Losing the Pregnancy Weight, the Good, Bad and Ugly!

Hey all! It seemed a lot of people were interested in hearing my perspective on losing baby weight, weither it's right after childbirth or down the road. I had Ashlynn 2 years ago in May and want to share with you my success and struggles of getting down to my pre-pregnancy weight.

First of all, I'm sorry, but glad to say there are no gimmicks. Yes I do join weight watchers here and there for accountability purposes and recipes, but that's it. I am stickler about eating what I want in moderation mixed with excercise. It works for me.

During my pregnancy I gained around 45 pounds. Ashlynn was right under 9 lbs if that tells you how much I gained. I ate my pregnancy away and loved every minute of it. I told myself I was pregnant and this was the one time in my life I could enjoy it. Needless to say I did love it but made a decision afterwards that I wouldn't do that the second time around. I lost the first 25 pounds with in the first probably 4-6 weeks just naturally by breastfeeding and I was out walking a week after C-section. I tried to stay active after having Ashlynn. Me and my sis took Ash on a 4 mile walk probably 8 days after I had C Section and i FELT it. Looking back that probably wasn't the smartest decision but I told myself I'm getting back in shape and QUICK. I have always been at a healthy weight and size and had a lot of criticism when I got pregnant. A lot of people are happy for you but you do have those people that "joke" that your figure will never be the same and bye bye skinny. I was ready to prove them wrong. I know I'll have people next saying oh just wait after you've had 2 or 3 it's never the same, I'll prove them wrong too. Your body is what you make of it. We all make choices, I chose to get back in shape quick, but without starving myself and killing myself with excercise.

The first thing I did as all of you know I like to do races, I signed up for a Duathlon which I did about 12 weeks after having Ashlynn, meaning I started training the minute my doctor cleared me for excercise. This helped, I had something to work towards. I encourage that. If you want to get back in shape...sign up for a 5K Run or walk it doesn't matter, you're being ACTIVE. I am about to post below the pics from my Duathlon that I found the other day, they were SHOCKING to me. I know it was 10-12 weeks post pregnancy but Good Lord, I realized what all that bad eating left behind after the baby weight left. To take off the final 20 pounds I had to work Hard, it wasn't easy but was sooo worth it in the end.

Here is me at the Tri Indy Duathlon downtown Indy in 2010, this was about 18 months ago...

Looking back at these pics, I don't remember looking like this, b/c I felt great. I was training, keeping myself in shape but AGAIN not starving myself or trying to lose 10 pounds in a week. Those last 20 pounds took probably 6 months or so to finish getting off. I did these things by walking A LOT with my jogging stroller, going to the canal and running with Ashlynn sometimes 2x/week, etc. I was also starting to swim for my first Triathlon which I did 13 months after having Ashlynn, as you'll see I still had baby weight on. Looking back, I never remember being discouraged or anything b/c I was doing things in my life to keep me healthy.

Boilermaker Acquatics Triathlon pics:

I'll try to only bore you with a few more pics, just wanted to share where I've been and where I am now. Since having Ashlynn and being medically cleared after having her, I've done 1 Duathlon, 1 Triathlon, 2 Half Marathon's and 2 Full Marathon's. I share a lot on facebook and on this blog b/c I'm very proud of myself. It's a great feeling of accomplishment and especially after going back and sharing these pics of the past it has truly made me see where I've came from.

If any of you are reading this and are down about your weight after having a baby or not even having a baby, it can happen as you see above. You just have to do 2 things, stay active and track what foods you are putting in your mouth. For me it took weight watchers, b/c I loved that I could still eat a cheeseburger if I wanted or a candy bar, i'd just watch what I ate for the rest of the day. My way may not the be the most health way or the most popular but it works.

Spring and Summer is coming up, get out and walk whenever you can...get your heart rate up...sign up for a small race. The Breast Cancer Susan Komen (5K) is a perfect run coming up, April I believe and for a GREAT cause.

National Breast Cancer Marathon to FINISH Breast Cancer 2012 Jax Beach, FL

I decided after doing the Breast Cancer Marathon a few weeks ago that I'm going to try my hardest to make the rest of my Marathon's be charity based. It made me feel so humbled and lucky to be running with and among all the Breast Cancer Fighter's and Survivors. It feels great when 100% of your race proceeds benefit that charity.


Everyone has a goal, mine is a Marathon in all 50 States. I have Illinois and Florida down and want to keep counting. Hope you all make goals big or small and complete them. I promise you it's worth it. Sometimes the fight is hard but the end result is SUCCESS.

If anyone ever wants tips feel free to message me on FB or email me at mnferguson8@yahoo.com I don't always have the most health advice, but mine is the kind of eating candy bars and running miles HAHA jk!

Thanks for Reading my rambling, my next blog coming up will be my most recent Marathon, finally, takes forever for me to blog LOL!