I wasn’t going to write this, in fact I still feel loads of imposter syndrome because I have another 50 pounds to lose. But today friends acknowledged my weight loss and really encouraged me. It’s so amazing to have friends that see the good and the hard work you’ve been doing and cheer you on further! So that’s what I’m doing for you! I’d love to know where you are in your health journey and what your goals are. I’m going to share with you a few things I’ve changed and incorporated into my healing this last year to help me lose 50 pounds.

After my last was born, I felt heavier then I’ve ever been. I gave myself grace because I just birthed my fourth baby in five years. I gave myself permission to just live without worrying about the added weight. I kept telling myself it would come “off” all in good time. In a blink of an eye Harland turned one and a few short months prior to his birthday, I had never felt more stressed out. My body went into fight mode and stored all of the pounds. Between still nursing, my hormones adjusting and my cortisol going through the roof; my body was definitely not shedding any pounds but actually GAINING them.

Anyone postpartum is probably a little self conscious and frustrated with their post baby body, but when you’re postpartum and gaining weight, well that’s a different ball game my friends.

I actually felt really lost. I would work out A LOT. I was constantly going for runs. I was cutting calories. I joined the gym and sometimes went twice a day. The scale was not budging. I actually prayed to God that He would help me find a way to lose weight… that I would find the answers to help me when nothing I was doing was working.

It began with a mental health check in with my therapist. (All things begin with a therapy session). I was stressed, not sleeping, my body was still in fight or flight mode, I was nursing on demand and multiple times a night Harland would sooth himself while latching onto me. Julie, my god send of a therapist, helped me with focusing on just a few basics that’s easy to achieve.

1. Drink my protein. Make a protein drink when I’m busy to make sure I’m getting enough protein in my day.
2. Add movement to my day- don’t wait till the end of my day when kids are in bed and I’m exhausted to do a workout.
3. Get better sleep. On the days where Nick is working night shifts, go to bed shortly after the kids go to sleep. (And also putting Harland in his own bed in his own room).

I realized stress was a big contributor to my weight gain so I needed to support myself. Here’s how I did that:

-continued counselling

-STOPPED RUNNING. It was sending my body into higher cortisol levels. I switched to walking with weights or incline walking. I’ve also started doing reparative pelvic floor exercises, too!

-Began using Holy Basil and Lemon Balm tinctures in my water when I felt stressed.

-started taking ADRENASMART daily

-incorporated Ashwagandha into my routine

-using Holy Basil and Island Mint oils from Doterra in my defuser

-cut my coffee intake

Other supplements I began taking:

-Calm Magnesium

-THYROSMART

-Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA)

-Garcinia Cambogia (hydroxycitric) tea and pill form

I also began using Castor Oil packs to help with gut inflammation.

I cut a lot of my sugar intake, switched back to a gluten free diet (I was GF prior to kids but with pregnancy/postpartum hormones, I was able to have wheat. As I got my hormones back in place, I noticed I was more sensitive and reactive to wheat so I decided to make the change back to GF), I cut out dairy and switched to almond or oat milk with my coffee. I also stopped drinking water 20-30 minutes before each meal and waited 20-30 minutes after eating before drinking water.

This is a lot of information, I know! But I did so much research in desperate hopes to just see the scale move a little. Take what worked for me, and try out what sounds doable to you. I hope that wherever you are in your health journey, you know that there is hope and that you’ll get there! This has been an entire year of figuring things out and trying my best to support myself in balancing my hormones and stress management.

I still have a lot to go, but I have hope in the process! I wrote this because I know what it’s like to not know where to start.

Xo