Background

First things first. The last few years of my life have been very busy. I've been married less than five years. In that time, I began and finished my masters degree, had three daughters (and no, no twins in there), gained and lost a lot of weight (luckily the only gains were while pregnant), bought a house and a minivan, and a whole lot of smaller things. It's been crazy. My other blog is about life with three tiny daughters. Since I'm back to losing baby weight, I decided it was time to start a separate blog about that so it doesn't take over my other blog.

The title is self-explanatory. I have had three kids and had to lose the baby weight three times. This time around my baby is 10.5 weeks old and I'm only a few lbs into the loss (about 23 lbs down from the high of this pregnancy). I'm trying to be kind to myself and remember the 9 months on, 9 months off rule. My goal is to reach 145 (or maybe lower, we'll see) by January 9, 2011, when Nora is 9 months old.

So here's the story: I weighed 128-132 in high school. Good weight for my body type. Throughout college, I gained a little bit and weighed around 140, I think. Since I gained it evenly, I was pretty happy with my body then. After college, I got a desk job and ate a lot of fast food. By the time I got married 6 months later, I think I was just over 150. Since that was my highest weight ever, I was a bit depressed. I worked out a bit but didn't change my eating. By the time I had my BFP (big fat positive, as in pregnancy test) a few short months later, I weighed 166. I was not happy about that but knew I couldn't diet while pregnant. So I ate and didn't work out. I gained 50 lbs, ending at 216. I didn't recognize myself and it's painful to look at the pictures when I was that large. Luckily I dropped 23 lbs in the first few weeks postpartum, placing my weight at 193. I was happy to be below 200. I started working out at 2 weeks PP and really stepped it up in January (Ella would have been about 6 weeks old then). I started doing Turbo Jam (my favorite workout ever) and doing Herbalife. By June I reached 168 and plateaued. My weight settled at 170. Honestly, other than a few meal replacement shakes, I hadn't changed my eating habits at all, which is why my weight loss stalled.

Then in July, when Ella was 8 months old, I got pregnant again. Not on purpose. I was 170 at the beginning and gained much slower that time. But I gained quickly at the end again, bringing my total to 43 lbs gained and my end weight to 213. Again I dropped 23 lbs in the first few weeks PP, bringing my weight to 190. I worked out sporadically and didn't change my eating. As a result, I stayed at 190 until Amelia was about 4 months old. Then I saw a picture of myself and I got my new drivers license about the same time. I was horrified. I decided it was time to commit to my weight loss. I did some research and started counting calories. I started doing Turbo Jam a few days a week and built up to five. The weight started coming off steadily, about 2 lbs a week. I was thrilled! By January, I was about 150 and reached 145 by the end of the month. I started doing weight training that month and lost inches and toned up. I didn't lose much more weight (143 was my lowest) but I loved how I looked. My stomach still had some saggy skin and my thighs weren't tiny but I was cool with that. In all honesty, I looked better and was happier with my body than I had thought was possible. A huge part of it was how strong I felt. I enjoyed my workouts and maintained my loss for about 7 months. And then...

Once again in July, I got pregnant. I was 145 at that point and Mia was 15 months old. I wasn't real happy (once again, it wasn't planned) but I had big plans to stay active and control my gain. Then I got morning sickness and it all fell apart. Eating carbs kept the nausea at bay but made me gain weight like crazy. And TJ made my heart rate jump too high to keep doing it safely while pregnant. (Interestingly enough, my higher HR and increased calorie burn during WOs is what prompted me to test, to prove I wasn't pregnant. Joke was on me.) All the women in my family gain 40+ lbs with each pregnancy. I am no exception and seem to take it to new highs. This pregnancy I gained 60 (!!!!) lbs, meaning I ended at 205. Unfortunately, my body didn't drop the 23 lbs I was hoping for either. Instead, my body halted at 190, a mere 15 lb loss. I started working out and counting calories at 3 weeks PP, since my sister was getting married 9 weeks after Nora was born and the other bridesmaids were sizes 2, 4, and 6. My dress was a 16. The mental aspect is a funny thing. First my calories were too low, so I had to increase them. Then I increased my WOs and had to increase my calories again. And I barely lost anything. I did tone up a bit but only managed to lose about 5 lbs and my weight kept jumping back up to the high 180's. After the wedding, I let go of my unrealistic expectations and decided 9 mos on, 9 mos off. And I've lost another few lbs, staying below 185 now. (Of course, my cycle has returned, so maybe my hormones leveling out had an effect too.) I bought a green purse as my reward for reaching 180. I'm hoping I'll get to open it by the end of this week. I'm currently at 182.8.

So recap:
Highest weight ever and BFP at 166
Gained 50 lbs.
Lost 48 lbs.
Regained 45 lbs (43 of which was pregnancy weight).
Lost 70 lbs for a new low of 143.
Regained 62 (60 was pregnancy weight).
Lost 22 so far, with plans to lose the remaining 40.
Which means in the past 4 years, I have gained 157 lbs and lost 140. My poor body! Thank God my child-bearing years are over!

Now to continue on the journey...