Healthy people tend to add more healthy habits to their lives, and before you know it, 2016 is going to be your healthiest year EVER!

From all of us at DMMB, wishing you Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year!

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Caeli Esser
Caeli wants to live in a world where people (especially women) LOVE their bodies, love moving them and love feeling strong. When she’s not “encouraging” her clients through innovative workouts (she promises us she only yells because she cares), she’s probably doing something which creates a giant mess with her kids (the bigger the mess, the bigger the fun)! She’s a self-proclaimed “crunchy mama,” and has tried everything from making her own sunscreen to laundry detergent. As a mom, she strives to believe she can handle the blessing of three kids in 20 months! Her son, Torin (Jan, 2013) and fraternal twin girls (Aurora & Freyja, Sept. 2014) are the absolute loves of her life (along with husband, and father-of-the-year Thor). Two cats (one almost completely blind) and seven urban chickens round out her joyful family. Caeli is the owner of ClubFit, which brings fun fresh fitness to Des Moines. She works with people at all stages in life from young professionals, brides, pregnancy, post pregnancy and everything in between. In addition, she teaches classes for kids and families, as well as doing special events like birthday parties! While her website is being redesigned, connect with her on facebook at www.facebook.com/myclubfit.

1 COMMENT

  1. Hi Caeli! I found this post of yours after reading your article about 7 tips to lose weight. Both that one and this one are so helpful to me! I am really curious about your pineapple muffin recipe you mention in this post, can you share it? Thanks so much!

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