I had my fourth baby at 35 years old. I can tell you, losing the baby weight in your mid 30s is very different than late 20s and early 30s. I had my third baby when I was 30, so losing the weight was still a fairly similar process to my first two. With the fourth however, who came almost 4 years after my third, it was a much different process. I noticed the pooch wanted to stay on longer, and I had gained a bit more weight in my pregnancy due to covid. I wasn’t able to go to a gym because they were all closed, and I found it really hard to workout at home with 3 little ones home all the time. It was also my first pregnancy in the heat of a Florida summer, and I found that to be exhausting as well. All of those factors combined, and I was set up for a challenge in losing weight baby weight.
I was so thankful that for my fourth pregnancy, I had my Milk Dust protein. I can’t tell you how much it helped me really conquer my sugar cravings, and stay committed to eating clean. I created Milk Dust when my third was about 2, so I wasn’t able to use it while breastfeeding until my fourth baby came along. I specifically formulated it for breastfeeding mothers to lose weight, increase their milk supply and really cut back on sugar. It reduces sugar cravings, while completely nourishing your milk supply. There are sample packs, so you can see how it works for you.
I also have a very popular program if you are breastfeeding, and wanting to lose weight. It is called The Postpartum Cure, and you can check into it here!
If you aren’t breastfeeding, I have a great post on the top plant-based protein powders that are on the market right now. I will get into how protein powder can really help with weight loss as I went through the process of losing weight in my mid 30s after having a baby.
Why is losing weight harder in your 30s?
Losing weight in your 30s is harder because of hormonal changes, metabolism changes and overall lifestyle changes that happen as we age. It is really important to eat nutrient-dense foods as you age because our bodies need nutrients more than ever during this process. In our 30s, our lifestyle often changes as well. We are either deep in a career, spending a lot of time at the office, or deep in family life with children who take up tons and tons of time. This leaves less time or exercise and eating healthy. Combine all the factors together, and weight loss is a lot harder.
What if it’s been a year (or two!) since you had a baby, and you still can’t lose the weight?
You may be in your 30s, and the baby weight’s been hanging for some time since you had your baby. Life goes by so fast with a newborn, and then toddler hits, and before you know it it’s been two years. I get it. My fourth baby is almost 2 now, and I can hardly believe it. I just stopped breasteeding him at about 18-19 months because the time just went by so fast. If you’ve been trying to lose the weight, and still haven’t been successful a year or two or more after baby, don’t worry! I think my tips will really help you. I had to make some changes to my usual clean eating diet to really lose some fat.
Also read: How I Lost The Stubborn Weight After 35
My tricks to lose the baby weight in your 30s:
Focus on your protein intake:
I’m a big advocate for protein intake, but I realized I wasn’t focusing on lean protein as much as I thought. When I made sure I got in my protein shake every day, I felt better, had less cravings, and more energy. This helped me stay on track and eat more protein for each meal and snack. It is so much easier to stick to a lean diet when you aren’t craving sugar and carbs. Because I was drinking this shake, I was able to totally eliminate my sugar cravings and stay on track. I also counted my macros for a while, and realized that my clean eating habits left me higher in carbs and fat. I was focused on eating clean foods, but not balancing my nutrients, which is my next trick.
Also read: The Best Plant-Based Protein Powders For Females And Weight Loss (2022)
Count your macros, rather than calories:
Counting your macros can really open your eyes to how your nutrient intake is balanced (or not balanced). Counting your macros can seem overwhelming at first, but it is actually really simple. I started by tracking what I was naturally eating, and it showed that my carbs and fats were high, and protein was low. Then I made some tweaks like my protein shake as my first meal no matter what, to ensure I started my day with protein higher. Then, I had lean protein at each snack or meal leading up to dinner, which is where I had some carbs. If I saved my carbs for later, I didn’t go so overboard on them. I have a tendincy to eat a lot of carbs, so it took some work to change my habits. Once I did, I noticed my pooch dwindling down after just a couple weeks! I think the lower carb, higher protein really helped me lose some water weight, in addition to balance my blood sugar and let go of belly fat.
I have a specific program I created, that details EXACTLY what I did for this. It simplifies everything and gives you all my recipes!
I added resistance training:
I am a runner, and strength training is not my favorite thing. I mainly love running because I love to breathe hard, sweat and get outside. But, as we age, and as our bodies adjust to the cardio, our metabolism becomes more efficient. An efficient metablism likes to store calories, so I knew I needed to change up my usual run. I tried a few different things, including BURN Bootcamp classes, but what really stuck for me is the Peloton. With cycling, I can combine cardio and resistance training at the same time. There is a great combination of HIIT rides, climb rides and Tabatta rides where my legs are burning and I am breathing hard. I actually really like that I don’t have to go anywhere because it makes it easier to fit in when the kids have tech time, or are still sleeping. I have a great post on the best Peloton workouts for hitting your weight loss goals. You can also try a Peloton at home for I believe 30 or 90 days to see if it works for you. They’ve reduced the prices and you may qualify for 0% financing which is a great deal.
No matter what, adding some strength work into your routine is vital to keeping your metabolism working. Lean muscle mass is what helps our metabolism stay fired up, and the only way to do that is to make our muscles work hard.
How I lost the stubborn weight after 35, even after 4 babies. After 35, weight loss can be much more difficult. The weight gain from my fourth baby seemed to be so stubborn. It sat for longer, and I had to make more intentional changes to lose the weight. I was so thankful I had my protein powder to help, and I was able to lose the stubborn weight, but I had to make some major adjustments. If you’re anything like me, you may be doing everything right – eating clean, counting calories and exercising, only to find the scale increase! I know how depressing and discouraging trying to lose weight after 35 can be, but I have my experience to help you!
Also read: The Best Peloton Workouts To Hit Your Weight Loss Goals
I am also a health and fitness professional, as well as certified nutrition coach with Precision Nutrition. Do not feel discouraged if you are struggling because even with all of my professional knowledge, hitting 35 threw me for a challenge. I am going to go over the best ways to lose weight after 35, so you don’t find yourself eating fewer and fewer calories, reducing calorie intake and still increasing your body weight. Follow my tips and this will NOT happen to you anymore!
I added intermittent fasting to my routine:
Intermittent fasting is something I have actually done for many years, BUT I wasn’t doing it completely. I had milk and sugar in my coffee, and I normally fasted for maybe 12 hours at the most. I never did a pure fast of 16 hours, until I was having a hard time losing the last bit of baby weight. This was a game-changer for me. I started drinking black coffee. That wasn’t fun at first, but it is amazing how you adapt, and I still do it. I also fast for 16 hours. It felt a little long at first, but you will get used to it quicker than you think. Intermittent fasting has been proven to help with appetite management and insulin resistance, and you of course are not starving yourself assuming you eat properly during your eating window. If you’ve never done intermittent fasting before, start with shorter fasts like 8 hours, and work you way up to it.
I increased activity level with more resistance:
I decided not to just run anymore, I used to run about 4 miles a day, and that was about it. At 35, with 4 kids, that just wasn’t really possible anymore, and it didn’t seem to be working any more. So, I took steps to increase my activity with weights and HIIT workouts. I first joined a local Burn Bootcamp. It was so fun. I loved the community, music and workouts. It was mainly HIIT, with one cardio day, two heavy weight days and agility training days. When my membership was up, I wanted to find a way to get the workout at home, while still getting some more cardion in. That led me to a spin bike from Amazon, and now the Peloton. You guys, the Peloton is everything. I actually am obsessed with it.
I know they are super expensive, but I started with a 2nd hand bike from Amazon,using the Peloton app. I realized how much fun it was and created a steady habit before I upgraded to the Peloton. The good news is that now the price has gone way down, and you can get 0% financing, which makes it entirely worth it to me. I get to ride at home anytime I want, while the kids are watching a movie or sleeping. The conveniece, with the increased heart rate and resistance all in one makes it my favorite workout. I think this has had a dramatic affect on my metabolism too.
Cycling allows you to get in your cardio, while also adding resistance to your legs. This helps add in some weight training, without sending hours on the weight machines. Then of course there are the bootcamp, strength and cardio classes with Peloton, which are all really good too. It you can’t afford a gym membership, but want a great workout at home, I highly recommend the Peloton. The best thing is that you can use it for a month or 90 days free, to see if it really works for you too!
I counted macros, not calories:
I’ve always been a clean eater. I really don’t like counting calories, and I never really have. I think it is important to eat intuitively as much as possible, but sometimes when your body changes, this doesn’t work anymore. I was eating very clean, yet I wasn’t losing as much weight as I normally do. So, I dialed in my nutrition and took a look at my macros. I don’t actually know if I was in a calorie deficit because that wasn’t may main purpose. I was more interested in the percentages of fat, carbs and protein. I couldn’t believe that I was eating so many fats and carbs, and so little protein. I was not eating enough protein, and my healthy diet was mainly carbs and fat. I felt like I was good at protein, but turns out I was giving my body two fuel sources. When you give your body both carbs and fat, it has to store the fat and use the carbs, so no wonder I wasn’t really seeing any fat loss. You don’t have to be a macro counter for life by any means, but you can learn so much just doing it for a couple weeks. I was able to get into a good habit of protein intake, which helped me fix my ratios. I became much better about eating more lean protein and less fat. I was eating a lot chesse, which added fat and little protein. I switched to less cheese and more lean protein to fix my ratios. A balanced diet, made a huge difference in how I felt, and I noticed weight loss start much after.
I maintained clean eating:
Clean eating has always been my method of staying healthy and fit, especially after birth. I didn’t alter this at all ater 35, even when I felt like it wasn’t working. Eating clean, in my experience (and I’ve helped thousands of women lose the baby weight while breastfeeding), is the first step to eliminating excess weight, abdominal fat and health problems. Just cleaning up your diet is a good idea when you need somewhere to start, but don’t know where. You will be so surprised after just a few days of eating clean how good you feel, and how you can drop weight! Many new moms specifically comment to me how good their mental health is after eating clean, as well as their energy levels! But, if you are like me, and you’ve been eating clean for a long time, then you need to take some more specific steps to move the scale.
If you can stick with these tricks, I know you will start seeing some results with weight loss. If not, I highly recommend grabbing a macro or nutrition program to follow. You will need to dial in and track what you are eating to really understand why weight loss may be hard. It could be an excess of carbs, and your body is more sensitive to carbs now with hormonal changes, or maybe you are eating too much fat, thinking less carbs and more fat is a good idea. The problem with that is that if you are eating enough calories, all of the fat calories get stored as fat because that is what they are. Being able to really see your macro nutrients can help you make some minor changes that will have big results.
I hope this helps you make some changes and lose some of that stubborn weight in your 30s. I know how difficult it is, and you may be feeling like you want to give up and accept it. While some do, you don’t have to. You can make some tweaks that aren’t too hard to really change the way you feel about yourself. I want you to feel fit and happy, that is the goal. You don’t have to be super fit, or super skinny, just a healthy happy you!