Danelle’s After Baby Weight Loss Challenge – Week 4

Danelle’s Weight Today: 144.4 Pounds

This weight loss experiment is about how a woman’s body performs naturally to lose weight after pregnancy.  The control portion of the experiment meant that I not start an exercise program or change my eating for the first 30 days after my baby was born.  This would allow me to see how much weight would be lost naturally after having a baby without putting any effort towards weight loss.  Welcome to the Losing 71 pounds in 90 days Weight Loss Challenge!

My daughter was born on January 9, 2010.  Exactly 30 days after delivery, I weigh 144.4 pounds.  If you didn’t see the introduction or previous updates in this weight loss challenge, go read them now: 

• Danelle’s After Baby Weight Loss Recap – Week 1
• Danelle’s After Baby Weight Loss Recap – Weeks 2 & 3

After Baby Weight Loss Challenge: Week 4 plus 2 Extra Days

During the 4th week (plus 2 extra days), which ended on Sunday, February 7th, the weight loss was slow, but steady: this week I lost 4.6 pounds.

My day-by-day weight loss table is below.  Starting on 1/31/10, I had a bout of mastitis that caused a lot of night sweats, which probably accounted for the large weight loss overnight.

The Findings for Month 1 of the Weight Loss Experiment

In the first month after having a baby, I lost 26.6 pounds without exercise or diet change.  Can I do better than that in 30 days by eating strategically and starting an exercise program?  That’s what I intend to find out!  I found that on days when I got a lot of sleep, my weight would be lower the next day.  I also experienced a lot of night sweating while sleeping, losing fluids which I believe accounted for a lot of my excess pregnancy weight.

Here’s How I Plan to Lose 44.4 More Pounds in 2 Months

Unlike the celebs who have a personal trainer to help them lose their baby weight in 6 weeks, I’m doing this on my own.  I’ll be applying my previous experience as a body builder with clean eating and conditioning to achieve my weight loss and reshape my body after baby. 

Weight loss is easy when you know the simple actions to take and you do them consistently.  My weight loss efforts will include:

• Daily weigh-ins
• Reporting results with before and after pictures weekly
• Breastfeeding and pumping milk for my newborn
• Drinking 10 to 12 8 oz glasses of water per day
• Eating smaller portions at meal times
• Eating small amounts every 3 hours to boost metabolism
• 30 minutes of low to moderate cardio, at least 3 sessions per week (treadmill, elliptical, or workout DVD)
• Strength training: 1 day of legwork per week (squats, lunges, and deadlifts with weights)
• Strength training: 1 day of upper body per week (biceps, triceps, chest, back and shoulders with weights)
• No ab work until month 3
• Month 3 will see the cardio increase to more than 1 session daily, several times per week

Now, For the Rapid Weight Loss!

Now is the part of the experiment I’m really excited about!  The size large clothes and size 16 jeans I just bought fit perfectly right now… I’m hoping to shrink enough to drop down a few sizes before too long.  It will be nice to fit into my old clothes again! 

See you next week with my latest weight loss challenge update  Remember the disclaimer: I don’t recommend this weight loss challenge for anyone else – this is my personal baby weight loss project.