Parenting Tips - Losing weight after pregnancy

Life before a baby, very different. I was so scared, when I got pregnant, that I was going to get fat and then I just wasn't going to be able to lose the weight again. The secret to incorporating my new baby into my old life was imagination. I thought that I needed to share these exercises with other women because I didn't feel like there was a lot of options for moms. I went to San Diego State, and I got a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis on fitness, nutrition, and health. And I started personal training, and then I got pregnant. I had gained a lot of weight during my pregnancy. Because I just went ice cream happy, and then there was all this time where I really exercise the way I wanted to. And so I was just stuck with a lot of added weight. I stopped looking at the scale around 60 pounds. And that was somewhere towards the end. So I would say somewhere between 60 and 70 pounds is what I gained. And I work out at home with her, and I would incorporate her in my exercises. We'd do push-ups and squats, and I had the resistance bands at home. But then also, it was really hard for me to get motivated. I really wanted to find a way where I could still help people. And also for me to work out, it was really important for me to still be able to lose all the weight that I had gained while I was pregnant. And I used to come to this park, walk to the park all the time. And I just noticed that there's the trail that runs all the way around the park. And one day I was just like, wait a second. I could come here, I could train people that can have a class. Moms could bring their babies, so I wouldn't have to leave my daughter. And Tough Fitness was born. A lot of new moms don't leave their houses for six months. And you know, this is a good chance for people to get out of their house, do something for themselves and do something for their children. And then fortunately, in a lot of the classes, a lot of the kids are the same age. So you get to make connections that way. Some new moms don't know any other new moms, so I think it's a nice way to get a lot of things done in one place. So when you're doing the squat, you can hold your baby against your chest. And you can hold one hand under their *** and one hand against their head. And you just want to have your feet a little bit wider than hip width apart. And all you're going to do is you're just going to squat down. And the nice thing about holding the baby is it helps you actually hold your torso upright. And you want to keep your abs tight. And one of the most important things is you want to make sure that you're getting your butt back, and that your knees don't pass your toes. And you can even do it with a chair behind you. So just in case you lose your balance. You're not going anywhere, just kind of tap down and stand back up. And you just tap down and stand back up. And again, the baby the whole time is just kind of loving you and giving you quiet motivation. And as they get older, they'll learn how to do the squats themselves. They're like your little workout partner. You know? And now she's a year and a half, she's getting older. And she can do some of the exercises. And it's really exciting to see that she's really learning, that it's not just talking. It makes me feel good that I developed something that people really like. You're a sweet girl.