Here is an excerpt from a recent interview Trista Sutter did in which she discusses her effort to lose weight after having the baby.
How are you feeling about your body? My friend said that when I came home from the hospital, I’d be back in my old jeans. Fifteen pounds did fall off immediately, but the fact that it’s been three months and I’m still not in them is a bummer.
All new moms just want to feel normal and sexy again. I’m really focused on getting back to where I was before I got pregnant. I want to look even better!
What bothers you most? My belly. It has a layer of fat, which, of course, your body has to put on, but it’s blubbery and I hate it. I want to be able to go bathing-suit shopping for vacation and not feel totally disgusted. My arms are OK, but they aren’t toned like they used to be. Same thing with my butt and legs; I just don’t feel good in a lot of my clothes.
How soon did you start working out? After the C-section, I had to wait six weeks, which is hard because all these other [new moms] are doing yoga and boxing. So compared to them, I’m thinking it’s going to take me forever – especially since I hadn’t worked out since Dancing With the Stars, a year before I got pregnant. I’ve been exercising now for about a month with a trainer friend, Brock Fetch.
What’s your routine? Five times a week for an hour we do a combination of yoga, Pilates and power-lifting exercises. But I’ve had abdominal pain, so I haven’t been able to do the more aggressive exercises. When I danced for the Miami Heat, a lot of times I led the ab exercises, so the fact that I can’t focus on it when it used to come easy to me is frustrating! Still, I’m getting into the groove. After Max has gone to bed, I do abs at night while I watch TV. I try to do situps for entire commercial breaks.
Is it hard to find the time to work out? That’s the question! If I have a date at the gym with Brock, I’ll do it. But if I’m home, I’ll find something else to do, because there are a million things to get done. If I didn’t have a trainer, I’d have a friend call and say, “What’s your workout time today?” and put it in my calendar.
Did you diet at all during your pregnancy? The first four months, I was so sick that I only ate crackers and ginger ale. As the pregnancy progressed, I was feeling better, and I ate tons of French fries; it was awesome. I ate more Wendy’s when I was pregnant than I ever have the whole time we’ve been married! Then I got diabetes, and I had to cut down on all my carbs and really focus on eating more balanced. Now I have to step it up again.
What’s your eating plan? I know if I try a crazy crash diet I will rebound from it. Those diets are just not realistic with my lifestyle. I’m trying to keep it a little bit looser, so I don’t burn out, but the main philosophy of my diet is that it’s higher in protein with healthy whole-grain carbs.
Because I’m breastfeeding until Max is 6 months old, it’s just not safe to cut calories, so I’m eating smart: five to six meals a day to keep my metabolism running. Sweets are a huge problem in this house – we love ice cream, especially Ben & Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk – but we don’t really drink, so that helps. My father-in-law just said this is a sad time, because we have more healthy food in our refrigerator than beer!
Is it tough to find time to eat healthy? I showed up at the gym one day at 3 p.m., and the only thing I’d eaten all day was a bowl of cereal! Max is my top priority, so when he needs me I’m feeding him or playing with him. Food just doesn’t pop into the picture a lot of the time; I really need to think about that, or I will ruin my metabolism by not eating. [via]