Tummy Tuck

Oh yes the dreaded. Some mom's have ventured into the dark world of plastic surgery, I know I have. Nope, not the tummy tuck, though I was afraid I might have to have one, I got my girls upgraded from 1.0 to 2.0.

So I have been on my own weight loss challenge for some time, well since February. I got the itch because I saw I was the fat chick.....and no one told me I was the fat chick. Granted, I had a second pregnancy with twice as much baby (the Squids) and carrying an 8 pounder and a 6 pounder will make your stomach look like the face of a bulldog shortly after giving birth. Needless to say most women will opt for the tummy tuck. I, on the other hand, have taken the long road traveled. Although my road is fairly short because when I started this ordeal in February I was a size 16. You got it!! I was close to having to cross that line in the "Women's." I am not saying this is a bad thing, however, for me....VERY BAD! So after 2 months I am down a total of 20 pounds and you wouldn't believe my jean size now....just guess.....

AN EIGHT!!!! AN 8!!! Can you believe it!? I know I couldn't.

So here is my tummy tuck secret for those of you who are in fear that you will forever look like a mommy tummy forever:

1. Layoff all the bubbly. By this I mean soda, Redbull, spritzers, beers, anything that makes you burp and fart. This stuff is not liked by your insides, so guess what, they react and they react by bubbling up and you look bloated. After one week of no bubbly, watch that belly smooth out.

2. Ease off the salt. Salt is in just about everything, I am even trying to test my bottled water for some traces. Your body has a perfect salt to water ratio and if you go over that ratio...POOF, you swell like a sponge in water. Foods rich in potassium like tomatoes and bananas are great for fighting off the bulge.

3. Cardio and Strength training. I am not telling you to go out and start Sweatin' to the Oldies with Richard Simmons or beef up with Hanz and Franz. I am telling you that I went out each and every night for 30 minutes and walked, power walked, jogged, whatever to get my heart rate up. Elevating your heart rate gets that blood moving and you need to sweat. If you aren't sweating, you aren't doing the right amount of cardio. Couple that cardio with some really good strength training exercises and VOILA! Bikini ready belly. A great place to check out some strength training moves is at Spark People or even Women's Health, they have some super core moves that will make you hurt!

4. Remember to get plenty of sleep, water, rest (don't work out 7 days a week and expect results, take some time off), and ALWAYS EAT. If you don't sleep your body never recovers, if you don't have water your muscles do not have energy to synthesize, if you don't rest you will just bulk up....and what woman wants to be bulky? Finally, always eat!!! If you miss a meal, especially breakfast your body goes into protection mode and starts protecting your fat! WHY? Well because your body thinks you are in distress, so it stores that fat and protects it as a reserve. So if you starve, and then eat, you will only get fatter. So always eat breakfast even if it's just a slice of toast with peanut butter and a glass of milk. Get some protein in that body.

5. Don't stress and keep going. We have such high standards and we want results NOW! Well guess what? Not gonna happen. You have to work hard and in time you will get the fabulous results you always wanted. Just remember to tell yourself how beautiful you are and love yourself, that will be your biggest motivation.

(Disclaimer: I am in no way a licensed medical professional. I have provided information that for the most part is already common knowledge exploited by many media outlets. I have also generalized what I have done as an individual and results will vary from individual to individual so my information is in no way to be taken as a proven fact just my opinion and personal experience.)

If I think I will lose a pound...then I lose a pound

If only the real world worked that way! I have to say since the new year I have seen every diet fad, exercise opportunity and exercise DVD advertised, exercise equipment, you name it, I have seen them all for losing weight and "keeping it off" as they say. I will tell you this I have been in the biggest fight and struggle of my life! Postpartum weight sucks huge Donkey Balls if you ask me. Yes I am mad about it. Those moms who say, "Oh, my weight just fell off", yeah well honey so did your boobs. Adlibby dropped by and I saw her weight loss post and I just fell in love which made me think.....I will post "my people" secrets to how I have lost 13 pounds in less than a month and 12 inches all around from my torso to my hips.

Here is my history so you don't think I am totally nuts...besides the fact I have twins and a singleton (which I am nuts), but I do have a lucid thought here. I have tried every fad diet there is from the Atkins Diet (which I am sure works for some if they can do it the rest of their lives), the South Beach Diet (which I lost 30 pounds on but I could not stick to because I love love love my carbs), the no eating diet, the over eating diet, the water pill diet, that now I am on the "I am accountable and am everything I eat" Diet.

Makes no sense right? Nope...makes beautiful sense. I can eat great food, in moderation, in healthy portions, have CHOCOLATE (hello to those ladies who love their cocoa), booze (love my red vino) and I am losing weight. What's the catch right? Nope, no catch. Here is what I have been doing HABITUALLY for the last few weeks:

1. NO SODA or carbonated drinks at all! That means no Red Bull, no anything that fizzes, bubbles, or pops.

2. Super hydrating my body. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day. (Though I truly hate water, I do add lemon and some mint to make the taste tolerable).

3. I weigh and look at my portions and caloric content. Seriously, one burger (even home made) has 330 calories BEFORE the bun, condiments, cheese, yup (they are OH SO good, but on a cheat day...I will explain later).

4. I record all my food, caloric content, and portions on Spark People where I also record all my cardio, strength training, etc.

5. Most important, I EAT BREAKFAST!!! I know so many working Moms who skip this meal...I know, I used to do it. Now I eat a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats (which are fabulous for you) or my breakfast special and I will include that fantabulous recipe with calorie content.

6. I do medium cardio every day coupled with strength training to tighten muscles and my flab. Yes, I have flab....it's ugly, hideous, and totally repulsive, but my flab is diminishing.

7. I don't stress and I made this a HABIT. Yes, in 7 days you can make something a habit, stick to it, don't stress it, and results will happen.

8. Don't stress or self- sabotage. Too often we get stressed out and then comfort ourselves in our old friends....GOBS of chocolate, beer, wine, burgers, crap! Don't stress, this is a process.

9. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL NO MATTER WHAT!!! Losing weight is an added bonus to your health, your life span, and your energy levels (especially the sex...WHOA Nelly!). If you remind yourself everyday you are beautiful then weight loss is just the candles and frosting on the cake.

10. Give yourself some room. Don't expect immediate results, don't think if you don't see immediate results that the effort is not worth it....IT IS!!! Everything is a process. The way I look at it is that my body needed 9 months and an extra baby in my womb (twins) to put on this weight, that my body will need at least that time or double to lose it.

Our society has promoted all these pills and potions, and literal bullshit that promise "weight loss" and "guaranteed results" when really each person is different. Nothing happens in the first thirty days except that your mind is trained to get off your duff, put yourself and your health first, and stick to it. Everything from there is gravy (pardon the pun). So here is my POWER breakfast that gets me boosted in the morning with lots of energy:

2 egg whites (or 1 egg white and 1 whole egg) scrambled or an omelet (whichever you prefer)
1 English Muffin (need some carbs with your protein) lightly buttered, or I use Flax Oil which is LOADED with those awesome Omega-3's
2 slices of Turkey Bacon. Oscar Mayer makes a great turkey bacon and you can get it super cheap and cheaper than regular bacon and SOOO much better for you only 35 calories a SLICE!! As opposed to regular bacon which is loaded in fat and calories to drag you down.
1 glass of water or 1 glass of Silk Vanilla Soy Milk or 1 glass of 1% milk

That's it! And my breakfast is ready in less than 10 minutes, especially because I pre-cook the bacon so I just reheat. And here is the best part with the total calorie breakdown:

Egg white: 17 calories!!
Whole Egg: 75 calories
TOTAL: Range from 34 to 92 calories

English Muffin: 100 calories (yup for the whole muffin even when cut in half)
Add butter: 45 calories
Add flax: 60 calories

Turkey bacon: 35 calories per slice and LOADED with protein

And if you are one of those people who just LOVES fluffy eggs and you add milk....skip the milk for a FAT free, CALORIE free alternative.....just add water! Gives you more moisture to those eggs where milk dries out and water still gives fluff.

So to date I have lost:

3 inches off my hips
6 inches off my waist
3 inches off my bust (but still have my tata's! Strength training helps that.)

I look forward to posting more of my postpartum weight loss adventure and if you want to know more feel free to email me at karieherring@gmail.com or sign up at Spark People and say that KHerring1415 referred you!

The weight is lifting

I can tell you that as a woman a pregnancy can take a huge toll on your body. I don't care who you are and how active you may or may not be, a pregnancy is rough all over. Well, add one more baby in that carrier we all our uterus and mid-section and WHAM! The saying "double trouble" gives a whole new meaning to twins and especially a twin pregnancy.

My pregnancy started eventful from utter illness in which the only items I could stomach were lemons, ginger, ginger ale, applesauce and toast. Needless to say I dropped major L-B's but those were quickly tacked back on after the first trimester blew past me.

Each visit I would just cross my fingers that I did not cross the 200 pound threshold in my pregnancy with the twins in which my very last visit I teetered. I was 199 and ONE half pounds. That was two days before I delivered. Now almost one year later and three-fourths of that time was spent breast feeding twins, at the same time, I think the majority of the weight is starting to come off.

Everyone says breastfeeding helps you lose weight. Sure! Sure you can lose weight breastfeeding if you are breastfeeding one baby. TRY TWO, for EIGHT MONTHS straight. I have had jerks with the nerve to tell me "Well Angelina Jolie did it"! I wanted to smack them. I mean come on, she probably did for a bit, but she has nannies, she got a tummy tuck, is able to take off to work out and breastfeed to lose that weight, so not realistic.

In the real world I lost a lot of weight and then my body went into starvation as it was trying to feed the twins and I did not have the resources to do it. So I began to feed my starvation and the twins and the weight came back on, not to mention emotional eating as two infants take an emotional toll. If you don't believe they do.....please I urge you to visit a parent of any denomination of multiples to see how emotionally drained you can be after a single day...or even an hour! But I am able now to get some time to me and part of my resolutions is to take better care of me and put me first, so I have been doing so and with the help of a fantastic website that my lovely sister-in-law "Sassy J" sent me. The site has tools to help me track my food, cardio, strength training and you know what....I should be seeing results....soon!!! After one week here is what I have to show:

Breakfast: Srambled egg whites, 2 pieces turkey sausage, English muffin toasted with Flax Oil
Lunch: Smoked Turkey (4oz), 2 slices pepper jack cheese, handful of cherry tomatoes
Dinner: Grilled skinless, boneless chicken breast or fish, steamed veggies (fresh or frozen), more tomatoes and or a salad with low calorie, low fat dressing.
Snack: handful (4 pieces) Dove Dark Chocolate

All of that and I am totally satisfied! Not to mention I am at 1300 or so calories and then I have 30 minutes of power walking every night (just got back not too long ago, after my poor Cards lost the Super Bowl), 15 minutes of high cardio, stretching, and strength training with a resistance band.

Based on that my results are 8 1/2 inches lost all around from my waist, bust, and hips! Just in ONE WEEK!!! I am on my way to be in a bikini by this summer. I know if I can do it...ANYONE can with a lot of hard work and power. Just knowing I can treat myself and not feel guilty. So for you Mom's out there who think that they can't do it or you love your pizza or whatever...you can do it! I had pizza today and tracked my calories and then just made sure I beefed up my walk to a light jog tonight to make up for the extra calories. You can do it, treat it like a job that you have to do everyday. Here is the link for the website, it's totally free and so awesome!

www.sparkpeople.com

If you sign up, use my user name as your referral kherring1415. I just LOVE IT!! I hope you will too if you sign up.