I am a 34-year-old mother of 2 sweet little girls, and this is how I lost 30 pounds in 6 months. This just happened to work for me, and it may also work for you.
Background About Me
I am 34 years old, and I have two young girls. My oldest is almost 7, and my youngest is nearly 2. I have always been very active. Working out has always been something that I enjoy; pregnant or not, I like to move my body. Going to the gym regularly has been a part of my lifestyle for the last 11 years.
I have done just about every gym routine there is. Before pregnancy, I did the body-building circuit – doing back and bis, chest and tris, leg day, etc. – started with a 5k run before going into my weight training circuit for the day, followed by abs every day.
Then, I went through a group fitness class phase. Doing a couple of spin classes, some body pump, and an occasional yoga class. From here, I got into the hot yoga scene. I would do hot yoga, pilates, and sculpting and occasionally throw in a double.
Pregnancy 1 Workouts
My first pregnancy was textbook and perfect throughout the first 6-7 months. I could run and lift weights; I was eating very healthy and not putting on too much weight too fast. It then turned into a high-risk pregnancy, and I was placed on light bed rest and told to eat way more protein to try and get my baby to put on more weight. This did not work, and I packed an extra 20 pounds.
Crossfit
After recovering physically from delivery and getting the OK from my doctor, I started going to CrossFit. This was huge for my mental health and my physical health. The gym I went to was like a garage-style laidback gym with some fantastic people. One of my female coaches encouraged me and made me feel welcome when I was so uncomfortable. I was figuring out how much my body had changed after pregnancy and accepting it.
Crossfit helped me learn how to throw some weight around. The competitiveness with each other and yourself and writing your times or reps on the board was fun. Improving my score and getting closer to doing the RX workouts was very motivating.
I did CrossFit for a little over two years, and I loved it. I even continued doing CrossFit workouts at home during COVID. Until we moved, and I wasn’t liking any of the gyms near my new house.
Fancy Gym
After trying different CrossFit gyms and not fitting in like I wanted to, I decided to go back to a global gym, but a FANCY one this time. I met with a trainer and was doing some personal training sessions along with group classes. Then I got pregnant again. I continued to attend classes and training sessions throughout the pregnancy. This time, everything was much easier, minus some heartburn.
Pregnancy 2
After giving birth the second time, I was much better prepared for the recovery. I did lots of walks outside with the baby, and once I was cleared to work and my baby girl was three months old, I went back to my fancy gym since they had a fantastic childcare center. I did class after class after class. Lower body booty building classes, total body weight training classes, hot yoga classes, spin classes, I did it all. 5 days a week.
I made a lot of progress and lost about 20 pounds but then I was just stuck. I was 211 pounds when I gave birth and was hovering around 180-185 pounds FOREVER. Nothing is more frustrating than working out hard consistently and thinking you are eating well and nothing changes. This went on for about the first year after having Sadie.
F45
When I returned to work, I struggled with getting to my fancy gym. I couldn’t go early enough and didn’t want to go afterward, so I changed it up and joined F45. It was 5 5-minute drive from my house, classes were entire body and only 45 min, and I could go EARLY at 530 and be home in time to get ready and go to work.
I did this for about two months and was noticeably getting more robust, but I only lost about another 3 pounds and was still bouncing back and forth around 180-182 pounds. So when that new year started in January, I got serious with myself and realized that it is not the workouts I struggle with; it’s my diet.
How I lost 30 pounds in 6 months
The first step in getting better is admitting you have a problem. Well, I had a problem. I thought I was eating well; my diet was on point. But the scale wasn’t changing, and my pants and clothes were fitting the same. So, I admitted my defeat and started to pay attention to my diet.
You can have too much of a good thing.
I was eating healthy food—all organic, pastured raised, no antibiotics, top-tier quality whole foods. However, my portion sizes were massive. I was eating way more than I needed to be eating. My calories were far above my calories burned, so I wasn’t losing any weight. I didn’t gain weight, but I wasn’t trying to stay the same size.
Snacks
I was having way too many snacks. When I started to focus on what and when I was eating, I noticed that I would eat just to eat. If I was bored when I got home from work while cooking, I would eat. I didn’t need to eat; I wasn’t hungry – but I would eat anyway.
Drinks
I would get a large coffee from dutchies almost every day. Drinking extra calories did nothing for me. I wasn’t getting frappuccinos or the notoriously high-calorie coffee drinks, but that milk and the caramel drizzle add up daily.
Desserts
I wouldn’t eat huge, crazy desserts, but I would always like a little scoop of ice cream at night. Occasionally, yes. Every day is probably not the best when you need to lose weight.
How I lost 30 pounds in 6 months
Okay, so I told you all of my realizations regarding my diet. I thought I was eating well, and I was, for the most part. When you are in it, you don’t see it. As I type this up on the computer and look back, it seems obvious. Like, duh, why would you think you were in a calorie deficit? I know. Hindsight is 20/20, am I right?
Here are the changes I made to lose 30 pounds in 6 months
- I weighed myself every day – every morning when I got dressed. We fluctuate all the time, so that number changes all the time. So don’t take the number on the scale personally – it’s just business. You see it go up; well, you gotta be better today. It’s going down, good – keep it going.
- Focused on protein for every meal and every snack – I didn’t track my food religiously, but I would track loosely the amount of protein. My goal was 30-50 grams per meal. If I ate more snacks, it would be like 30g each; less meals I would aim for 50 grams.
- Portion sizes – Americans in general, eat way too much. No one needs to supersize their fries. All-you-can-eat sushi would get me every time. I cut my portion size by splitting a roll with my husband and having 3 orders of garlic tuna nigiri. Instead of splitting 8 orders of nigiri and 5 rolls, plus gyoza and miso soup and the free green tea ice cream for dessert.
- Drink more water with electrolytes – I would drink so much water and still be dehydrated. I added a pack of LMNT electrolytes once daily and felt much better; my super dry skin improved too.
- Coffee – I limited the amount of takeaway coffee. I would stick with my one coffee in the morning and only get coffee out once or twice a week. Instead of getting a large, I would get a small.
- Desserts – I stopped having dessert every night. I also swapped to healthier options, for example. Instead of having ice cream, I would take some plain Greek yogurt, add some raw organic honey, organic strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, and then sprinkle some chocolate chips for dessert. Satisfies the sweet tooth but also adds more protein.
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Move Body More – Besides continuing my workout routines; we incorporated moving our bodies more. We take regular walks and go to the park. Hitting those step goals is huge.
It might seem like a huge amount of weight to lose quickly, but it isn’t. I lost about 5 pounds per month, about 1 pound per week. It is doable. The hardest part is to just keep going when you are on a plateau. Some weeks I wouldn’t lose any weight, and others I would lose 2 or 3 pounds. Just keep going.
Disclaimer
I am not a doctor, fitness instructor, or dietitian. What I have written about has worked for me, however, it may not work for you. Do not start or stop any diet or fitness program without first consulting with your doctor or other health care professional.
