My Mom-Tested Weight Loss Secrets

I have figured it out. Literally, my figure is working itself out and the holidays have just passed. And I didn’t avoid sweets, hit the gym or count calories. It’s the big Mom secret that I didn’t figure out until I had my own child.

You’ve heard the compliments. You’ve got that “Mom glow” and one I get frequently is “Girl, your arms are amazing! How do you do it?” I usually follow those compliments with a polite “thank you” and a smile. But what I really want to say is “Do you have a tissue?” and “Let me show you.”

That “Mom glow” is courtesy of the laps I just got done running chasing my toddler. Flushed cheeks and a dewy complexion are just some of the side effects. I usually just need a tissue to wipe the sweat from my brow. And, those arms of steel? You tend to develop great biceps after picking up your 35-pound toddler 692 times a day. You can have those arms too! Here, hold her for like 3 hours while I take a nap.

So for the new Mom or soon to be Mom here are my Mom-tested weight loss secrets:

• You’ve probably heard about the research relative to eating meals with your children. Family mealtime has been attributed to helping children develop into healthy, well-adjusted adults. My own Mom research also tells me you are also sure to lose weight if you eat with your children. Generally speaking after sharing your food, explaining why their food is touching, cutting their food, feeding your child, picking up food off the floor, heating the food up 10 times during the meal because they take so long to eat and trying to get them to eat the meal that you lovingly prepared for an hour before you resort to chicken nuggets usually makes it easy for you to portion control because you won’t have the time or energy to eat the food that is actually on your plate.

• Take your child to the store without a stroller. In between your child taking off, grabbing and pulling things off the shelf, you are guaranteed to run, jump, stretch do pull-ups and breakout in a full body sweat before you leave the store.

• Organize a family photo. Between getting everyone dressed including your husband, playing peekaboo with your infant to get a smile and jumping back in your place and getting your runner to actually stand still for the picture you're sure to burn a few calories.

• Walk to the car, bus or train anywhere in winter with your infant. Between the snowsuit, diaper bag, your purse, the portable car seat and of course your actual baby this is guaranteed weight training.

• It turns out that time-outs are good for your tummy. You are sure to do some crunches picking your child up and down from their timeout spot a few times a day.