Shedding the Post Pregnancy Baby Belly

Back on the Bike

 "Mom, do you have another baby in your stomach?" This came from my 6 year old, who has reached the "brutally honest" age where everything comes out unfiltered. I just smiled and said, "no sweetie" because I think that he was actually hoping that my answer would be yes. My husband quickly tells me not to pay any attention to my son's comments because unlike my son, he is not a 6 year old and has learned to filter his comments when it comes to a woman's weight.  Now,  at 5' 4", 118 lbs, I am certainly not overweight; in fact, my mother thinks that I am too skinny. However, in this small frame, there is 27% body fat, confirmed by the very young lady at the gym with the tape measure and torture device that clips to the skin. So why is it so hard to shed the baby belly
that 3 kids in 5 years has blessed me with?

The truth is that I can shed it if I place the spinning bicycle right in front of the TV and get on it every time that I watch a movie or suffer through another kiddie show on Nick Jr or watch Cars with the kids for the 299th time. Some people have problems eating too much fat or salt or processed sugar; my achilles heel is the supposedly "good" sugar. I live on fruits, which you would think is great if you didn't see me eat 6 mangoes, a large bunch of grapes, 1/2 watermelon, and a container of blueberries, all in the same afternoon. I am not sure if I want to know how much sugar is involved.

Since I live in Florida, every weekend is a beach weekend so I invested in a spinning bicycle and I have vowed to use it 4 to 5 times per week for 15 min to an hour. With little kids trying to swing off the spinning bicycle while I ride, sometimes all I have is 15 minutes. Sometimes I add a little weight by riding with the baby in my arms, not my choice but he insists.  I am told that washboard abs are made in the kitchen, so I have created a "Shake from Heaven" shake that I make every day. So named because, it contains a little bit all all the good things that the experts say we should eat daily. Sometimes, it is just easier to drink them than eat them. Here is the recipe:

Shake from Heaven by Autherine@BoysRising

1 cup coconut milk (can also use soy, rice, almond, hemp)

1/2 container blueberries (can also add other berries, such as raspberries)

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 peg of ginger

1/2 banana

1/2 clove garlic

Handful of spinach

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of Noni/Gogi/Mangosteen/Acai juice 

1 tablespoon Flaxseed

Protein powder (I use 1 scoop of Garden of Life Raw Protein)

I feel full and healthy when I have this for breakfast. If I drink the Shake from Heaven at 7 a.m, I am usually hungry by 11 a.m. so keep a healthy snack handy. I usually snack on a 2 Moms in the Raw blueberry bar. Brown rice or Quinoa for lunch, 1 fruit for the afternoon snack (usually an apple or mango) and a salad for dinner (no dressing, no cheese, add nuts, raisins, apple, if you need extra flavor). Add grilled salmon, if you are a meat eater.  Noticed that I have cut out the 10 pieces of fruit per day but my will is not strong so if in a few weeks the belly keeps being round and happy, you will find me under a mango tree eating 10 mangoes in row.  It is easy to get fixated on  a specific body part but the most important goals are to live healthy, eat healthy and maintain a healthy weight for your body type. If you have all 3, ignore the scale and the sweet 6 year old. 

How did you lose the baby belly? Do you have a recipe for staying healthy?