By the time I had my son Miles at 41.5 weeks, I’d gained about 33 pounds, bringing me up to 150 lbs from my pre-baby 117. By then I was freakin’ huge, bigger even than in this shot taken at 39 weeks! I’d had a pretty trouble-free pregnancy aside from low-back pain and was able to stay really active up to 38 weeks, aside from the final month when it seemed prudent to take it easy, so overall I gained a normal amount of weight.
It’s now about 6 weeks post-baby. I dropped 10 pounds immediately – pretty typical, just from having given birth. I spent some time recovering, and then some more time existing primarily as a stationary food source, with only the occasional elliptical machine or dumbbell curls snuck in while wearing Miles in a front carrier. I just began a regular exercise program again two weeks ago and alternate day produce fasting this week. I’ve now lost another 2 1/2 pounds! Here’s my strategy:
The Workout
Derek wrote me an ease-back-into-training weight lifting routine that I do 4 times per week. On the other 3 days I do 20 minutes of stairclimber at 70% of my target heart rate, (plus several hours a week of vigorous belly dance while holding an increasingly heavier baby, but that part of the routine may be hard to duplicate!)
Workout A (Push)
DB Front Squat
Push Ups
Calf Raise
DB Incline Bench Press
Bosu Hip Thrust (glutes)
1-Arm Standing Arnold Press
Leg Extension
Crunches w/ Feet Up
Plank (hold for 30 sec)
Workout B (Pull)
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
Prone Leg Curl
Upright Row
2 Arm DB Row, Lying on Incline Bench
Body-weight Good-mornings (no weight due to low back issues)
Inverted Row
Alternating DB Curl
Heel Drags (lower abs)
Russian Twists (obliques)
Week 1: Perform each exercise one at a time for two sets of 15 reps, resting 30-45 sec between sets. Do three 20 minute cardio workouts at 130+ BPM
Week 2: Perform each triple set of exercises for two sets of 15 reps per exercise, resting one to two minutes between sets and exercises. Do three 20 minute cardio sessions at 135+ BPM
Week 3 and thereafter: Perform each triple set of exercises for three sets of 15 reps per exercise, resting one minute max between sets. Do 4 20-30 minute cardio sessions at 140+ BPM
I’m about to begin week 3 of this program. My strength isn’t what it was yet, but I’m seeing rapid improvement; for example,I used to be able to do several sets of 20+ push-ups pre-baby and when I started 2 weeks ago I could barely manage 2 sets of 6…now I can do 2 sets of 10. I’ll get back up there and beyond yet!
The Diet
I’m doing alternate-day produce fasting. Derek has had great success using this fat-loss technique with clients. Every other day I eat only fruits and non-starchy vegetables, making sure not to let my calories get too much lower than usual since I’m breastfeeding. On non-produce-only days I eat our usual whole foods plant-based diet. And let me tell you, after a day of nothing but fruit and salad, the most austere meal of beans and whole grains seems downright decadent! I’ve noticed some additional benefits to the produce-only days too:
- Prevents sugar cravings
- Makes me feel more energetic throughout the week
- Makes it easier to eat clean on non-produce-only days
- Fruit/green smoothie
- Banana
- Apple slices with cinnamon
- Fruit
- LARGE salad with about 2 1/2 hearts of romaine, celery, diced apple, grapes, shredded carrot and a fruit or herb-based dressing. I use Megan Elizabeth’s Youtube channel recipes or her Easy to Be Raw cookbook as a reference here
- Fruit
- GIANT kale salad, with a whole avocado and red bell pepper, red onion, and lemon juice. This salad has around 400-500 calories, so it fills me up, and it’s also my favorite salad recipe ever, so I actually look forward to my produce day dinners. I’ll have to post the recipe – can’t believe I haven’t done it yet.
Here’s me at the start of my current routine:
- A little less than 1 month A.B. (after baby)
I will be posting updates as I continue this journey!
Inspiring I just had a baby 9 weeks ago and am trying to get my body back, sometimes I feel like it will take forever. I just changed from a vegeterian diet (I previously ate egss and sometimes cheese) to a vegan diet and have increased my veg and bean intake and cut down on carbs like bread pasta and rice. Feel amazing love the change cant believe I never did it before eating so much more fresh veg in smoothies etc. Im looking forward to introducing my daughter to this way of life. How is your weight loss and training going?
Awesome possum! I’m interested in trying the produce-only days for myself (no baby here! hehe), especially as summer is creeping in on us and soon it will be too hot to cook in my air-condition-less kitchen! You’re an inspiration to everyone who knows you (even just through the interwebs 🙂 ). Blessings your way!
Thank you!
Hi. I am new to your blog. Congrats on the little one! I too am a new mom. Bf was great for me and losing baby weight. My little one is now almost 10 months old and I am hoping she will self wean in the next few months. My question for you is once you are done bf what will you then give your baby as a supplement to breast milk? She has been vegan since she was born and I am struggling as to what to give her when we are done bf. Suggestions?
Check out Disease-Proof Your Child by Dr. Fuhrman – he has a whole section in the book on transitioning from breastmilk to solid foods (and the rest of the book is awesome too- I think every parent planning to raise their kids on a plant-based diet should read it). His suggested first food is bananas mashed with breastmilk, adding other foods one by one so it’s easy to determine if your baby has any food allergies.
Wow thanks for sharing, the produce only days sound like a great strategy, I will try it!
Good luck losing the baby weight, Marcella. And well done showing everyone how a healthy vegan pregnancy can look! Hopefully you had a great birth experience and things continue to go well with you all.
The thing that helped the most for me was breastfeeding. The weight loss picked up around the 2 months mark, and around 6 months post partum I had lost the 38 gained during pregnancy, plus another 10 I had been struggling to lose pre-baby! As he went through growth spurts, at times I struggled to make sure I could even get enough calories in. I know that doesn’t go that way for everyone, but it was like magic for me, not to mention all the ongoing benefits for us both.
Definitely – I know that most women who breastfeed lose all their baby weight by 6 months postpartum, just one of countless benefits. So not only does it prevent obesity and all kinds of other issues for your baby, it helps you too! This document from La Leche League is worth checking out for anyone looking for hard evidence that breastfeeding has far-reaching benefits.