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Aug 23

‘This One Tweak Helped Me Lose All The Baby Weight And Then Some’ – Women’s Health

Related: This Is The Best Workout For Weight Loss, According To Science

I run five miles every day, Id tell myself. But it wasnt until I had my second son a year ago that it hit me: I was over-indulging, and it wasnt good for my health or my weight.

When I had my first son, I looked the same way as I did pre-pregnancy within hours after he was born (annoying, I know). But with my second son, I still looked five months pregnant after he vacated the premises. I reassured myself that this was super normal (which it is), but a few weeks later kept wondering why the weight was taking so long to drop off. I started running again two weeks after I gave birth and figured Id lose the weight then, but it still was coming off at a super slow pace.

Finally, it hit me: To lose the weight, I had to pay attention to my diet, too, and cut out all the crap I had been having. It was so obvious, but for some reason I had been kidding myself about what I was really eating. It was ridiculous for me to sit around wondering why I wasnt losing the baby weight while still having a chocolate bar after lunch each day and ice cream at night. And it was more than a weight thingI knew that all of that overindulgence had the potential to be bad for my health, too.

So, I got real with myself. I was mostly eating healthy but completely blowing it with treats every day. And unfortunately, Im not alone. Its a common issue to overestimate good eating habits and underestimate bad eating habits, says registered dietitian Sonya Angelone, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And those bad habits can add up over time, she points out.

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Somehow I had convinced myself that my regular treats didnt really count because I run every day, and thats also a problem, says registered dietitian-nutritionist Karen Ansel, coauthor of The Calendar Diet: A Month by Month Guide to Losing Weight. Exercising is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy, she says. However, the idea that exercising will help women lose a large amount of weight is a myth. Finding a sweet spot between balancing fitness and how much you eat is key to getting and keeping a healthy weight, she says.

Im not into the idea of dieting (Id rather just eat healthyfor real), and I knew that cutting out those extra sweets and rethinking my eating habits would make a difference. So, I did.

I noticed that I tend to grab candy or ice cream when I'm stressed, so I made a point to stop mindlessly eating while Im working. Now, if I have to eat while I work, I make sure its an actual well-rounded meal or piece of fruitnot a bag of chocolate chips. I also cut out those late-night ice cream benders, started eating more slowly, and paid more attention to how much I eat at meals.

Ice cream is a huge weakness for me, and its usually best if I steer clear of it. But Im also working on having a bite or two of it if I really want it. Ive learned that I can feel just as satisfied by eating it that way as if I had a bunch of ice cream at onceand thats worked out really well for me. Weirdly, the less Ive eaten, the less I crave it.

Not surprisingly, the baby weight melted off after I made those changes. I even lost an extra seven pounds that Ive been carrying around for years that I'm pretty sure is due to all those treats I've been eating.

Im not super hung up on the number on the scale, but I like the way my body looks and feels now. Im also happy with my eating habits and the fact that Im actually being honest with myself about my bad habits. Its taken three decades and some brutal truth, but I think Ive finally figured it out.

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'This One Tweak Helped Me Lose All The Baby Weight And Then Some' - Women's Health

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