“I hate saying, ‘I like exercising.’ I want to punch people who say that in the face…” -Jennifer Lawrence

Exactly Jennifer, exactly.

I’ve never been a fan of exercising and honestly I never really had to do it all that much. Before I got pregnant I worked out maybe 3 times a week…a little cardio here, Yoga and Pilates there…it was enough to maintain.

Then I had a baby.  Everyone told me “It will just fall off.”  Lies.  It does not fall off.  Even with breastfeeding it did not fall off.  At four weeks postpartum (pictured to the left) I had 22 pounds to lose. So, when I got the green light from my doctor, I knew I needed a new exercise routine.  I also knew that because I’m not an exercise lover, that I couldn’t do anything too extreme because then I would quit.

I’ve always hated gyms.  One day I was on Pinterest and found a workout video, I tried it and guess what?  I actually enjoyed it. It was hard, but I didn’t want to die afterwards.

So, thank you  YouTube,  Pinterest, FitSugar and Denise Austin for helping me lose the ‘baby weight.”  I can’t guarantee you that this routine I created will work for you, but it worked for me.  I did 40 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week, sometimes more if I had the time and energy.  Monday, Wednesday and Friday I concentrated on lower body/cardio exercises.  Tuesday and Thursday I focused on cardio, arms and abs.

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The Routine:

Monday, Wednesday Friday:

Victoria’s Secret Model Workout: 10 minute Fat Blasting Circuit (my favorite)

10 Minute Bikini Workout|Lower Body Cardio| Class FitSugar

Skinny Jeans Workout | Lower-body Exercises | Class FitSugar

Fat-Burning Funk Dance Workout

Tuesday, Thursday:

Denise Austin: Ultimate Fat Burn Workout (killer cardio)

Belly Fat Blasting Workout, Tones Abs, Class FitSugar

Get Madonna’s Arms With This 10 Minute Workout (love this one!)

Extreme Six Pack Abs Workout (starts around 3:20 in)

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Of course, you can’t lose weight if you eat whatever you want (Darn it!) I love food and I don’t believe in completely depriving yourself.  I believe in the once a day splurge, therefore I drank wine almost every day (I had already waited 9 months…I wasn’t about to wait anymore!)

Basically, I went back to my pre-pregnancy week-day way of eating.  My method: eat like a bird during the day, eat what you want (within reason) for dinner.  I love cooking and I don’t want to count calories when making meals.  Also, I never let myself get hungry.

Below is what I did at first. Eventually I ate more of what I wanted at dinner, but made sure my portions were small.

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Meal Plan:

Breakfast- 1 egg with fruit

Lunch- greek yogurt, fruit, turkey or ham roll ups or a salad with protein

Snacks (either once or twice a day): fiber granola bar, string cheese, handful of nuts or banana with a little peanut butter

Dinner- a meat, vegetable and wine

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Basically, I cut out breads and sweets for the most part, but not always.  If a special occasion came up…trust me I indulged.

All in all, it was a semi-tough experience, but not because of the exercise.  I have never really had to lose weight before and I had no idea how slow of a process it can be.  My first week I lost 3 pounds…I thought that was how it would keep going, but it didn’t.  I think my body was just in shock in the beginning.  After that, I pretty much lost 1 pound a week.  Bottom line: don’t get discouraged, if you keep working it will come off.  Let your old clothes be your motivation!  After buying a bunch of maternity stuff I did not want to buy a whole new wardrobe of normal clothes as well.

In full disclosure: I’m not back into any of my old pants…and I’m getting sick of wearing dresses.  When we were having some issues getting pregnant the doctor told me to gain some weight and I did and I got pregnant.  I haven’t lost that weight yet and honestly I don’t intend to lose all of it, but I would like some of my old bottoms to fit.  I just started Jillian Michael’s 30 day Shred to try to get back into some of those clothes.  If it doesn’t work…I’m just going to buy some big girl pants (to go along with my already big girl panties) and deal with it!