What you really want to know. . .

How much weight have I lost since having Alexandra and how did I do it?

I lost all of the baby weight + an additional 28 pounds (holding steady at that weight for the past three months). I am two sizes smaller than before I got pregnant, and haven't been this small since I was 15 years old.

I wasn't initially going to share this in a blog post, but some friends (thanks Margaret and Julie!) have encouraged me to share this story, as it can hopefully be helpful for other women, moms or not.

As you may know, I was induced to deliver Alexandra 2 1/2 weeks early because I had pregnancy-induced hypertension. The hypertension didn't go away after Alexandra was born - in fact, I was on blood-pressure medication for nine months afterwards. I have never been overweight, and although I thought I was in okay shape, my genetic pre-disposition to high blood pressure worries me.

I decided to do what I could to lower my blood pressure. Not only did I want to be more healthy in general, but I did not want to be on the medication anymore. Christopher and I would love to have more kids, and the thought of going through the stressful/scary process of pregnancy with hypertension is something we'd like to avoid.

I didn't lose all the weight right away. In fact, it took me about 6 months to lose all of the pregnancy weight (30 pounds). But, after the pregnancy weight all came off, following my simple steps below, I was able to lose about a pound a week for the next 6 months. I have found a "lifestyle change" a lot more effective that a diet would have been.

Here's what I did (and continue to do):

1. Extended breastfeeding. I exclusively breast-fed Alexandra for the first 6 months and still (at almost 17 months) partially breast-feed. I felt that breastfeeding caused me to hang on to some of the weight at the beginning, but after 6 months, that was no longer the case.

2. Eat 5-7 servings of fruit/vegetables a day. Dried fruit counts :)

3. Avoid caffeine and soft drinks as much as possible (diet ones included)

4. Eat whole grains (whole grain pasta is awesome!)

5. Eat organic whenever possible ( I swear the lack of high-fructose corn syrup makes a difference)

6. Eat non-fat dairy (for me - 3 servings a day)

7. Drink at least 6 cups of water (sparkling water like Perrier counts)

8. Have 2 small snacks a day (to avoid over-eating later)

9. Oatmeal is my new best friend (lots of fiber, keeps you full, helps naturally lower cholesterol - I eat oatmeal in the morning and then have an Oatmeal-to-go bar as a snack)

10. Avoid salt

11. Eat the vegetables first at a meal (then the meat, then the fruit, then the whole grain)

And Christopher, Alexandra and I have also been taking a family walk together in the evening. We used to do this after dinner, but as it is getting dark so early now, we do it when I get home from work. I've also taken up yoga. I'm crazy about yoga now. I practice (for the most part), Ashtanga yoga, which burns a crazy number of calories. I try to go to yoga about twice a week, and I've seen wonderful results in my strength, energy, and general health from this.

I keep my daily calorie count around 1900 calories - this gives me room (about 400-500 calories a day, due to my height and activity level) to have dessert when I want or splurge every now and then. To celebrate Veterans' Day yesterday, we had dinner (and then a doughnut) with Mark and Jen. I could eat my doughnut knowing that I wasn't going to put back on any weight. I thought adding up the calories of everything I each day would be depressing/scary/etc., but it actually gave me a calm sense of control.

Like I said, I've never been overweight. Before getting pregnant, my weight was well within the healthy/normal range for my height. After having lost the weight, while I'm still in the healthy range, I'm in the best shape of my life. My blood pressure is also much better (115/75 at my last doctor's visit - that's awesome for me!).

So there's my weight-loss story. You're a really Yurasko Difference trouper if you read the whole thing :)