October 22, 2024 • 25 mins
In this episode, Jo and Lauren discuss strategies and insights for regaining strength and fitness after pregnancy. They address common challenges women face with body changes postpartum and suggest four dos and don'ts for getting your body back after baby.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:03 Jo's Post-Pregnancy Journey
03:09 Lauren's Post-Pregnancy Journey
08:11 Understanding Postpartum Metabolism
09:27 Do's and Don'ts for Postpartum Fitness
11:18 Avoid Cutting Calories Postpartum
12:07 The Importance of Protein and Good Nutrition
14:04 Strength Training vs. Cardio
17:38 Setting Realistic Expectations
23:10 Recap and Final Thoughts
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, everyone.
(00:00):
It's Joe and Lauren today on thepodcast.
So today, Lauren and I are goingto dive into how to get your
body back after having a baby,or maybe even building a better
body than you had beforepregnancy.
So we hear so many women saythat their bodies, they feel
like their bodies have changedpost pregnancy.
(00:21):
And feel super discouraged.
Like they're never going to gettheir pre baby body back, but
with the right strategies, youcan definitely rebuild your
strength gain muscle and, keepyour metabolism.
speedy and preserved in theprocess.
So in today's podcast, we'regoing to cover some do's and
(00:42):
don'ts and what to do and whatto avoid in order to build
strength, build muscle, boostyour metabolism, and feel your
best after you've had your baby.
Okay, so I think maybe the firstplace to start is what not to do
and never Lauren and I both areprobably good examples of that.
(01:03):
I'll share my story 1st.
It's my oldest is 18 years old.
I was the kind of person when I.
Got pregnant.
I was going to work out everyday.
I was going to eat superhealthy.
And then I had the most horriblemorning sickness.
I couldn't even imagine beingthat nauseous.
And there was no working out.
I was doing well just to get outof bed every day and have some
(01:28):
semblance of functionality.
I lost weight my firsttrimester, but then gained
weight the second and thirdtrimester and really lost a lot
of strength during thatpregnancy because I wasn't able
to work out.
So after that baby, I decided Iwas going to get back in shape
by running and calorie tracking.
(01:49):
I had done Weight Watchers.
So I tried to go back to WeightWatchers calories that would
last.
For about 2 days, I was so sorefrom running.
I would throw the towel in onthat and then ignore my diet as
well.
So I didn't really get in backin shape at all between baby
number 1 and baby number 2.
And then baby number 2 after Ihad him, it was.
(02:12):
Not quite as bad the morningsickness as baby number one, but
pretty much the same.
I think I gained, I think Igained probably 60 pounds with
both of my kids.
I gained a bit of weight withboth of them.
And then with him, I did liftweights and.
Did some calorie tracking withhim and actually I had great
(02:33):
results, but for some reason Istopped that after about two
months and then about a year ortwo years after that, I started
running two or three times aweek with a friend.
Nothing, no high mileage.
I would say between six and ninemiles a week, paid zero
attention to my diet and ofcourse, just have a pudgy
physique.
That's what I did to get my bodyback after having two babies.
(02:58):
once I started working with astrength training coach and got
into bodybuilding, that's whenmy body really changed.
And I would say I built a betterbody than I had before I ever
got pregnant.
So that's my story.
Lauren, how did it go for you?
I'm also an exemplar of what notto do.
And both of my pregnancies werea little different.
I first should probably say thatright before my first pregnancy,
(03:22):
so my kids are nine and sixright before my first pregnancy,
I did a fitness competition.
So I was very thin as I was atlow body fat going into that
pregnancy.
And of course, same, like I wasgoing to, cause I had just come
off a fitness competition.
So like I was doing the macrocounting, I was doing the
(03:43):
protein, I was lifting, I wasdoing all of the things that, we
say to do.
And of course I wanted to keepthat up during my pregnancy.
I was very very focused on onlygaining 25 pounds during my
pregnancy.
that was silly.
That was unrealistic.
I didn't gain much more thanthat.
I gained I think, 30, 32 poundsduring I think each of the
(04:03):
pregnancies.
But I was very, just veryobsessed with this.
arbitrary 25 pound number.
So I did actually work out mostof my first pregnancy.
My eating habits were terrible.
I did not want protein.
I did not want meat.
it was gross.
(04:23):
I just, I couldn't.
And so I lived on bakedpotatoes.
I did work out most and thenjust like joe, to get the weight
off.
probably the biggest mistake isI was so focused on it.
And so it stressed me out.
Because for whatever reason,again, arbitrary goal, like I
want it to be at my, or close tomy pre baby weight before I went
(04:47):
back to work in 12 weeks.
So I was aiming to lose, 25pounds.
in a very short amount of timewhile having a new baby.
I think I did lose almost all ofit.
Before in that 12 weeks like wesaid, all the wrong ways and
then the rest of it came off.
(05:08):
And so then I had about twoyears in between my first and
second pregnancy during thattime.
That's really when I would say Istarted to have an issue with
under eating.
So if anybody has listened to meor knows me I had to reverse.
Just a lot of our clients dowhen when actually Couture
(05:29):
started, Alison was my coach.
But I would say the under eatinghabits really started after that
pregnancy, which is, I thinkinteresting because you would
think they would start more likewhen I was doing a fitness
competition.
But that's not what happened.
So anyway, fast forward twoyears pregnant again.
(05:49):
And again, I thought I wasgonna, work out, eat good the
whole pregnancy I had gottenback to my pre pregnancy weight.
The baby had different ideas.
my son sat very low in my belly.
And literally hit every nerve,like sciatic, all of that
starting, I would say aroundfour or five months.
(06:11):
So it was really difficult forme to work out, to lift.
To do a lot just because he wasso low and it was painful.
I will say I probably ate betterduring that pregnancy.
Again, still had this idea.
I'm going to gain only 25pounds.
And ended up again, gaining like30 ish pounds with him.
(06:34):
And then after I did the exactsame bad thing, I cut my
calories more.
so much cardio, so much running.
I got the Bob strollers.
I guess I had them bothpregnancies.
But after the second pregnancylike everybody in my
neighborhood were like, Oh,you're the one, you're the girl
who like runs with the strollerall the time.
Literally, it was every day.
(06:55):
And the weight it did come off.
probably in a little bit lesstime than after my first
pregnancy.
But I would say not even a yearor two after that is when my
body really started goingagainst me like it didn't.
It didn't like the low calories.
I was gaining body fat.
I was do not doing anythingdifferent, but I was like
(07:16):
severely under eating.
And that's that under eatingagain, started like after
pregnancy, both pregnancies andlike really happened through
2021.
We're talking like 2015.
I had my first 2018.
I had my second.
And then 2021 is when I finallyreversed.
So I was under eating for adecent amount of time.
(07:39):
But yeah, so don't all thethings you're not supposed to
do.
I did.
Yeah.
So I think the key takeaway hereis that everyone's pregnancy is
different.
How we feel during pregnancy,how much we're able to work out.
And so then, that kind ofdictates how you roll into that
postpartum body.
That can look different fromperson to person as well, but we
(08:01):
do have some tips for you forthings that you can do to, start
getting your body back in ahealthy way that makes you feel
good and look good as well.
First, let's talk about yourpostpartum metabolism, what that
looks like.
So actually when you'repregnant, your metabolism.
Is very high because you aresupporting the growth of a baby.
(08:25):
You're burning a lot ofcalories, just supporting that
baby growth and cell developmentand all of that.
And then postpartum after you'vehad the baby, it remains high.
I think we get at the beginningfor everyone, but especially if
you breastfeed that usuallyrequires an additional 400 to
500 calories a day, just to.
(08:47):
support the production of breastmilk.
So this is great news becauseafter you have had a baby, your
body's metabolism is probablyprimed for muscle building and
fat loss.
one thing that can happen,during pregnancy, I feel like it
definitely happened for me isyou can lose some muscle if
you're not working out at all.
Again, I definitely loststrength because I went from
(09:09):
working out every day to doingnothing because I felt so
terrible.
But generally speaking, yourbody's just burning a lot of
calories on its own.
So your metabolism is actuallyin a great spot after you've had
a baby.
You don't want to wreck it fromthere by doing the wrong things.
So Lauren, you've got four do'sand don'ts for getting your body
back.
Do you want to talk about thefirst do?
(09:30):
Sure.
So I feel like this is going tobe counterintuitive to a lot of
moms and I might get like themiddle finger when I say this.
But the first thing is youreally need to prioritize your
sleep.
I know it's really difficultwith a newborn and you might not
even have control over this.
if your baby is colicky or justis not sleeping.
(09:51):
I understand that you don'ttotally control this.
But sleep is key for.
recovery for your body'srecovery after pregnancy.
And it's also key for weightloss.
So again, I understand likethere's lots of factors here,
but I definitely would say don'tsacrifice like sleep for
workouts.
don't get up at 5 a.
(10:11):
m.
because the baby gets up at 6 a.
m.
to get your workout in, or ifthe baby's taking a nap and you
haven't slept in, 24 hours,don't be like, Oh, take the
baby's taking a nap.
So I'm going to get a workoutin.
Don't do that.
At least, prioritize.
Sleep over working out because alack of sleep really can stall
your progress.
Yeah.
(10:32):
So I, yeah like you said,Lauren, I know it can be really
difficult to think that you canprioritize sleep, but your body
also needs sleep to recover fromthe process of having a baby.
And so you're just going to endup in a tailspin if you are
skimping out on the sleep thatyou can get just to get a
workout in.
But once you have your sleepregulated, if you do feel like
(10:54):
you're getting good sleep, goahead and work out, but you
don't want to like exactly whatyou said, Lauren, skip out on
sleep to work out because it'snot going to go well and it's
going to further stress out yourbody.
Okay.
So do make sleep a priority.
Don't sacrifice sleep forworkouts.
Okay.
What's your second do and don't.
(11:15):
Okay.
So number two is eat enoughcalories and protein.
I think a lot of women have,like I talked about, like your
natural instinct is to cut yourcalories back to lose the weight
fast.
But you do not want to do this,especially, in that postpartum
because your body needs protein,your body needs calories, your
body needs nourishment, yourbody needs fuel.
(11:38):
So aim for at least a hundredgrams of protein per day or as
much as your goal body weight ingrams of protein.
Don't splash calories.
Like I just said yourmetabolism, as Joe was talking
about, is really high duringthis time period.
Cutting calories too much canreally backfire.
you almost want to make it agoal to maintain the metabolism
(12:00):
that you have during yourpostpartum months.
And to do this, you need to beeating adequately.
Now, on the flip side, I thinkmost women know that you burn a
lot of calories breastfeeding.
this is a great time for yourmetabolism, but it's not a free
for all.
You still want to maintain goodhabits.
You don't want to be eatingcookies and chips and all the
(12:24):
things because your body is insuch a good metabolic place.
It is really important Toincrease your calories with good
food with protein with, all ofthe things that are going to
actually nourish you.
So don't think oh, I have a 500,000 extra calories a day.
I'm going to go get like a.
I don't know, ice cream, Sonic,like I, Sonic ice cream is, I
(12:47):
always think is that is like themost like fattening thing, or
like the most like caloricthing, so you don't want to go
get like a large Sonic likeblast or something of course
everything now and then is okay,but yeah, you just want to stick
to those good eating habits.
Yeah, so you're exactly right.
And I think your storyillustrates well, how under
(13:07):
eating can ultimately backfireon you.
If you're breastfeeding, you candefinitely cut into your milk
supply if you under eat toomuch.
And then over time, if youstarve your body during this
time period, where it reallyneeds to repair itself your
metabolism is just going to takea hit after a while may not be
immediate, but like you after ayear or two, it's going to be in
(13:28):
a pretty bad place.
But you're exactly right.
This is not a free for all.
And so maybe it's like a handfulof chips here, cookies here, or
however you can get the food in,really do try to focus on
getting some quality nutritionand protein is really going to
tighten up your body and helpyou repair your body after
childbirth.
(13:49):
And then also like lots of goodfruits and vegetables.
I know easier said than donewhen you've just had a baby, but
that's a good place to focusyour energies during this time
period.
Okay.
What's your third do and don't.
The third do is do strengthtraining early.
(14:10):
And don't do cardio, butobviously don't do cardio.
So you do want to start andcontinue lifting weights.
As soon as you're cleared towork out, this is going to help
boost and preserve yourmetabolism.
Like we just talked about yourmetabolisms in a great spot,
postpartum, and also build backany muscle that you lost during
pregnancy.
And how hard you hit the weightsreally depends on how
(14:31):
conditioned you are, or likewhat you were doing before and
during pregnancy.
So if you were lifting beforeand during pregnancy you
probably should be able to getback into it really quickly or
pretty quickly because of musclememory.
But if you weren't able to liftduring pregnancy or you're new
to strength training, take itslow.
What this could look like ismore like a circuit training.
(14:54):
Circuit training, he's like gymmachines, so not so much
dumbbells and free weights oreven like band work you just
want to make sure that you don'tinjure yourself.
That's really the most importantthing.
But I would say however, you'relifting from, free weights to,
to bands aim to do two to threefull body strength training
workouts per week.
(15:15):
You might want to do a littlecardio, but do not do what I did
and become like the neighborhoodeverybody knows me because I
have my stroller jogging all thetime.
Do not become a cardio bunny.
Activity is good, but highintensity cardio exercise will
probably backfire.
And on top of it, your bodyreally isn't ready for it.
And it's going to be stressfulto your body.
(15:36):
And that's not a good thing toinduce more stress on your body
when you're trying to recoverfrom pregnancy.
So even if, you are so inclinedto do a bunch of cardio, try to
resist.
I think a good thing to replacethe cardio with is just walking
steps like you can still beactive.
(15:58):
Sure, put your baby in thestroller, but walk.
Do not go down the cardio route.
It's very tempting to do becausecardio gives you that quicker
result on the scale, but it'snot sustainable.
So really try to think about thelongterm.
Yeah, I and my experience is agood example of why you
(16:21):
shouldn't start running as soonas you can after having a baby.
running is a pretty strenuousactivity on your body.
And my body just was not readyto be running, even after 6
months or 8 months postpartum.
I had a pretty difficult laborwith my first child.
And so what would happen is Iwould run, I would be so sore
from running.
I could barely run around theblock.
(16:42):
I was so deconditioned.
and so I couldn't run the nextday.
So it was just like this neverending cycle of, Trying to start
running, but it just wasn'tstrong enough to do it.
So if I had just spent.
Honestly, when I could startworking out 20 minutes, three
times a week, doing somestrength training, doing lots of
(17:04):
walking, I would have progressedso much faster than how I tried
to lose the weight, which wasslash calories and run.
So this was really a mindsetthing for me, because in my
mind, nothing was going to workas well as running.
Everyone knows that running ishow you lose weight.
And.
That was just dumb.
It was wrong.
(17:24):
And I really wasted a lot oftime and I never progressed
because I just wasn't strongenough really to start a running
program.
So learn from us.
Don't do the stupid things thatwe did.
Okay.
Lauren, what's your fourth doand don't?
Speaking of stupid things.
So as I said, I set veryunreasonable expectations for
(17:46):
myself.
It is important to setreasonable expectations when
you're, trying to lose the babyweight or trying to get your
body back per se, give yourselftime.
You were pregnant for ninemonths.
So at least give your body thatmuch time to recover and get
back to where it was.
But I would say really like thatyear mark.
(18:07):
Is really where you're going tostart to see progress.
So just be patient.
I know it's hard to again, likeI paid for it on the back end.
Like I might've quickly lost thebaby weight, but I wrecked my
metabolism in the process.
And then, did that for two,three years trying to build that
back up.
(18:28):
Also, this is like a great timeto focus on building healthy
habits.
you can eat more, but make sureyou're being intentional about
where you're eating.
Make sure you're building goodhabits around getting your
protein in and eating healthyfoods.
Same thing with strengthtraining.
you might not be at your max,lifting during this time, but if
(18:49):
you at least get the habit downthat's huge.
So you can definitely work onthat during this time.
And don't set hard deadlines orrush this process.
It can lead to injury burnout.
Giving up all together, you justheard Joe and I the results of
us trying to rush the process.
And we paid for it on the backend like I said, just no
(19:09):
arbitrary deadlines.
No, I have to, fit in some dressby three months after I have my
baby.
Just don't do it.
It also adds stress that youdon't need.
And honestly, like looking backto my pregnancies is you want to
be in the moment, postpartum,like with your baby, you don't
want to be worried about gettingthe baby weight off.
(19:30):
It's just an added stress.
So maybe that's more of amindset thing, but definitely
set reasonable expectations foryourself.
I really think it's a mindsetthing, but I had the same
expectation of myself that I wasgoing to lose all the baby
weight by the time I finished mymaternity leave.
So that when I went back towork, I would be the same as
(19:54):
before I became pregnant, Idon't know where I got that
expectation, but that wasdefinitely what I was aiming
for.
My body did totally change andso that's the other thing about
strength training.
Now I was not doing any sort ofstrength training, but, I might
have been the same weight ornearing the same weight at some
point after this postpartumjourney, but my waist was much
(20:16):
bigger.
My clothes did not fit the sameat all.
And that's where the weighttraining is really going to help
you.
And, even, disregard the scale,even if you get all the weight
off by not eating very much anddoing a bunch of running, your
body will have likely shifted.
So you might do all that workand just not.
Like how you end up looking, sothis is a hard thing for
(20:39):
everyone to wrap their mindaround.
But like strength training isreally what's going to, give
your body that nice shape.
And it's just a long journeybuilding muscle getting strong.
It's, it doesn't happen in 12weeks.
You can make progress in 12weeks, but there's no reason to
put that pressure on yourself.
Why do you think you had thatdeadline of losing all the
weight before in your 12 weeksof maternity leave?
(21:03):
Because I'm a perfectionist, Idon't know honestly, it probably
reflecting on it.
Because I was doing fitnesscompetitions before and because
I was working out, it becamepart of my identity to myself,
but also to others.
And if I'm being really honest,it's, it was probably to keep up
that persona, not like it is apersona because I do, work out a
(21:25):
lot and I do, enjoy thislifestyle.
Like it just went witheverything else, right?
Oh, she did a fitnesscompetition and then she had a
baby and then she was back in 12weeks, like very silly, very
stupid.
And looking back, just saying itout loud is awful.
But I think that's where it camefrom.
And I think the other reason orthe other place that probably
came from is.
(21:46):
Like I had a real fear of notgetting the baby weight off or
of like looking worse or gainingeven more weight than I had ever
been.
I was so scared of that.
So I think, it was like theimpatience to make sure that
those things didn't happen.
Yeah, probably same for me.
I wasn't going to be one ofthose women that let themselves
(22:07):
go after they had the baby.
but strangely enough, the waythat I went about it, I would
abandon my plan every other weekbecause I just was such an
unreasonable plan.
And frankly, it wouldn't haveworked anyway.
So I think a good mindset hackhere is, probably mostly women
listening to this podcast.
And if you've had a baby, thenyou know what that process is
(22:28):
like, but think about what youmight tell your daughter as she
goes through this process andthe advice you might give her
about, a reasonable expectationfor getting her body back after
a baby.
And do that for yourself, giveyourself that break and that
grace, because it just life istoo short.
Like you said, you want to bepresent with your baby, not
(22:49):
preoccupied with whether you'velost a pound in two days or
something.
That's, it's just a miserableway.
And you will regret it.
When they're older and you lookback at that time, you will not
want to have fixated on yourweight and getting, all the baby
weight off in some arbitrarynumber of weeks.
(23:10):
Okay, so those are our do's anddon'ts.
I will recap them very quickly.
Number one, do prioritize sleep,don't sacrifice sleep for
workouts.
Number two do eat enoughcalories and protein, don't
slash calories.
Number three, do start strengthtraining early.
As soon as you are cleared tostart working out, do not become
(23:33):
a cardio bunny to get thepostpartum weight off.
And then number four, setreasonable expectations for
yourself and don't set harddeadlines or rush the process.
And really, I think the bestthing to remember here is that
it's not about bouncing back asquickly as you can, but really
rebuilding your strength and ahealthy body over time.
(23:57):
So that's what we have for you.
If you are someone that'slistening to this and maybe
you've had a baby recently Ormaybe the baby is two or three
years old now and you're stilltrying to get your fitness level
back.
Definitely consider scheduling acall with us.
We can probably help you.
And we'd just love to talk toyou and see how we might be able
(24:17):
to help.
So a link to that will be in theshow notes, but that's what we
have for you today.
Have a great day.
Thank you.
Hello, everyone.
(00:00):
It's Joe and Lauren today on thepodcast.
So today, Lauren and I are goingto dive into how to get your
body back after having a baby,or maybe even building a better
body than you had beforepregnancy.
So we hear so many women saythat their bodies, they feel
like their bodies have changedpost pregnancy.
(00:21):
And feel super discouraged.
Like they're never going to gettheir pre baby body back, but
with the right strategies, youcan definitely rebuild your
strength gain muscle and, keepyour metabolism.
speedy and preserved in theprocess.
So in today's podcast, we'regoing to cover some do's and
(00:42):
don'ts and what to do and whatto avoid in order to build
strength, build muscle, boostyour metabolism, and feel your
best after you've had your baby.
Okay, so I think maybe the firstplace to start is what not to do
and never Lauren and I both areprobably good examples of that.
(01:03):
I'll share my story 1st.
It's my oldest is 18 years old.
I was the kind of person when I.
Got pregnant.
I was going to work out everyday.
I was going to eat superhealthy.
And then I had the most horriblemorning sickness.
I couldn't even imagine beingthat nauseous.
And there was no working out.
I was doing well just to get outof bed every day and have some
(01:28):
semblance of functionality.
I lost weight my firsttrimester, but then gained
weight the second and thirdtrimester and really lost a lot
of strength during thatpregnancy because I wasn't able
to work out.
So after that baby, I decided Iwas going to get back in shape
by running and calorie tracking.
(01:49):
I had done Weight Watchers.
So I tried to go back to WeightWatchers calories that would
last.
For about 2 days, I was so sorefrom running.
I would throw the towel in onthat and then ignore my diet as
well.
So I didn't really get in backin shape at all between baby
number 1 and baby number 2.
And then baby number 2 after Ihad him, it was.
(02:12):
Not quite as bad the morningsickness as baby number one, but
pretty much the same.
I think I gained, I think Igained probably 60 pounds with
both of my kids.
I gained a bit of weight withboth of them.
And then with him, I did liftweights and.
Did some calorie tracking withhim and actually I had great
(02:33):
results, but for some reason Istopped that after about two
months and then about a year ortwo years after that, I started
running two or three times aweek with a friend.
Nothing, no high mileage.
I would say between six and ninemiles a week, paid zero
attention to my diet and ofcourse, just have a pudgy
physique.
That's what I did to get my bodyback after having two babies.
(02:58):
once I started working with astrength training coach and got
into bodybuilding, that's whenmy body really changed.
And I would say I built a betterbody than I had before I ever
got pregnant.
So that's my story.
Lauren, how did it go for you?
I'm also an exemplar of what notto do.
And both of my pregnancies werea little different.
I first should probably say thatright before my first pregnancy,
(03:22):
so my kids are nine and sixright before my first pregnancy,
I did a fitness competition.
So I was very thin as I was atlow body fat going into that
pregnancy.
And of course, same, like I wasgoing to, cause I had just come
off a fitness competition.
So like I was doing the macrocounting, I was doing the
(03:43):
protein, I was lifting, I wasdoing all of the things that, we
say to do.
And of course I wanted to keepthat up during my pregnancy.
I was very very focused on onlygaining 25 pounds during my
pregnancy.
that was silly.
That was unrealistic.
I didn't gain much more thanthat.
I gained I think, 30, 32 poundsduring I think each of the
(04:03):
pregnancies.
But I was very, just veryobsessed with this.
arbitrary 25 pound number.
So I did actually work out mostof my first pregnancy.
My eating habits were terrible.
I did not want protein.
I did not want meat.
it was gross.
(04:23):
I just, I couldn't.
And so I lived on bakedpotatoes.
I did work out most and thenjust like joe, to get the weight
off.
probably the biggest mistake isI was so focused on it.
And so it stressed me out.
Because for whatever reason,again, arbitrary goal, like I
want it to be at my, or close tomy pre baby weight before I went
(04:47):
back to work in 12 weeks.
So I was aiming to lose, 25pounds.
in a very short amount of timewhile having a new baby.
I think I did lose almost all ofit.
Before in that 12 weeks like wesaid, all the wrong ways and
then the rest of it came off.
(05:08):
And so then I had about twoyears in between my first and
second pregnancy during thattime.
That's really when I would say Istarted to have an issue with
under eating.
So if anybody has listened to meor knows me I had to reverse.
Just a lot of our clients dowhen when actually Couture
(05:29):
started, Alison was my coach.
But I would say the under eatinghabits really started after that
pregnancy, which is, I thinkinteresting because you would
think they would start more likewhen I was doing a fitness
competition.
But that's not what happened.
So anyway, fast forward twoyears pregnant again.
(05:49):
And again, I thought I wasgonna, work out, eat good the
whole pregnancy I had gottenback to my pre pregnancy weight.
The baby had different ideas.
my son sat very low in my belly.
And literally hit every nerve,like sciatic, all of that
starting, I would say aroundfour or five months.
(06:11):
So it was really difficult forme to work out, to lift.
To do a lot just because he wasso low and it was painful.
I will say I probably ate betterduring that pregnancy.
Again, still had this idea.
I'm going to gain only 25pounds.
And ended up again, gaining like30 ish pounds with him.
(06:34):
And then after I did the exactsame bad thing, I cut my
calories more.
so much cardio, so much running.
I got the Bob strollers.
I guess I had them bothpregnancies.
But after the second pregnancylike everybody in my
neighborhood were like, Oh,you're the one, you're the girl
who like runs with the strollerall the time.
Literally, it was every day.
(06:55):
And the weight it did come off.
probably in a little bit lesstime than after my first
pregnancy.
But I would say not even a yearor two after that is when my
body really started goingagainst me like it didn't.
It didn't like the low calories.
I was gaining body fat.
I was do not doing anythingdifferent, but I was like
(07:16):
severely under eating.
And that's that under eatingagain, started like after
pregnancy, both pregnancies andlike really happened through
2021.
We're talking like 2015.
I had my first 2018.
I had my second.
And then 2021 is when I finallyreversed.
So I was under eating for adecent amount of time.
(07:39):
But yeah, so don't all thethings you're not supposed to
do.
I did.
Yeah.
So I think the key takeaway hereis that everyone's pregnancy is
different.
How we feel during pregnancy,how much we're able to work out.
And so then, that kind ofdictates how you roll into that
postpartum body.
That can look different fromperson to person as well, but we
(08:01):
do have some tips for you forthings that you can do to, start
getting your body back in ahealthy way that makes you feel
good and look good as well.
First, let's talk about yourpostpartum metabolism, what that
looks like.
So actually when you'repregnant, your metabolism.
Is very high because you aresupporting the growth of a baby.
(08:25):
You're burning a lot ofcalories, just supporting that
baby growth and cell developmentand all of that.
And then postpartum after you'vehad the baby, it remains high.
I think we get at the beginningfor everyone, but especially if
you breastfeed that usuallyrequires an additional 400 to
500 calories a day, just to.
(08:47):
support the production of breastmilk.
So this is great news becauseafter you have had a baby, your
body's metabolism is probablyprimed for muscle building and
fat loss.
one thing that can happen,during pregnancy, I feel like it
definitely happened for me isyou can lose some muscle if
you're not working out at all.
Again, I definitely loststrength because I went from
(09:09):
working out every day to doingnothing because I felt so
terrible.
But generally speaking, yourbody's just burning a lot of
calories on its own.
So your metabolism is actuallyin a great spot after you've had
a baby.
You don't want to wreck it fromthere by doing the wrong things.
So Lauren, you've got four do'sand don'ts for getting your body
back.
Do you want to talk about thefirst do?
(09:30):
Sure.
So I feel like this is going tobe counterintuitive to a lot of
moms and I might get like themiddle finger when I say this.
But the first thing is youreally need to prioritize your
sleep.
I know it's really difficultwith a newborn and you might not
even have control over this.
if your baby is colicky or justis not sleeping.
(09:51):
I understand that you don'ttotally control this.
But sleep is key for.
recovery for your body'srecovery after pregnancy.
And it's also key for weightloss.
So again, I understand likethere's lots of factors here,
but I definitely would say don'tsacrifice like sleep for
workouts.
don't get up at 5 a.
(10:11):
m.
because the baby gets up at 6 a.
m.
to get your workout in, or ifthe baby's taking a nap and you
haven't slept in, 24 hours,don't be like, Oh, take the
baby's taking a nap.
So I'm going to get a workoutin.
Don't do that.
At least, prioritize.
Sleep over working out because alack of sleep really can stall
your progress.
Yeah.
(10:32):
So I, yeah like you said,Lauren, I know it can be really
difficult to think that you canprioritize sleep, but your body
also needs sleep to recover fromthe process of having a baby.
And so you're just going to endup in a tailspin if you are
skimping out on the sleep thatyou can get just to get a
workout in.
But once you have your sleepregulated, if you do feel like
(10:54):
you're getting good sleep, goahead and work out, but you
don't want to like exactly whatyou said, Lauren, skip out on
sleep to work out because it'snot going to go well and it's
going to further stress out yourbody.
Okay.
So do make sleep a priority.
Don't sacrifice sleep forworkouts.
Okay.
What's your second do and don't.
(11:15):
Okay.
So number two is eat enoughcalories and protein.
I think a lot of women have,like I talked about, like your
natural instinct is to cut yourcalories back to lose the weight
fast.
But you do not want to do this,especially, in that postpartum
because your body needs protein,your body needs calories, your
body needs nourishment, yourbody needs fuel.
(11:38):
So aim for at least a hundredgrams of protein per day or as
much as your goal body weight ingrams of protein.
Don't splash calories.
Like I just said yourmetabolism, as Joe was talking
about, is really high duringthis time period.
Cutting calories too much canreally backfire.
you almost want to make it agoal to maintain the metabolism
(12:00):
that you have during yourpostpartum months.
And to do this, you need to beeating adequately.
Now, on the flip side, I thinkmost women know that you burn a
lot of calories breastfeeding.
this is a great time for yourmetabolism, but it's not a free
for all.
You still want to maintain goodhabits.
You don't want to be eatingcookies and chips and all the
(12:24):
things because your body is insuch a good metabolic place.
It is really important Toincrease your calories with good
food with protein with, all ofthe things that are going to
actually nourish you.
So don't think oh, I have a 500,000 extra calories a day.
I'm going to go get like a.
I don't know, ice cream, Sonic,like I, Sonic ice cream is, I
(12:47):
always think is that is like themost like fattening thing, or
like the most like caloricthing, so you don't want to go
get like a large Sonic likeblast or something of course
everything now and then is okay,but yeah, you just want to stick
to those good eating habits.
Yeah, so you're exactly right.
And I think your storyillustrates well, how under
(13:07):
eating can ultimately backfireon you.
If you're breastfeeding, you candefinitely cut into your milk
supply if you under eat toomuch.
And then over time, if youstarve your body during this
time period, where it reallyneeds to repair itself your
metabolism is just going to takea hit after a while may not be
immediate, but like you after ayear or two, it's going to be in
(13:28):
a pretty bad place.
But you're exactly right.
This is not a free for all.
And so maybe it's like a handfulof chips here, cookies here, or
however you can get the food in,really do try to focus on
getting some quality nutritionand protein is really going to
tighten up your body and helpyou repair your body after
childbirth.
(13:49):
And then also like lots of goodfruits and vegetables.
I know easier said than donewhen you've just had a baby, but
that's a good place to focusyour energies during this time
period.
Okay.
What's your third do and don't.
The third do is do strengthtraining early.
(14:10):
And don't do cardio, butobviously don't do cardio.
So you do want to start andcontinue lifting weights.
As soon as you're cleared towork out, this is going to help
boost and preserve yourmetabolism.
Like we just talked about yourmetabolisms in a great spot,
postpartum, and also build backany muscle that you lost during
pregnancy.
And how hard you hit the weightsreally depends on how
(14:31):
conditioned you are, or likewhat you were doing before and
during pregnancy.
So if you were lifting beforeand during pregnancy you
probably should be able to getback into it really quickly or
pretty quickly because of musclememory.
But if you weren't able to liftduring pregnancy or you're new
to strength training, take itslow.
What this could look like ismore like a circuit training.
(14:54):
Circuit training, he's like gymmachines, so not so much
dumbbells and free weights oreven like band work you just
want to make sure that you don'tinjure yourself.
That's really the most importantthing.
But I would say however, you'relifting from, free weights to,
to bands aim to do two to threefull body strength training
workouts per week.
(15:15):
You might want to do a littlecardio, but do not do what I did
and become like the neighborhoodeverybody knows me because I
have my stroller jogging all thetime.
Do not become a cardio bunny.
Activity is good, but highintensity cardio exercise will
probably backfire.
And on top of it, your bodyreally isn't ready for it.
And it's going to be stressfulto your body.
(15:36):
And that's not a good thing toinduce more stress on your body
when you're trying to recoverfrom pregnancy.
So even if, you are so inclinedto do a bunch of cardio, try to
resist.
I think a good thing to replacethe cardio with is just walking
steps like you can still beactive.
(15:58):
Sure, put your baby in thestroller, but walk.
Do not go down the cardio route.
It's very tempting to do becausecardio gives you that quicker
result on the scale, but it'snot sustainable.
So really try to think about thelongterm.
Yeah, I and my experience is agood example of why you
(16:21):
shouldn't start running as soonas you can after having a baby.
running is a pretty strenuousactivity on your body.
And my body just was not readyto be running, even after 6
months or 8 months postpartum.
I had a pretty difficult laborwith my first child.
And so what would happen is Iwould run, I would be so sore
from running.
I could barely run around theblock.
(16:42):
I was so deconditioned.
and so I couldn't run the nextday.
So it was just like this neverending cycle of, Trying to start
running, but it just wasn'tstrong enough to do it.
So if I had just spent.
Honestly, when I could startworking out 20 minutes, three
times a week, doing somestrength training, doing lots of
(17:04):
walking, I would have progressedso much faster than how I tried
to lose the weight, which wasslash calories and run.
So this was really a mindsetthing for me, because in my
mind, nothing was going to workas well as running.
Everyone knows that running ishow you lose weight.
And.
That was just dumb.
It was wrong.
(17:24):
And I really wasted a lot oftime and I never progressed
because I just wasn't strongenough really to start a running
program.
So learn from us.
Don't do the stupid things thatwe did.
Okay.
Lauren, what's your fourth doand don't?
Speaking of stupid things.
So as I said, I set veryunreasonable expectations for
(17:46):
myself.
It is important to setreasonable expectations when
you're, trying to lose the babyweight or trying to get your
body back per se, give yourselftime.
You were pregnant for ninemonths.
So at least give your body thatmuch time to recover and get
back to where it was.
But I would say really like thatyear mark.
(18:07):
Is really where you're going tostart to see progress.
So just be patient.
I know it's hard to again, likeI paid for it on the back end.
Like I might've quickly lost thebaby weight, but I wrecked my
metabolism in the process.
And then, did that for two,three years trying to build that
back up.
(18:28):
Also, this is like a great timeto focus on building healthy
habits.
you can eat more, but make sureyou're being intentional about
where you're eating.
Make sure you're building goodhabits around getting your
protein in and eating healthyfoods.
Same thing with strengthtraining.
you might not be at your max,lifting during this time, but if
(18:49):
you at least get the habit downthat's huge.
So you can definitely work onthat during this time.
And don't set hard deadlines orrush this process.
It can lead to injury burnout.
Giving up all together, you justheard Joe and I the results of
us trying to rush the process.
And we paid for it on the backend like I said, just no
(19:09):
arbitrary deadlines.
No, I have to, fit in some dressby three months after I have my
baby.
Just don't do it.
It also adds stress that youdon't need.
And honestly, like looking backto my pregnancies is you want to
be in the moment, postpartum,like with your baby, you don't
want to be worried about gettingthe baby weight off.
(19:30):
It's just an added stress.
So maybe that's more of amindset thing, but definitely
set reasonable expectations foryourself.
I really think it's a mindsetthing, but I had the same
expectation of myself that I wasgoing to lose all the baby
weight by the time I finished mymaternity leave.
So that when I went back towork, I would be the same as
(19:54):
before I became pregnant, Idon't know where I got that
expectation, but that wasdefinitely what I was aiming
for.
My body did totally change andso that's the other thing about
strength training.
Now I was not doing any sort ofstrength training, but, I might
have been the same weight ornearing the same weight at some
point after this postpartumjourney, but my waist was much
(20:16):
bigger.
My clothes did not fit the sameat all.
And that's where the weighttraining is really going to help
you.
And, even, disregard the scale,even if you get all the weight
off by not eating very much anddoing a bunch of running, your
body will have likely shifted.
So you might do all that workand just not.
Like how you end up looking, sothis is a hard thing for
(20:39):
everyone to wrap their mindaround.
But like strength training isreally what's going to, give
your body that nice shape.
And it's just a long journeybuilding muscle getting strong.
It's, it doesn't happen in 12weeks.
You can make progress in 12weeks, but there's no reason to
put that pressure on yourself.
Why do you think you had thatdeadline of losing all the
weight before in your 12 weeksof maternity leave?
(21:03):
Because I'm a perfectionist, Idon't know honestly, it probably
reflecting on it.
Because I was doing fitnesscompetitions before and because
I was working out, it becamepart of my identity to myself,
but also to others.
And if I'm being really honest,it's, it was probably to keep up
that persona, not like it is apersona because I do, work out a
(21:25):
lot and I do, enjoy thislifestyle.
Like it just went witheverything else, right?
Oh, she did a fitnesscompetition and then she had a
baby and then she was back in 12weeks, like very silly, very
stupid.
And looking back, just saying itout loud is awful.
But I think that's where it camefrom.
And I think the other reason orthe other place that probably
came from is.
(21:46):
Like I had a real fear of notgetting the baby weight off or
of like looking worse or gainingeven more weight than I had ever
been.
I was so scared of that.
So I think, it was like theimpatience to make sure that
those things didn't happen.
Yeah, probably same for me.
I wasn't going to be one ofthose women that let themselves
(22:07):
go after they had the baby.
but strangely enough, the waythat I went about it, I would
abandon my plan every other weekbecause I just was such an
unreasonable plan.
And frankly, it wouldn't haveworked anyway.
So I think a good mindset hackhere is, probably mostly women
listening to this podcast.
And if you've had a baby, thenyou know what that process is
(22:28):
like, but think about what youmight tell your daughter as she
goes through this process andthe advice you might give her
about, a reasonable expectationfor getting her body back after
a baby.
And do that for yourself, giveyourself that break and that
grace, because it just life istoo short.
Like you said, you want to bepresent with your baby, not
(22:49):
preoccupied with whether you'velost a pound in two days or
something.
That's, it's just a miserableway.
And you will regret it.
When they're older and you lookback at that time, you will not
want to have fixated on yourweight and getting, all the baby
weight off in some arbitrarynumber of weeks.
(23:10):
Okay, so those are our do's anddon'ts.
I will recap them very quickly.
Number one, do prioritize sleep,don't sacrifice sleep for
workouts.
Number two do eat enoughcalories and protein, don't
slash calories.
Number three, do start strengthtraining early.
As soon as you are cleared tostart working out, do not become
(23:33):
a cardio bunny to get thepostpartum weight off.
And then number four, setreasonable expectations for
yourself and don't set harddeadlines or rush the process.
And really, I think the bestthing to remember here is that
it's not about bouncing back asquickly as you can, but really
rebuilding your strength and ahealthy body over time.
(23:57):
So that's what we have for you.
If you are someone that'slistening to this and maybe
you've had a baby recently Ormaybe the baby is two or three
years old now and you're stilltrying to get your fitness level
back.
Definitely consider scheduling acall with us.
We can probably help you.
And we'd just love to talk toyou and see how we might be able
(24:17):
to help.
So a link to that will be in theshow notes, but that's what we
have for you today.
Have a great day.
Thank you.
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