My Secret to Losing the Baby Weight

“What’s your secret?”

This was a question I received on a handful of occasions over the course of my first six weeks postpartum with our third babe. It was always in reference to my appearance having just had a baby, and quite frankly, it always made me feel uncomfortable.  I just never really knew how to answer because I didn’t know the answer.

But, now I do – thanks to the 30-Day Protein Challenge.

My Secret to Losing the Baby Weight

I was unintentionally depriving myself from an adequate amount of water, protein, and total calories. That coupled with trying to feed a newborn baby, ride herd on her two older siblings, and take care of my ranch responsibilities left me feeling less than energetic.

Sure – I was shedding the pregnancy weight. But ,what I was doing to get rid of it was in no way whatsoever healthy. Definitely not something I would recommend to anyone – ever, let alone another mother. 

If I had kept on down that path, my ability to feed my newborn, ride herd on her two older siblings, and take care of my ranch responsibilities would have been non-existent.

Enter the 30-Day Protein Challenge.

At the time I was two weeks postpartum, and if I am being honest, I had fallen into the trap that so many moms do -the “I need to lose this pregnancy weight and I need to lose it yesterday” trap. I sincerely thought that the protein challenge was going to do just that. 

But… I can admit when I am wrong. And, I was wrong. The moral of my protein challenge story is not weight loss, but rather proper nutrition.

Throughout the challenge, I kept a journal that included everything I ate, as well as how I felt (MyFitnessPal – great for this). It was this journaling that led me to the discovery of my nutritional short comings. From there, I was able to narrow down which meal was consistently lacking protein. For me, breakfast was the culprit. Having that information allowed me to make smarter decisions and shift my breakfast eating habits to include protein rich foods.

Since accepting and going through the challenge, I  have been working on achieving daily protein balance of 25-30 grams of protein for all three meals.  And, let me tell you – reaching that balance is much easier with a meal plan. Meal planning also saves me the stress of trying to figure out what to feed my family on short time and food from being senselessly wasted on account of my forgetfulness.

In my first three weeks postpartum, the number on the scale plummeted. I lost more than half of the weight I had gained in the baby baking process during that time. Again – not healthy. The protein challenge helped me get that under control. My weight loss plateaued and my energy level spiked.

The Moral of the Story and My New Not-So-Secret Secret

The protein challenge also helped me expose “my secret.” My secret that is really a cautionary tale of what NOT to do if you want to feel great, keep up with your family, and sustain your health postpartum – or ever really. The moral of the story, and my new secret, is most definitely proper nutrition.

If you would like to embark on the journey to good health and fitness through proper nutrition, I would encourage you to accept the 30-Day Protein Challenge!