Tops Tips for Losing the Baby Weight: How Marystella Shed 32 kg

My name is Marystella from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and I am here to share my success story with you. After giving birth to my son, I gained a lot of weight as a result of careless eating and falling for unhealthy meal options. I was going through a depression from seeing how my body had changed and I never thought I would ever get in shape again.

One morning, I hopped on the scale and boom, 105 kg (231 lb) was staring right at me! At that moment, I almost collapsed. The journey started after I bought an XL grey t-shirt and XL pants and started walking in the evening for a half hour every day. I changed my meals by reducing my portions. It was not easy and many times I fell back into eating too much, but every single time I picked myself back up. I was tempted by crash dieting, which did not help me so much. I was very disappointed because I spent so much money on it.

In 2016, I vowed to take it one day at a time, one workout at a time, which I believe helped me to learn what does and does not work for me. I reduced my carbs, ate more protein, veggies and fruit and drank lots of water. I promise you it worked like magic. Then I struggled to find a better workout routine that would help me shed more weight. I started jogging and walking as well as using the Runtastic Results app to date.

Here I am at 73 kg (160 lb) aiming for 70 kg (154 lb), which is only a few kilos away. I am happy, confident and almost everything in my wardrobe fits me perfectly. Today I am able to run without completely losing my breath like I did before. I run 5K in 35 minutes, while it used to take me 50 minutes.

Here are some of my top tips on how I am staying positive and losing the baby weight:

1. Losing weight after pregnancy isn’t easy

This could take longer than expected because the body has to go through a lot of changes to accommodate a new human being. So focus on creating a healthy and happy new body while making small changes every day in improving your well-being and cutting down the extra weight.

2. I run five times per week

I split my runs into 4 small runs of 5K (weekdays) and one long steady run of 8K (Saturdays). I adjust my runs in such a way that I improve my endurance and speed every week.

3. I use my Results training plan 4 times per week

Currently, I am on the plan for the third time!

4. I completely change my diet

My diet has changed by cutting down sugar and processed carbs and replacing them with healthy and whole foods (yams and sweet potatoes). I eat fruits, more vegetables and protein (fish and chicken) and I drink 3 L of water a day since I am very active. Every morning, I eat half a papaya (to boost my digestion) and drink 200 ml of raw cabbage juice (it’s not palatable, but the benefits outweigh the taste).

I hope my story will inspire someone, cheers!

Would you like to tell us about your success? Send us your story and some before & after photos to mysuccess@runtastic.com.

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