Well, I’ve finished my 6 week workout challenge to myself, and overall I’m pretty happy with how I did. Progress, not perfection, right? 😉

Here were my goals:

• Keep tracking my food on MyFitnessPal at least 6 days a week. (85% of the time)
  • I tracked 27/42 – 64% of the time (plus some half days where I just forgot to track my dinner)
• Follow my workout calendar – even though it will mean a lot of 5am workouts!
  • 28/34 – 82% of my workouts were completed – many at 5am or 9pm. This means I average 4.5 workouts per week, in addition to working full time and taking care of 2 kids. Not too shabby!
• Be securely in the low 150s by October 12.
  • Nope… I had no appreciable weight loss over the last 6 weeks (basically I vacillated around the 158.5# mark)

I was doing REALLY well the first 3 weeks and not as great the final 3 weeks (which is typical I suppose), but I’m still happy I did this challenge in order to change some of my lifestyle habits and remind myself of the importance of focusing on toning workouts and not just getting in my steps.

Specific Benefits I’ve Noticed:

• I’m back in the habit of moving my body more, and it’s not intimidating for me to pick out a DVD workout to do in the morning because I know I can complete them all, even if they hurt my body in the oh-so-good way sometimes. 🙂
• Stella wants to exercise every day with me now to get “big & strong” too. I love that she is seeing me model healthy behaviors and wants to do the same!
• I have a good grasp again of the calorie counts of the standard foods in my diet at this point & no longer need to track every day to stay on track to maintain my weight. I LOVE MyFitnessPal and think it’s a great tool for weight loss, but I definitely don’t want to have to count calories every day of my life in order to stay at a healthy weight.
• I fit into the majority of clothes in my closet again! There are a few items I’m still not comfortable in because of the shape of my body, but the vast majority of my clothing at least buttons and zips again. For a cheapskate like me, that’s a great thing. 🙂

Eventually I’d love to have my weight sit in the 148-150 range, but honestly, those last 10# can wait until I’m done breastfeeding. My post last Friday (and all of your amazing responses – thank you!!!) made it clear to me that I need to focus my efforts on properly fueling my body for milk production for the next few months. That being said, 160# is my line in the sand now, and I know that I’m perfectly capable of staying below that mark if I’m leading a healthy life. I’ve spent way too much time in the last decade hanging out in the 165-170 range, and it’s not good for my health – mentally, emotionally, or physically – to be at that weight, since it truly means I’m not taking care of myself. Remember, I’m 5’8″, so 164″+ puts me in the “obese” BMI category, so it makes sense that I feel better when I stay away from that range!

After Harvey was born, I quickly dropped back down to the mid-160s, and there I sat for most of the last 9 months. It’s awesome to be able to finally say at 9 months postpartum that I’m comfortably in the upper 150s, which means I’m consistently weighing a couple of pounds LESS than I did when I conceived both Stella & Harvey. Yay!

9 Months to Put it On – 9 Months to Take it Off

May 1, 2013: 161# – 4w pregnant
January 12: 181.2# – 40w4d pregnant
January 15: 166.5# – 3d postpartum
February 12: 163.9# – 1m postpartum
March 12: 162.3# – 2m postpartum
March 15: My SIL died. I eat & drink my way through grief.
April 12: 167.0# – 3m postpartum
May 12: 168.3#​ – 4m postpartum
June 12: 163.0# – 5m postpartum
July 12: 160.2# – 6m postpartum
August 12: 163.5 – 7m postpartum (2d post-vacation)
September 12: 156.9# – 8m postpartum (fluke low weight? usually around 158.4#)
October 12: 158.5#

The red line is after my pregnancy with Stella (I lost more weight sooner & then struggled). The blue line is after this most recent pregnancy with Harvey (I had more consistent loss – except for when Jaime died at 2mpp – and I am at about the same place now).

My plan moving forward:

• Continue working out 3x/week at least
• Continue weighing in at least 2x/week to keep my eating in check – if I get up to 160#, I need to reevaluate my food & drink choices to ensure I’m staying in the healthier 150 range.
• Reassess my goals after Harvey’s 1st birthday when I’m not stressed about my milk supply.

Postpartum Progress – 1 week / 3 months / 5 months / 9 months