baby lose weight during growth spurt | Before After Success Story Jenna of Small Fry Blog

baby lose weight during growth spurt

Ive been pestering my friend Jenna (of Small Fry Blog) to allow me to post about her weight loss and fit-lifestyle gain for awhile now and she finally gave in!  Shes a mom to two precious boys and looks younger than ever.  Im so proud of her and thrilled that she is allowing me to share her story with you all here.

Not only does she look amazing, Jenna feels better than ever after making some serious changes to her diet and embracing a lifestyle of exercise.  I think there is nothing better than REAL LIFE examples of regular women who are committed to changing their health for the better and then get to show off their results as a testimony to the sweat and hard work it took to get there.

Im motivated and encouraged by her and I hope you will be too.

Here are Jennas BEFORE & AFTER photos and her story in her own words below.  

Ive always been "fit." As in, Ive always worked out at the gym & felt guilty when I ate a whole plate of brownies. I never would have considered myself overweight but just your average size 8-10 girl, 55, 145 pounds. 

I got pregnant with my first son Quinn, and after a miscarriage and some bed rest issues, I found I had gained a solid 45 pounds. No worries though because nursing will FOR SURE take it all off! Lies! (At least for me.) I discovered that my body more easily wanted to hang on to the weight than lose it while I was nursing. I was ravenously hungry and filling myself with anything I could find to stay full and happy! I worked out occasionally, tormented myself with P90X, and wished to be skinnier. I lost everything but 10 pounds by the time another baby was to come two years later.

Pregnant with my second boy Jude, with a bit more experience under my belt, I tried a little bit harder. I definitely was more conscious, and knew that the weight wouldnt just miraculously fall off after his birth. I only gained 30 lbs but with the additional 10 I had held on to previously, I was sitting on a lot of extra weight, and a lot of bad habits. The second he was born I knew it was time to change. 

Initially I signed up for Weight Watchers because they have a nursing program and I actually REALLY loved this program. It was perfect for me, and I got enough food to keep my supply up for my baby but at the same time was conscious of portion control. It was the beginning for me, at the age of 27, of finally being conscious and present in what Im eating. I had never known before this program how much of my eating was out of boredom. At this time I was also working out at the gym quite regularly, doing pump classes or running. 

At four months post partum I weighed 153 lbs and was 26% body fat. At this point I was introduced to the world & culture of Crossfit. As much as it is a trend now, when I started I was one of the only women I knew of my friends who did it, and it was terrifying. I had never put any weight (literally) in strength training & all the olympic style heavy lifts were very intimidating for me. I remember sitting in my car before class, and giving myself a pep talk to go inside. Which is so not like me as Im a very social person, but like I said this atmosphere was so foreign and new to me at first - and completely terrifying! It took one week for me to fall in love with Crossfit, one month to become obsessed, and a couple months to see the difference in my body. Id lost 12 additional pounds and weighed 141 & was comfortably a size 6. I ran a half marathon, excelled in crossfit and generally just felt alive again! 

It was ineviteble for me to be introduced to the world of Paleo shortly after the world of Crossfitting. But of course I was working out harder than I ever had in my life so surely I did not need to adjust my eating :) I was definitely making better choices; oatmeal, whole grain toast and salads but there was something about this challenge I wanted to take on. So I started. The withdrawals were outrageous, and I found myself declining lunch dates with friends because I knew full well I couldnt control myself there. It was a whole new world of lean meats, sweet potatoes, fish, and considering pineapple a dessert. This was when the most change happened, in my opinion. While I only lost 10 pounds in 60 days of being 100% paleo, I lost 5% more body fat taking me down to 16% and lost over 10 inches taking me down to a size 4. I learned to take my focus off the scale, its results could never compare to the leaps and bounds I was making in body fat and inches. Ive never felt better than when Im following the guidelines of Paleo. Its not for everyone, and I now follow the 85/15 rule to allow for some fun every now and then. To me living 85% paleo isnt so much a diet as it is a lifestyle. 

Besides the fact that I feel great in my clothes, (although Im always wanting and challenging myself for more body change. I dont think Ill ever be an "after", Ill never stop looking for ways to challenge myself and improve my health!), Ive found that a healthy lifestyle has made me a better person, wife, and mother. Im happier, more energetic, excited about life, and confident! All these changes result in a happier, healthier home for our family. 

* * * * * 

It can be scary to share yourself so openly in such a public format.  If her story resonated with or encouraged you, please leave a comment so that she knows she has helped someone. - Megan

If YOU have a BEFORE & AFTER success story you are willing to share, please send it my way.  Id love to feature you here!

You can email me at:  honeywerehealthyblog@gmail.com

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post pregnancy weight loss c section | Before After with Andrea from Worley House

post pregnancy weight loss c section

Andrea of Worley House is sharing her weight loss success story with us today.  Im super proud of this girl.  She lost 68 pounds by eating healthy and working out AT HOME.  If you have weight to lose, take heart, Andrea saw big improvements in just three months!  Shes got two kids (one my sons age) and a younger one as well.  Please leave Andrea a comment on this post so that she knows she has inspired you.  Its brave of her to share her story!  Also, check out her blog- I think youll like it! 

Hi Honey Were Healthy Readers! My name is Andrea Worley, I blog over at my little slice of the Internet called Worley House! Im so honored that Megan asked me to share a bit of my story here, on a topic I never thought Id ever share about; weight loss and becoming healthy. 

I had my second baby in December 2012, my pregnancy with #2 was much harder on my body, I gained about the same amount of weight that I did with my first but I was already over weight and not very healthy when I got pregnant the second time around. So I think that those things combined with a difficult pregnancy added to my discomfort. 

On delivery day I weighed in at 190 pounds. I knew that some of that weight was baby, excess water and fluids. Couple weeks after having my second baby I weighed myself, 168 pounds on my 52 frame. At that point I knew that I needed to change a lot of habits if I wanted to lose the weight and become healthy. 

I started working out and changing what I was eating. I dont have a gym membership, Im just a woman and a mother using what she has to make her life healthier and better. I dusted off my DVD of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and used it daily. Well past the 30 days. It was 20 minutes, but certainly not easy for me. It was a great starting point, and I knew I needed to make time for myself if I was going to reach my goals.

I set small goals for myself when I first started losing weight. I also started tracking everything I ate through My Fitness Pal. This was a good visual for me to see the calories I was consuming. To learn portion control and because I was still breast feeding as well I needed to make sure I was eating enough calories to still produce and not reduce my supply. 

After three months of eating well and daily exercise.

After three months of eating well and daily exercise I started to see some major results. It gave me to motivation to keep going and set new goals. My healthy lifestyle change has spilled over into every area of my life and to my family. 

I started drinking tons and tons of water. I believe water intake is huge for weight loss and flushing out your system. I omitted all dairy from my diet as well, started cutting out sweets and sugary drinks. I also eat five small meals a day. My diet is mostly clean, and when I say that I mean I am human. I have a cookie sometimes. I strive for consistency in this- not perfection. 

Once I started making changes to my eating habits and working out I noticed right away that I was sleeping better and easier at night. The headaches that I was getting often were gone, and over all I had a better outlook on life and on myself. 

I also believe that my lifestyle change also helped get me out of my post baby funk. My whole outlook changed. 

The picture on the left is my "before" picture taken in May 2013, and the one on the right was taken at the end of October 2013. Im down 68 pounds now and have reached the goal weight that I wanted to be at.

I believe in always setting new goals for yourself, stretching yourself and making your body work for you and not against you. I still work out daily, I do videos from the comfort of my own home and have now added running into my workouts. Ive learned that food is fuel for your body. Its not supposed to make you feel good about yourself, or make you happy. The purpose of food is to nourish our bodies and allow it to do what God created it to do. I really believe you have to change your outlook on food as well.

Almost a year into my fitness journey, Ive met some of my original goals. Its time to make new ones and always continue to thrive in living a healthy life. Im looking forward to running my first 5K ever this March. Dont give up if you dont see results immediately, change takes time. Your body didnt get where its at over night, so give yourself time to makes the right and healthy changes.

If youre wanting to make a change I encourage you to just start, theres never going to be a "perfect day" to start or a perfect month. Once you start you will never regret it. Once you start to see your body change you wont regret it either. Its easier to not work out, I believed this for far to long but once I started making changes in my habits it gave me a new outlook as well. And, I wont lie it feels pretty great to have nothing that fits and your pants be a little looser than before. Its a great perk!

Thanks Megan for letting me share today! If youre looking for more tips, encouragement and motivation visit me over on my blog, find me on Facebook ,  Twitter or Instagram @worleyhouse.

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weight loss during early pregnancy without morning sickness | The Day Before

weight loss during early pregnancy without morning sickness

I remember this day, August 13, 2001, quite clearly. Actually, the evening.

I had a routine OB appointment. I was humongous, strapped to the monitor. I looked like a whale. Eric took a photo for posterity. We had just received our first digital camera and this was the test shot.

Dr. E. proceeded to tell me everything was fine. Yes, everything pregnancy-wise was. But I was a nervous wreck. I had spent the prior 37 weeks and 6 days alternating between fear of never having a living child and denial that I was even pregnant.

I asked Dr. E. about an early delivery. The thought of two more weeks felt like two more years. He uttered magic words, "if you wake up tomorrow and you feel the baby is moving less, call the office and we will get you delivered."

Thats all it took. And my journey of grief was ending.

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post pregnancy weight loss guide | Blueberry Almond Scones The Chronicles of Home

post pregnancy weight loss guide

Today, our food contributor Jennifer is sharing a healthy recipe for blueberry almond scones.  I really want to try these because my son loves blueberries!

I cant even tell you how much I look forward to Jennifers recipe posts.  You may know Jennifer from her decor and DIY blog, The Chronicles of Home.  If you havent visited or arent a follower, Im sure shed love to have you!

Blueberry Almond Scones

For the most part, Im a creature of habit when it comes to breakfast.  Weekday mornings my daughters and I usually eat one of three things - (1) smoothies and whole grain toast with peanut butter, (2) egg on whole grain toast with fresh fruit, or (3) whole grain hot cereal with dried fruit.  And, honestly, Im okay with this routine.  All of those things work for me on harried weekday mornings and I feel good about eating them and feeding them to my daughters as often as I do.  

Then the weekends roll around and the last thing I want are any of these things since Ive just spent five days in a row eating them!  Thats where the more "special" breakfast dishes come in, like multigrain pancakes or sweet potato hash.  Scones are another of my weekend favorites and Ive been tinkering with my recipe lately to try to make it a little healthier.

In this version I used a double shot of blueberries - both fresh and dried - to get a variation in flavor and texture and to double down on all the antioxidant goodness.  I added sliced almonds for some crunch and protein.  I often use half whole wheat and half white flour in baking recipes to get some whole grain worked in without totally sacrificing the light texture of white flour.

I also played with coconut oil here in place of the typical butter in scones.  Heres my take on coconut oil, and keep in mind that Im not a nutritionist, just a health-minded home cook whos done a little research.  Coconut oil is a heavily saturated fat just like butter.  Theres some research that suggests the kind of saturated fat in coconut oil may be better for those with cholesterol issues than butter.  But for me, there are a lot of "may bes" in the research thats out there and in the end I think its best to use some moderation in your consumption of coconut oil just like you would with butter.

I liked the use of coconut oil in this recipe because it added a very light, subtle undertone of coconut flavor to the scones and still gave them the flakiness of a regular scone made with butter.  These scones will be heartier and a bit more dense than one you might get at your local Starbucks, but Ive found I actually like the healthy-indulgent version better!

Ingredients
3/4 c. white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. refined coconut oil (butter can be substituted)
1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1/4 c. dried wild blueberries
1/4 c. sliced almonds
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400º.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.  Cut coconut oil in with a pastry cutter until its the consistency of coarse sand.

Gently stir in fresh blueberries, dried blueberries, and almonds.

In a small bowl whisk the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla to blend.  Pour over dry ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Drop batter in 8 mounds onto prepared baking sheet (about 1/2 c. of batter each).

Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Thank you Jennifer!

* * * * * 

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pregnancy weight loss after delivery | Due Date

pregnancy weight loss after delivery

Ugh, another July 28th. Date sucks almost as much as March 8th. Maybe someday it wont?

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pregnancy weight loss before and after pictures | Before After Success Story Valerie

pregnancy weight loss before and after pictures

Hearing from readers on similar fitness journeys makes me so happy.  It makes me feel like were all in this together.  I would love to celebrate you and feature your success story here.  Send me an email at: honeywerehomeblog@gmail.com

via 

Valerie wrote in explaining how she has lost nearly 100 pounds!  Can we take a minute and just let that soak in?? Wow! Talk about a journey that you truly have to take one day at at time.  I am so proud of her and couldnt wait to share her story with you.  I hope this gives encouragement to anyone who wants to lose a significant amount of weight.  I can tell from her face that she is so much happier now that shes a more fit person.  And it wasnt easy for her- she works and has kids with sports activities, so she wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to get her workouts in.  Valerie, big hugs to you girl!  You can visit her blog too- Fabulous Chick Gets Fit and follow her on Instagram IG: @fabchickgetsfit

Age, height, and weight ("before" and "after").  I am 31, 5’4” and my highest weight was 280lbs. Right now I am 189lbs.

Family status- married/single/kids/work?  Other background you wish to share. I am married with two kids {Sydney is 4 and Bryce is 8} I work as an event planner.

"Light bulb moment"- What made you decide to make a change? When I turned 30, I celebrated my birthday in Miami and saw a picture of myself and new I had to change. I was 280lbs and a size 22! I had put myself on the backburner and tried so many fad diets before like so many others. But this time was different. I was going to blog about my journey of losing 100lbs and inspire others and let them help hold me accountable. After losing 50lbs I decided I wanted to push myself further and compete.

What did you do to accomplish your goal? (Food/meal plan and exercise specifics) I did lots of research and completely changed my eating habits. I followed a completely clean eating lifestyle, cut out fast food, soda and sugar. I started walking a mile a day and finding kettle bell videos. Now I have hired a competitor coach and I am lifting heavy and do HIIT 6x a week. She also has me on a strict meal plan.

How did you make time for fitness? Because of my schedule, my husband’s schedule and the kids school/sports, it was best for me to get up at 5:30am and work out.

How long did it take you to reach your goal? It took me a little over a year to get to where I am now. I started my journey January 2013. I will compete on November 2, 2014.

Was there a specific person, website, blog that inspired/motivated you and provided you good information for losing weight/getting fit? I followed a few blogs when I first started. But the clean eating guide by Jamie Eason from bodybuilding.com was very helpful and Marianne from myomytv.com is where I got all of my kettle bell workouts. 

Any other information that you think would be beneficial and inspiring to other women. I always stress on my blog that with dedication and consistency anything is possible. I am going from obese to the competition stage and though difficult, it can and will be done. 

You are one hot mama Valerie!  Please feel free to leave her a sweet note in the comments- she deserves some love! 

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is weight loss during pregnancy bad | Answers

is weight loss during pregnancy bad

Alison came home today freaked out from learning about puberty. Im not sure how it happened, but she brought up Solomon, or maybe I did.

She asks a lot of questions, I just wish I had better answers. She stated that he would be in 5th grade and she would see him in the hall if he had lived. Well shes right, he would be in 5th grade, if things had gone according to plan. But would I have her? Or Adam?

How did this come to be my lifes plan? I have stopped asking but now I have a child who wants answers, sigh.

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baby weight loss tracker | Fun with Jack Before Baby 2 Arrives

baby weight loss tracker

 

In these final weeks before Baby#2 makes an appearance, we have been trying to make sure we get some special time with Jack. Last week was his spring break from school and then this past weekend was Easter, so we have had our fill of activities. It still blows my mind that in a couple of weeks, there will be two little ones instead of just one in our home.

First up, we decided to take Jack to his first movie. We saw Paddington at the cheap theater. To be fair, we took him to the movies a few times when he was an infant, but this is the first time he had an awareness of the experience. He had a fun time, but had a million questions – especially regarding the projector, the seats and the cup holders.

In addition to the movies, we have been enjoying the spring weather and spending time at the playgrounds around town, as well as visits to the Creative Discovery Museum. "Digging dinosaurs" is one of Jacks favorite things to do.

For Easter weekend, we had a jam packed Saturday that involved the annual community Easter egg hunt on Signal Mountain...

a petting zoo at the SonRise tour at the Seventh Adventist University in Collegedale... 

and a birthday party at a Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. Surprisingly Jack survived the entire day with just a 20 minute nap in the car. I guess all of the sugar kept him trucking all day.

To give Jack a framework of when the baby would arrive, we have been telling him that "after Easter" was the expected time. We talk about the baby a lot, and thankfully he hasnt been bothered by the fact that it is after Easter and our baby hasnt arrived yet. Soon enough... soon enough.

See Jack tell me about his dinner.


See Jack say the Pledge of Allegiance. 


See Jack practice his skateboarding skills. 


See Jack jump in the foam pit at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. 


See Jack on the rope swing at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga. 


See Jack jump off the vault into a foam pit at the Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga.

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pregnancy after weight loss surgery forum | Off the Wall

pregnancy after weight loss surgery forum

Back in 2006 (I think that was the year) I had the unfortunate experience of forgetting to set the parking brake AND put our Pathfinder in gear when I got home from work. This happened not once but three times in a matter of months. Did I mention that our driveway at the time was a hill? The first time the Pathfinder rolled down the driveway and into our fence. The second time didnt do much damage to the pathfinder, but it did push the fence over. The third time the Pathfinder rolled down the driveway, over the now downed fence and into a tree. Daniel discovered the tree incident and was not very happy. He didnt let me live down the Pathfinder mishaps for YEARS.

As of two weeks ago, he can no longer give me a hard time about my "record" with cars (on a side note I have never had a wreck)...

On Daniels first day to go back to work (after a 3-week paternity leave), I was woken up by Daniel anxiously asking if he could take my car for the day. Something about his car going off our driveway and being stuck on the retaining wall.

In my half-asleep state I told him he could take the car and that I didnt think I would manage to go anywhere with a 3-year-old and infant on my first day home alone.

Several hours later when both boys were up and fed, I looked out the window to see what Daniel meant by his car was stuck on the retaining wall. From the house, it didnt look great, but it was kind of hard to tell through all of the trees.

Later that day Daniel called and asked me to take pictures of the vehicle to see what kind of damage there was and how stuck it actually was. This would give him time to think about the best way to get it off the wall, and allow him to stop at Lowes on the way home to pick up the materials he needed to get it unstuck.

While Isaac napped, Jack and I ventured down to the back driveway and onto the path below the retaining wall. As I got closer, I asked Jack to stay back. From what I could tell, the car had knocked off a section of curb on the retaining wall and the car was lodged on the wall. 

Daniel was lucky that it didnt go over completely. Especially when he later told me that he had not yet buckled up... 

Had the car gone over, there is a good chance it would have flipped backward onto its roof. As it was, it was perched rather precariously and Im thankful Daniel was able to climb out unharmed.

So how does one drive off a driveway? Well over the weekend we had had a crowd of 16 people in our house to celebrate the arrival of baby Isaac and Mothers Day. During this time, Daniel had spent some time replacing the rotors and pads brakes of his car. Every time he finishes a brake job, he immediately gets in, pumps the brakes enough to set the new pads against the rotors, and then drives the car to make sure everything is fine. 

When he finished this brake job it was 10:30 at night, and he needed to close up the garage so guests downstairs could go to bed. He had planned on test driving the car (and pumping the brakes enough to set the pads against the rotors) sometime in the next several days before going back to work the following week.

Several days came and went, and besides being tired, Daniel was distracted with numerous other things (taking Jack to the ER in the middle of the night, dealing with an A/C unit that stopped working while the house was full of people, etc.) Suffice it to say he got distracted and never took that important drive. 

Early the next Tuesday morning Daniel was in a hurry when he left to go back to work, and had forgotten about the recently completed brake job on his car (that he had yet to pump the brakes for or driven). 

He backed out of the garage towards the wall like he normally does, and the brake pedal went to the floor when he tried to stop backing up. He had time to pump it a second full pump before the car rolled into the curb at the top of the wall, broke out a huge chunk of the curb, then rolled over/through where the curb had been. (If anyone is wondering, it takes about 3 pumps to set the pads against the rotors.)

Daniel has worked on cars since high school and he has never made this kind of mistake – chalk it up to 3 weeks of sleep deprivation with a newborn and a lot of distractions. At 6am Tuesday morning, he was exhausted and not thinking about the brakes as he backed out of the garage and onto the turn around spot that is on top of a retaining wall.

Thankfully the car didnt go over all the way over, and the wall held. That night Daniel came home and went straight to work on getting his car unstuck. First he secured the front of the car to a tree to ensure it couldnt go any further backwards, and if the wall collapsed the car couldnt fall far. He then leveled a spot on the side of the hill under the car and built a foundation out of plywood and concrete blocks to support his air-over-hydraulic-ram that he would use to jack up the rear end of the car.  

Once the foundation was in place, he ran the air hoses for the ram and placed the control for the ram where he could reach it without being under the car while it was being lifted. He inserted wooden blocks as cribbing under the car as it was raised higher, so that if it fell for any reason it would only have a short distance to fall before landing on the wood.

 

After the back end of the car was a couple of feet above the retaining wall (and about 8 or 9 feet above the ground below where the foundation was), Daniel put long 4x4s underneath the rocker panels on each side of the car that extended all the way from the front tires to underneath the rear wheels. The 4x4s would serve as makeshift ramps to pull the car back over the top of the curb and onto the top of the wall where it belonged.

Using a come-a-long (basically a winch that you crank with your hand), he was able to use the hand crank to pull the car slowly off of the wall and back onto the driveway. It took him until 10 that night to get the car unstuck. Amazingly the car was driveable and only has a little bit of cosmetic damage to one plastic panel. It was an exciting first day back to work to say the least.

So my first day flying solo with the boys lasted until 10pm that night. I got to experience the full deal – an entire day, plus evening activities including dinner and bedtime flying solo. We dont like to do things the easy way around here!
 

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