Ever feel like your weight loss journey is more like a ridiculous roller coaster that just won’t end? I heard that a lot as a Jenny Craig consultant, and to be completely honest, I could always relate. And still can.

Especially when it comes to baby weight.

Everyone experiences baby weight loss differently. Some lose it right away without any work. Some exercise a little more than usual and it comes bit by bit. And for some, it takes a long time and a whole lot of effort.

Breastfeeding adds a whole new layer of complication. For some women, breastfeeding takes the weight right off. For others, they have to carefully balance their diet to be able to provide for the baby and still lose the weight, very slowly.

Either way, it can be done, and that’s the important thing to remember. I’m going to keep telling myself that, because of course, I’m the latter. I lost most of the weight I gained with Ginny in about 10 months, give or take. And now I’m almost exactly where I was when I started trying to take the baby weight off the first time around. Talk about a dawdling yo-yo.

It’s not recommended that anyone start working on their baby weight loss until it’s been at least six weeks since they gave birth. After Ginny, I got right on that dieting train. With Jack, I’ve been a little slower on the uptake. But now that we’re all moved into our townhouse, I think I can start giving this a shot.

I want to share my plan with my readers, just in case anyone comes across this blog post looking for a little advice on losing baby weight while breastfeeding. My guess is, if they’re looking this up, then it’s not nearly as simple as eating less or exercising more for them either.

My plan: use the BodyMedia Armband to track my activity, and the Bodymedia Activity Manager to log my food. I use Bodymedia because I know it works, and I already own the armband. But I’ve heard great things about the Fitbit as well, or logging food with MyFitnessPal. So there are other options out there. I just know Bodymedia works for me.

My aim is to eat 1800 calories a day, with a break down of 55% carbohydrates, 25% protein, and 20% fat. That’s basically what Jenny Craig has breastfeeding mothers do, and it worked for me before, albeit slowly. I’ve heard that having a little more fat in the day can be good for the breastfed baby, but who am I kidding? When I aim for 20%, I usually end up with something closer to 25% anyway.

I also intend to make sure I get 64oz of water in every day. Not only is that great for keeping my milk supply up, but it’s also very helpful in the weight loss department. Water breaks down fat and flushes out of your system. It’s like free diet drinks.

As far as activity, I intend to start out slow. I’m trying to move as much as I can in my daily routine (which isn’t very hard, seeing as how I’m trying to keep up with Ginny), and I’m adding a couple of walks around the neighborhood with the kids in the double stroller each week. While I’d love to break out the hardcore workout DVDs and go for hour long walks every day, that’s not really realistic at the moment. And creating a weight loss plan is all about realism, or it won’t work.

So here goes! Stay tuned for more weight loss blogs and healthy recipes. They’re not far away!