Recently, I was asked “So, how long did it take you to lose your pregnancy weight?”

I didn’t think about it until then, but I actually lost my pregnancy weight at birth. I gained only 17lbs and my daughter was 7lbs. If you add the water weight, the extra blood in the body, and the after birth, I shed that majority, if not all, of that weight in the delivery room.

I was then asked, “How did you do that?”

Here are the Top 3 ways I was able to do it

1. I walked. I did three races while pregnant and walked as often as possible. I would walk in the mornings or in the evenings or whenever the mood hit me. I walked until my walk became a slow waddle.

2. I didn’t believe that I was eating for two and I didn’t let myself go. I know some women feel that pregnancy is their time to eat like a pig and not have to worry. Kudos to them, but I didn’t work this hard and for so long to just throw caution to the wind. After all, I did lose 50lbs and was finally under 200lbs. As a Type 2, my days of eating uncontrollably and not worry about the consequences are in a distant past. I stuck with my life as normal-eat in moderation and exercised.  Unfortunately, I had to quit Zumba and other high impact aerobics.

3. Because I wasn’t able to produce enough insulin for me and my growing fetus, I required daily insulin injections. No big deal, it comes with the territory. I took my medicine properly and ate balanced meals. My meals were on schedule (8am breakfast, 11am snack, 2pm lunch, 5pm snack, 8pm dinner). I believe that this schedule helped tremendously because I wasn’t hungry and didn’t feel the urge to over eat.

Below are typical meals.

BREAKFAST: Two eggs and toast

SNACKS: A piece of fruit and PLAIN yogurt (yes, plain yogurt is nasty and tasteless. I tried every brand under the sun and decided to just accept that plain yogurt is bland and undesirable).

DINNER: A protein, starch, and veggies. I ate by The Plate Method.

Every woman is unique and every pregnancy is different. What worked for me, may or may not work for you. But these three things help me maintain a healthy pregnancy, keep my weight in control, and feel good throughout the entire pregnancy–they might help you or someone you know.