Over the last few months, I’ve been asked frequently how I managed to have two babies and lose all of the weight so quickly. I gained 24 lbs when I was pregnant with Goose and 31 lbs when I was pregnant with Belly. And I actually have already lost all of that weight. Well, some of it is lost instantly when baby is born, but I digress. I’ll answer the question about how I was able to lose the baby weight, but then I’ll tell you why it doesn’t even matter to me that much.

Breastfeeding

The average breastfeeding woman burns 500 extra calories each day. That’s an entire meal for some people!

I was able to breastfeed Goose for 11.5 months and plan to continue with Belly until her birthday. Breastfeeding was literally all that I had to do after Goose was born and I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in less than a month. While breastfeeding helped significantly with losing weight after Belly was born, I did have to do a little more work.

If you’re not able to breastfeed or choose not to, there are plenty of other ways to lose the baby weight!

(See how I was able to breastfeed while working full time!)

Eat for One

You know how some people tell pregnant women to eat whatever they want because “you’re eating for two”? I did that. I took advantage of my chance to be a little less restrained when it came to eating during both pregnancies.

When Belly was born, I didn’t stop indulging right away. After about two months of my weight staying the same, I made a conscious effort to eat normal portions again. I also became more aware of my sugar intake and tried to limit dessert. As soon as I decided to get back on track with eating, there was an immediate difference in my weight. Not dieting, just mindful eating.

Read my meal planning post to see how we monitor our intake.

Yoga

After you have a baby, your body doesn’t feel like it’s yours. Know what I mean? I needed to do something to make me feel “like a person” again. Some people go for a run, some people take a long nap, other people just need to wash their hair.

Yoga is the thing that makes me feel like myself.

It is an amazing workout for any person during any phase of their life! It’s deceiving because it just looks like you’re stretching. You’re actually using your muscles to balance and control your body for long lengths of time. Yoga is the perfect exercise for pregnant moms and new moms because it’s gentle, low impact, and you choose your own intensity.

So anyway, I got back into my yoga practice a couple of months after Belly was born. Not only did it make me feel like a person, but it is definitely the reason I lost the rest of my baby weight.

After all of this…

I have to say that weight is not the best measurement of health and it certainly is no indication of worth or happiness. Even though the number on the scale reads what it did three years ago, my body has changed drastically after each pregnancy and I don’t expect it to look the same again.

I think it’s more important to take care of myself and remember to be patient and realistic with my goals. I acknowledge that my body was able to grow two amazing little humans and I just try my best to enjoy them every day.

If you recently had a baby, don’t feel any pressure to look a certain way. Listen to your doctor, of course, but remember that there are MANY factors that contribute to weight loss or gain (age, genetics, number of pregnancies, etc).

Also, most of us don’t have nannies, personal trainers, or private chefs. We have families to take care of and lives we’re responsible for.

So give yourself a break and do what you need to be healthy and feel good about yourself. We make people and we’re amazing whether or not we lose the baby weight!