Losing Baby Weight: How I did it.

January is here. The month of diet and gym memberships.  Of resolutions and staring at the body that has replaced your prebaby body.

disclaimer: I am not a vain person.  I am rocking the same pedicure since October courtesy of my friend Rana’s wedding spa day in Hilton Head and haven’t had a haircut since..wait for it…JUNE!

I am a hot mess.

But I am a size zero.  So hate me.

I am smaller than I was in college.

So here’s how I did it:

1.) Breastfeed.  You burn 20 calories for every ounce you nurse or pump.  I nursed both Moose and Monkey til well past a year.  I wanted to go for longer, but they self-weaned at about the same time: 15 months.  Think of formula as weight gainer. For you.

All breastfeeding books talk about the good for the baby, and by no means am I discounting that.  It is the perfect food.  But, no one talks about the #1 benefit for mama.  Losing the weight.  Only nursing til 3 or 6 months isn’t gonna work, ladies.  You have to go the whole nine yards, meaning at least a year.

And nursing isn’t always easy. I know. I had infections and mastitis, and bleeding nipples…all the fun stuff.  I nursed through my own depression after my father and grandmother passed away when Moose was just 6 weeks and 6 months old respectively.

If I can nurse Moose through the worst time in my life, anyone can do it or at least give it the old college try.

2.) I didn’t workout at a gym.  I do go for insanely long walks pushing the equivalent of my body weight in a stroller.  Moose is 40lbs and Monkey nearly 30lbs.  Picking them up alone is like lifting at the fitness center.

3.) Honestly, being gluten and mostly dairy-free really did it.  That’s how I lost the last ten pounds.  I used to think all of those South Beach Dieters and Atkins people were nuts.  How could you possibly live without carbs?  Last summer, I learned that my wheat/gluten intolerance made me bloated and retain a ton of liquid.

I still eat many of the things that are banned on those diets like fruits, potatoes, rice, etc.  and I don’t gain anything.

Strange, huh?

What’s important to realize is that carbs with gluten and dairy products actually have morphine compounds in them (hence why people can’t live without bread, cheese, pasta, ice cream).  


I am an Italian girl born and bred in Chicago, the heart of all things gluten and dairy! If you would have told me last year that this was going to be my life, I would have laughed in your face.   I ate pasta three times a week as a kid.  Pizza twice a week.  Bread for breakfast.  Cheese for a snack.  It was all I ate.

I kicked the habit.  {Admittedly though, I still crave cheese, but I pay for it now when I eat it.}  If I accidentally ingest wheat flour or any derivative like MSG, I am sick for 2 weeks.

This food addiction people, is worse than cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, and drugs combined.

Why? Because we are taught from a young age that these foods {meaning bread and milk products} are meant to sustain us.  People eat them 3 meals a day, 2 or more snacks, all the days of the lives.

That’s why diets fail and this country is morbidly obese.  It’s the morphine in the foods. Casomorphin and glutomorphin.

Have you seen how hard it is for drug addicts to kick their habit? Smokers? Gamblers?

Have you ever had morphine in the hospital? I did when I passed kidney stones in my early 20s.  Those foods are painkillers.

Just think of the proverbial girl depressed eating a gallon of ice cream.  Now you know why.  She’s self-medicating with casomorphin.

 Go google those fancy scientific words.  I kid you not. Casomorphin and glutomorphin.  Or go read this genius work

There should be surgeon general warning on cookies and ice cream.  Addictive. Literally.

Without wheat, I’ve never felt better in my entire life.  I have energy, my bloated belly is gone, cellulite diminished, NO migraine headaches to speak of anymore, and I actually feel good about myself for the first time since my early 20s.

*Stepping off my soap box*
That was exhausting to write…

4.) I had an extensive blood work up to uncover why I was fatigued last summer.  My vitamin d, iron, and magnesium levels came out dangerously low {this is also related to my gluten/wheat issues}.
Once Dr. Hope and I cleared up those hurdles, I felt like I had the energy of a toddler.  Seriously.

5.) Learning about the acidic and alkaline balance has really helped me too.  I drink tons of green tea and lemon water now to make my body more alkaline.  I stay away from all things processed, fast foods, soda, and shop exclusively at farmers’ markers, fruit stands, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods.  I eat almost all organic foods.

I’d rather buy organic strawberries and chicken than get my haircut.  Or a pedicure.  Or fill my empty closet with stylish stay-at-home mama clothes.

So, that’s it ladies.  It’s fridge and gut check time.

I hope this post inspires you to look at what you put in your mouths each day.

<3