Bye Bye Baby Weight

Each kid brings more pounds correct? Thats seems to sometimes be the way.
After having my first child, Brighton, I was able to quickly bounce back.  Although parts of my body would never be the same, (my ribs had expanded, I had a great looking csection scar, and of course: those boobs will never be the same) it was easy to get off the extra weight and feel pretty normal again.  Then I had my second child, Troy, and had to work much harder to get the pregnancy weight off; I never quite lost all of it.  I did a 90 day workout program.  I was so excited as I saw great results, Troy was about 8 months, but I still had extra pounds.  A year later I was still struggling with the extra weight.  I counted calories and worked out for an hour everyday. I was able to drop 5 more pounds but it was hard! and I felt like I was always hungry and wasn't allotted enough calories to fill me up while losing weight.  I was able to keep off 3 of those pounds until I got pregnant again.

I don't get very sick while being pregnant, but I am exhausted all day long, and hungry all day long! So by the end of my pregnancy I have more than just a few pounds to loose.  After Jake I wasn't happy with myself.  I know… it takes time, and it is perfectly normal to look like you just had a baby for at least 6 months after having the baby, but I was done with it! I didn't want to look in the mirror and see that double chin, flabby belly, or large thighs.  And I was so sick of the few items of clothing I was able to fit into. I wanted my old wardrobe back! And QUICK! I knew it was going to be hard hard hard to feel good again but I was ready to work. And guess what? It wasn't hard hard hard.  It was easy! and Fun! How you ask?  I'll tell you! There were 3 things that really helped me to loose my extra Jake weight in 8 weeks!

60 Day BMS Challenge
I joined a challenge.  I had a team of 4, My BFF Mary, a friend of my sister in law, and a friend of hers.  Together we earned points every week, for 8 weeks by working out, eating healthy, and doing other things great for our "soul".  That's where BMS comes from-Body, Mind, Soul.  There are many different variations of these challenges. Reasons why I joined this one: You only had to work out 30 minutes a day compared to the 45 I had seen in other challenges.  That seemed much more doable to me at this time in my life with 3 high maintenance boys to be taking care of.  There is a negative food list that you are not supposed to eat from; but you get 2 cheats each week without losing points.  That worked for me because I love love love sweets and baked goodies.  Knowing I could indulge sometimes was a plus! Things on the negative list were all things made with white flour, sugar, chips, fries, you know; all those yummy things that aren't so great for your body.  Then there is a neutral list that you can eat from but shouldn't eat to much of, like potatoes, dark chocolate, brown sugar.  You had to eat 10 positive foods each day including 5 fruits or veggies.  Other positives were anything made with 100 percent whole wheat, nuts, beans, protein.  There was also random acts of kindness, prayer, and scripture reading to get more points.  All great things I should be doing anyway!  We should be finding out any day what place we came in. There were 25 teams competing against each other.  The top three teams and top three individuals get $$ at the end for most points and highest percent lost.  It was so fun working as a team.  We texted everyday boosting each other up and cheering one another on.  You also worked harder and didn't want to loose points because your teammates are counting on you as well.  So much more effective then doing it on your own.

Turbo Fire
I used Chalene Johnson's workout program Turbo Fire for most of my workouts.  She is my most favorite workout instructor in the world!! I would love to meet her some day. Before I was married I loved to go to Turbo Kick at my local Gold's Gym.  Turns out Chalene was the inventor of this class! After Brighton I had fun doing her Turbo Jam program in my home while Brighton bopped around me.  After Troy I bought her program Chalean Extreme.  It is TONS of weight lifting with some cardio.  Turbo fire is a harder version of Turbo Jam with HIIT training incorporated.  I love it and i love the energy she has.  She makes it so fun! So everyday I do a workout from one of her programs.  The boys are usually running around me as I jump around the room.  They like to get thigh toners and resistance bands and join in on the fun sometimes too.



Fitness Pal App
Halfway through the challenge I downloaded this app. It's the same one I used when trying to calorie count after having Troy.  Back then I was always hungry and really struggled staying at the calorie intake it gave me.  This time it was so easy to stay at my calorie goal!  At the end of everyday I was completely full and usually under my calories!!  Happy Dance! Also, the app gives you more calories when you enter your workout and Turbo Fire burns TONS of calories.  The days I went over my calorie goal were usually the days I consumed my cheat food.  This app is so easy to use.  It has a bar scanner so you can just scan in what you eat and it puts all the nutrient information in for you. You can also put in your recipes and it will calculate the calories for you.  It shows you at the end of the day a graph with your carb, protein, and fat intake, and tells you what you will weigh in 5 weeks if you continue to eat that way.  You can also connect with your friends that use it and cheer each other on.
Have the app? Add me! my name is: highshy

At the beginning of the 8 weeks my teammates and I told each other what we wanted to loose during the challenge.  Mine was 10 pounds for sure, but 15 would be awesome! I lost 14.5 pounds in those 8 weeks.  It was so fun to get on the scale and see it drop and drop and drop.  I am completely back to the weight I was before having Troy.  After the 5th week I was able to put on all my old jeans and was in Heaven! We took measurements at the beginning and end.  All together I lost a total of 9.5 inches.  3.5 off my waist, 3 off my hips, and 2 off each thigh!  I get compliments all the time about how I don't look like I just had a baby and how quickly I was able to loose the baby weight.  It feels great to hear those words.  My baby is just barely 4 months and I am at the weight I was before I had him.  And Although it took work it was by no means hard.  I still had cookies, cake, at least 8 doughnuts, and delicious food the entire time, and still lost tons of weight! I know people that didn't cheat at all during the challenge, that's great! But I can't always pass up the goodies!

My mom called after the challenge and asked what was the thing I learned from the challenge that I thought was the most important.  It was that I could eat to be full, and still loose weight.  If I was eating things that were in a more natural state, fruits and veggies, I would continue to loose weight. YAY!  I've learned great eating habits.  During the challenge my family ate more healthy as well.  We always had fruits and veggies around the house to munch on and our meals were better too.  My boys love fruit! They also eat salad, carrots, zucchini, asparagus, beans, edamame…I feel like a great mom when I see them eating this way!

Although I am so happy with my results and feel great, I would love to loose a few more pounds and be pre Troy weight!! So I am jumping on the next challenge that starts April 5th.  By the end of May I will be completely ready for summer! Wanna join me? Wanna know more? Go to this website and read a little bit more of the particulars.  www.60daybms.com Then let me know so we can participate together! I'm in the process of putting together an awesome team, or two if we can get enough people to loose weight and feel great before summer time!