Exercise and diet is hard with four kids running around. You'd think between chasing a two year old, lifting 40 lb preschoolers, and nursing a baby, I'd be burning some serious calories, but apparently not enough to budge the scale. That's why a while ago I started to get serious about losing the baby weight from baby #4.
I really like Jillian Michaels: 6 Week Six-Pack
, but the workouts are 40 minutes long, and I just couldn't get through it without a million interruptions. It's very discouraging when you feel like you have a dozen more important things to do anyway. So I started doing some 10-25 minute workouts from some of my Denise Austin DVDs
and Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred
, and I decided I really had to start counting calories if I was going to make any progress.
I looked around and found a Flat Belly Diet 2-week meal plan online. A handful of the recipes looked pretty good, so I made an investment in some of the trademark MUFA foods they contained and somehow managed to stick to the diet for a good 2-3 weeks, despite Hurricane Sandy and everything! I also found this family recipe book
at the library, making it easier for me to feed us all the same meal Bonus: kids get a healthier diet, too! I had begun to rely a little too heavily on hot dogs and box mac & cheese, and was feeling pretty guilty about it anyway.
Long story short - I've lost 10 lbs so far! The results have shown up on the scale, in losing a pant size - back into a 6! And I'm using the last notch of my belt (and I need the belt). My stomach definitely looks less bloated and pregnant, although it's still not toned or tightened (working out has seriously gone by the wayside).
Once I hit the 10 lb milestone, I kinda took a break. We've had guests and (even worse) holiday left overs. I think for Christmas dinner I might insist on low-cal options only, because my desire to not waste tons of perfectly good food far exceeds my desire to be healthy.
Here the visual results so far:
, but the workouts are 40 minutes long, and I just couldn't get through it without a million interruptions. It's very discouraging when you feel like you have a dozen more important things to do anyway. So I started doing some 10-25 minute workouts from some of my Denise Austin DVDs and Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, and I decided I really had to start counting calories if I was going to make any progress.I looked around and found a Flat Belly Diet 2-week meal plan online. A handful of the recipes looked pretty good, so I made an investment in some of the trademark MUFA foods they contained and somehow managed to stick to the diet for a good 2-3 weeks, despite Hurricane Sandy and everything! I also found this family recipe book
at the library, making it easier for me to feed us all the same meal Bonus: kids get a healthier diet, too! I had begun to rely a little too heavily on hot dogs and box mac & cheese, and was feeling pretty guilty about it anyway.Long story short - I've lost 10 lbs so far! The results have shown up on the scale, in losing a pant size - back into a 6! And I'm using the last notch of my belt (and I need the belt). My stomach definitely looks less bloated and pregnant, although it's still not toned or tightened (working out has seriously gone by the wayside).
Once I hit the 10 lb milestone, I kinda took a break. We've had guests and (even worse) holiday left overs. I think for Christmas dinner I might insist on low-cal options only, because my desire to not waste tons of perfectly good food far exceeds my desire to be healthy.
Here the visual results so far:
I had to turn to take the picture so you can see my obliques starting to peek through! FYI, these jeans are now a size too big, so they aren't that flattering...
And from the front, you can see a hint that there might actually be muscles underneath the flab. What you can't tell (luckily) is that my skin is still looser than I'd like and not taut. I figure I have until that linea nigra goes away before I have to stop using the pregnancy excuse for that.
So now it's on to Phase 3 - hitting the workouts hard. I think I might get one or two more Denise Austin DVDs that feature 10-20 minute HITT/circuit training type workouts in order to squeeze them in, and I might try to talk Matt into hooking up our Wii so I can get the Zumba game for it (Christmas gift, anyone???) Heck, I may even fit in some visits to the gym a couple of times a week. If I can redouble my dieting efforts along with the exercise I should be at supermodel status in no time.
Anyway, wish me luck, y'all!
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