I mentioned this several times on my social media channels, but I will say it here again.
After giving birth, I gained 30 pounds from all poori (deep-fried flattened dough), sweets my mum made for me. Also, I was on medication to increase my milk supply which screwed my hormone (in a good way), and it caused severe weight gain. However, I kept taking this medicine because I wanted Anouk to have breast milk for a significant number of months.
However, breastfeeding, pumping, and this massive weight gain soon started to take a toll on my mental health. I was told not to feel this way by many women on Social Media. I wrote this post at my local mum’s group, where I am an admin.
Since October, as I was not feeding her anymore, I slowly started taking care of my weight. I started with 10K daily steps, which was getting hard due to cold weather in the North East. Eventually, I cut my calories to less than 900 when I was not breastfeeding anymore. Slowly, I lost 20 pounds over four months (5 pounds a month).
In this journey, I used the MyFitnessPal app, which I have been using since 2017. Here is how I use this app.
- Whenever my mum or I make something, I use their recipe feature to log that recipe. I also measure the portion size using a scale or cup. So when I eat, I know the exact (to an extent) calories.
- I reduced my chocolate intake to 10% of the diet. So, for example, if I ate 900 calories that day, my chocolate calories were 90.
- I stuck with small portions, and after eating, if I crave more, I drank decaf tea or water.
- I have premium feature which helps me to track macros.
Whenever I want to lose weight, I make sure I am doing something I can maintain in the long run. I have never done fad diets or diet pills. I never spent hours in a gym.
10 tips for YOU
- Just drink. Drink water, tea (entirely without sugar, milk). Do not fall for gimmicks like lemon water, fennel water, etc. As long as you are hydrated, you will be less hungry. Also, I keep 5 liters of water always next to me in glass bottles. Having them handy helps me to drink more water.
- Reduce it but not remove it. For example, when it comes to chips, chocolate, fried food, ice cream – have a small portion and control after that. Here your willpower will come into play. It’s not easy but remember YOU CAN DO THIS!
- If you have eaten a lot, it’s ok! Don’t punish yourself by running or starving; eat regularly after that for a few days.
- Weight loss is a slow process, and you can’t lose focus.
- Add fresh greens such as shredded carrots, lettuce to our breakfast, lunch and dinner. It keeps you full for hours.
- Opt for roasted and mashed than fried when it comes to daily food.
- Try to take at least 5K steps a day. I am calculating my steps using the apple watch but there are free apps such as Pacer can help.
- Reduce food from outside. I understand often it’s not possible if you are traveling – I will write a post on this. I cut down eating from outside, which meant ramen, frozen food, chicken nuggets, etc. Also, due to the pandemic, we were not doing takeouts which helped significantly.
- For healthy recipes, I use weight watcher. Use smart swaps such as if a recipe calls for heavy cream, use half and half. There are many nice swaps like that I learned from this app.
- Make sure you are eating enough eating enough protein in each meal. During breakfast, I ate – eggs, vegetable patties. During lunch, I ate fish or chicken. At night I ate chicken. I also ate a lot of chicken sausage. I ate lamb, sausage, bacon, etc. but in lower quantities due to my cholesterol issues.
