In 2018, I was the smallest I’d ever been. Then I got pregnant, and it all went off the rails. I developed a sweet tooth for the first time in my life and started crushing Zebra Cakes and chocolate croissants like they were the foundation of the food pyramid. I fell into the elastic embrace of maternity clothing and paid no mind to the scale slowly creeping upward at doctor visits. After all, the other moms in my life told me the weight would “just melt right off” from breastfeeding. Surely there was no harm in ordering a side of mozzarella sticks with my pizza.
By the time all was said and done, I had gained 60 pounds in less than a year. Although childbirth and breastfeeding took care of the first 15 pounds or so, it became painfully clear that the rest would not be going anywhere without some assistance. Given my new gig as a stay-at-home parent, getting to the gym wasn’t easy. Instead, I focused on making small, but meaningful, changes to my diet to achieve a healthy calorie deficit. After about nine months of effort, I’m down another 35 pounds and working my way back toward my prepregnancy size.
Here are some of the changes I made to get back on track. They might just work for you, too.