As many of you may know, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on May 25th of this year. At 9 months pregnant, I weighed 167 POUNDS! As of today, I weigh 129 pounds! Yep, in just 11 weeks, I was able to drop 38 pounds and I am still working to get down to 120 by Labor Day.
Personally, I know it’s hard to stay motivated and just figure out “how” to get started. So, I decided to share a few of my fitness tips (and FREE online resources) that helped me drop the weight. Check it out here…
Set the Pace
After I had the baby, I started out taking walks. I live near a beautiful outdoor trail and walked about 2 miles per day. I made sure I listened to my body and only did as much as I could bare. Additionally, I drank lots of water. I didn’t make too many changes to my diet at first. I mainly focused on eating three meals per day with snacks in between.
Sometimes people feel like they need to go super hard and when they can’t hang, they get discouraged. The most important thing is that you do SOMETHING. You’d be amazed at the difference a simple daily walk can make. You’ll feel more energized and it will help you build up the stamina needed to increase your physical activity over the coming weeks.
(for a FUN workout you should also try Zumba® Fitness, here’s info on classes that I’m teaching on Monday Nights)
Know Your BMI and Caloric Intake
A Facebook Friend of mine put me on to an AMAZING website that tracks your caloric intake and exercises daily. The site is called MY FITNESS PAL and you can join for FREE at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com. (You can also use their BMI calculator to determine your daily caloric needs)
My Fitness Pal is kind of like a social network for fitness. They have tons of foods in their database. You can view nutrition information and empower yourself to know what you’re putting in your body. This is great info as it helps you understand how foods are affecting your weight loss goals. Additionally, you can network with thousands of like-minded people who are also trying to stay fit!
If you join, you can add me as a friend at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/mariamore
Take Advantage of FREE Fitness Resources
My Personal Trainer, Ray Grayson hosts a FREE online 30 Day Cardio Challenge every month. You may join at any time and take advantage of all the great videos and nutritional recommendations.
Check out this video to see what it’s all about and sign up at: http://www.mrshutupandtrain.com/30dayCC
