Finally Lost the Baby Weight with Weight Watchers!

Is it just me or do all mommies feel like their baby's first year just flies by!  Honestly I can not believe she is almost 11 months old and soon I will have to refer to her as my 'toddler' instead of my baby!  Yeah right- you know this lil one will ALWAYS be mommy's baby!  One thing that has NOT flown by is the baby weight!  I started back with running and working out AS SOON as I got the go ahead from my doctor after the 6 week check up.  Honestly my labor and delivery were SO EASY with Emerson that I didn't even think I would have to wait that long.  But I did JUST in case because I wanted to be sure I did not injure myself.  

Me after a run in January- 6 weeks after having baby

I took this picture KNOWING I felt super out of shape

Summer 2019- Not feeling in shape

Starting back running was a VERY humbling experience.  I was winded and the worst part COULD NOT HOLD IN MY PEE! I literally peed my pants everytime I attempted to run!  I also tried getting back into body pump.  I took that VERY easy and only used light weights.  I got body pump certified while I was pregnant and really wanted to stick with it after I gave birth.  Both of those endeavors were rough and always felt like a struggle.  But I was dedicated and was running at least 3 or more miles on the treadmill AND doing some type of weight training or a few tracks of body pump a couple times a week.  

We live in Panama City and own a pontoon and my goal was to feel good about putting on a bikini by summer time.   Well - I lost a little weight- 2-5 pounds but could not tell when I looked in the mirror.  So of course I jumped on the Keto Craze!

No matter what I tried I could see NO RESULTs

I try to limit carbs as a rule anyway so figured it would be easy.  Well it wasn't!  Since I was breastfeeding I was STARVING ALL the time. And my go to snack was either meat, cheese or nuts. Plus- it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to stick to.  Especially with my hubs and kids.  They WERE NOT going to do Keto so by dinner time  I was just going to eat whatever our family was eating.  So I wasn't really sticking to it strictly but I figured even 'dirty keto' was better than no keto.  YEAH right!  I feel like I GAINED weight or at least felt 'heavier' and just not good.  

It wasn't until I finally made a hair appointment in August that my hair dresser told me about Weight Watchers.  I made the comment that she looked like she lost weight and looked great and she told me all about the app.  She even sent me an email referral- (which I can send to anyone interested) for one free month of just the digital version (the app).  So I excitedly downloaded it and signed up!  I got 3 months for $20 !  (Usually it is $19.99 a month for just the app)  

I originally signed up for the breastfeeding points plan which gave me at least 41 points.  I LOVED IT !!! Especially seeing all the 0 point foods I was allowed to eat - I LOVE FRUIT!  and you can eat UNLIMITED amounts of fruit- even bananas!  I was so stoked.  I also could eat anything the family was eating.  So I just made sure to budget my points to include whatever dinner we might make.  

I originally set a modest goal for 10 pounds.  I am 5'4" and weighed 129 when I started the WW app in August 2019.  By October 2018 I HAD LOST 9 POUNDS! 

I could run in my sports bra!

I felt amazing!  I finally felt like I didn't wake up with a pooch.  My tummy actually looked more defined.  My legs weren't so jiggly and I could fit in the jean shorts that i accidently ordered a size 4 from H&M ( I wear a size 4 but H&M sizes are always a bit smaller than other brands!)  

I did start to adjust my points because my daughter was eating more and more solid foods so I dropped the extra points and now am at 23 points a day.  It is way harder to stay under the 23 points compared to the 41 but I always have a pool of 'weeklies' points that i can dip into and it relieves me of the guilt I would have felt otherwise.  That diet guilt can really sabotage your progress if it causes you to 'throw in towel and think- well I messed up so I might as well eat a whole cheesecake now !"

November 2019

Now I am trying maintain and maybe even lose more.  I did not really use the app during our week long cruise in early October.  We went to Spain, France and Italy and I wanted to be able to enjoy all the amazing authentic food. It was worth it but it definitely set me back!  So i think I gained two pounds bringing me back up to 122 but I'm pretty confident that following my WW points strictly will get me back down in no time. 

I came in 1st place female on a 10K Halloween race!

October 2018 on our cruise

One of my FAVORITE recipes to make is HEALTHY FRUIT ROLL UPS!  Regular fruit roll ups are only 2 points but if you are like me- 1 is JUST not enough.  I could literally eat an entire box in one sitting (and have before ! LOL) So I wanted to make some that are 0 points!  The app has a cool feature where you can build your own recipe.  So here it is!

INGREDIENTS:
1 jar of unsweetened applesauce

1 container of blueberries
Grapes
strawberries or any other fresh fruit you have on hand! 
(does not seem to work as well with frozen fruit- it creates more of a fruit cracker than chewy fruit leather)

  I have tried different fruits but the base is just unsweetened applesauce.  I take a whole jar, throw it in the food processor with other fruits (usually fresh blueberries - I use the soft not so fresh crunchy ones ) and blend it up. 
Then I get two cookie sheets, lay down parchment paper and pour half of the fruit puree in each.  You can even throw in a little spinach if you want to be 'extra healthy!'
I set the oven to 200 degrees and let them bake AT LEAST an hour - sometimes it take 3 or more hours if you layer of puree is especially thick. 
The time is the only drawback as it does take a WHILE to dry out the puree.  Sometimes I have left it in over 4 hours and it will turn crunchy like fruit chips AND IS STILL delicious.  So I make this in the morning and by the afternoon I have two whole cookie sheets full of fruit leather (and it usually disappears in about 10 minutes!)