If you’ve been around here for a while, you probably know that last year I lost 50 pounds after having my third baby. (You can learn exactly how I did it inside my Weight Loss Mini Course here.)

But what most people don’t know is what I didn’t do.

When women hear that someone lost 50 pounds—especially after having a baby—they usually assume it involved something extreme. A strict diet. Hours of workouts. Tracking every calorie. A total overhaul of how you eat.

None of that was part of my approach.

In fact, many of the things women believe are required for weight loss are the exact things keeping them stuck. They make weight loss feel complicated, time-consuming, and unrealistic for a busy mom.

That’s why I want to walk you through what I didn’t do to lose the weight. Because when you strip away the noise and the diet culture rules, weight loss becomes much simpler—and much more doable in real life.

I Didn’t Exercise To Lose The Weight

I didn’t exercise at all.

I didn’t start a workout program.
I didn’t join a gym.
I didn’t commit to daily workouts.

This surprises a lot of people.

At the time I had 3 boys under 4 years old, I was running a coaching practice, and was primary childcare. Adding exercise was neither necessary nor available given my time constraints.

One of the biggest myths in weight loss is that you need to exercise your way to results. But exercise isn’t what causes weight loss.

Weight loss happens when you create a calorie deficit.

Exercise can absolutely be great for your health. It can help with strength, energy, and overall wellbeing. But it’s not the primary driver of fat loss.

Because I understood this, I didn’t spend my time trying to burn off calories at the gym or exercising at all. Instead, I focused on the variable that actually determines whether weight goes up or down: how much I was eating.

That’s what allowed me to lose 50 pounds after having my third baby without needing to redesign my life around workouts.

Next, listen to this podcast: Weight Loss For Moms (And My Weight Loss Journey)

I Didn’t Follow A Food Plan

I didn’t follow a strict food plan.

I didn’t have a list of “approved” foods.
I didn’t cut out entire food groups.
I didn’t meal prep a week of identical lunches.

Many weight loss programs revolve around rules about what you’re allowed to eat. The idea is that if you follow the plan perfectly, the weight will come off.

But the truth is that weight loss isn’t determined by a specific food plan.

It’s determined by whether you’re eating more or fewer calories than your body needs.

This is why two people can follow completely different diets and still lose weight. One person might do keto. Another might eat a balanced diet with carbs, fat, and protein. As long as they’re in a calorie deficit, the weight goes down.

Instead of following a rigid plan, I ate normal foods that I already liked.

The difference was that I ate less.

That allowed weight loss to fit into my real life as a busy mom instead of requiring an entirely new way of eating.

Work With Natalie Bacon To Lose Weight Here:

I Didn’t Count Calories, Macros, Or Anything Else

I didn’t track my food.

I didn’t log every meal into an app.
I didn’t weigh my food on a scale.
I didn’t calculate macros or calorie targets.

For many people, tracking can be a helpful tool. But it’s not the only way to create a calorie deficit—and it wasn’t the approach I used.

Counting everything you eat can quickly become time-consuming and mentally exhausting, especially for busy moms. When weight loss feels like a full-time job, most people eventually stop.

Instead of tracking every bite, I focused on something much simpler: learning how to eat a little bit less.

That meant paying attention to my hunger, my portions, and the results on the scale.

The scale gave me feedback.
My daily choices created the deficit.

No spreadsheets.
No apps.
No logging every bite of food.

Just a simple, sustainable approach that fit into my real life.

More Weight Loss Content:

I Didn’t Overhaul My Eating Habits

I didn’t completely reinvent how I eat.

I didn’t suddenly become someone who only eats salads.
I didn’t eliminate all of my favorite foods.
I didn’t create a brand new lifestyle.

This is another place where many women get stuck. They believe losing weight requires becoming a completely different person with completely different habits.

But that wasn’t my experience.

I still ate the foods I liked.
I still ate normal meals.
I still lived my normal life.

The difference was simply that I ate a little bit less.

Weight loss doesn’t require perfection. It doesn’t require a dramatic transformation in how you eat.

It requires creating a calorie deficit consistently over time.

For me, that meant making small adjustments to portions and allowing mild, doable hunger between meals.

Those small changes were enough to create the results I wanted—without needing to overhaul my entire way of eating.

I Didn’t Use GLP-1 Medication

I didn’t use a GLP-1 medication to lose weight.

I didn’t take an injection to reduce my appetite.
I didn’t use medication to suppress hunger.

To be clear, this isn’t a judgment of anyone who chooses that path. GLP-1 medications can be helpful tools for some people under medical supervision.

But they weren’t part of my approach.

Instead of outsourcing appetite control, I focused on learning how to experience mild hunger without immediately solving it with food.

This was one of the most important skills I developed.

Most of us are conditioned to believe that hunger means it’s time to eat. But when you’re trying to lose weight, that belief can keep you stuck.

Hunger isn’t an emergency.

It’s a normal signal your body sends as you move into a calorie deficit.

Learning how to experience mild, manageable hunger—without reacting to it right away—was one of the biggest reasons I was able to lose 50 pounds and keep the process simple.

Up next, listen to this weight loss podcast: How I Lost 50 Pounds In 4 Months After Having My Third Baby

I Didn’t Wait Until Life Slowed Down

I didn’t wait for the “perfect time” to lose weight.

I didn’t wait until the baby slept through the night.
I didn’t wait until my schedule was calmer.
I didn’t wait until the kids were older.

At the time, I had three boys under four years old, I was running my business, and I was the primary parent during the day. Life was full.

If I had waited for a quieter season, I might still be waiting.

This is another place many moms get stuck. They tell themselves they’ll focus on weight loss later—when things calm down, when the kids are more independent, when work isn’t so busy.

But life doesn’t suddenly become simple.

There will always be a school event, a busy week at work, a sick kid, a vacation, or a schedule change.

Instead of waiting for the perfect season, I learned how to lose weight within my actual life.

That meant keeping the process simple, flexible, and repeatable—something I could do even in a busy season of motherhood.

I Didn’t Cut Out Flour Or Sugar

I didn’t eliminate entire categories of food.

I didn’t tell myself I could never have bread.
I didn’t decide sugar was “bad.”
I didn’t create a list of forbidden foods.

A lot of diets rely on restriction. The idea is that certain foods must be completely eliminated in order to lose weight.

But weight loss doesn’t come from banning specific foods. It comes from eating fewer calories than your body burns.

You can lose weight eating many different types of foods as long as you’re in a calorie deficit.

Instead of eliminating foods entirely, I focused on portion size and frequency.

That made the process feel realistic and sustainable.

I Didn’t Rely On Motivation

I didn’t wait until I felt excited to lose weight.

I didn’t rely on willpower bursts.
I didn’t restart every Monday.

Weight loss worked when I treated it like a simple commitment, not a motivation project.

Most people think they need to feel inspired in order to follow through. But motivation comes and goes.

Discipline is what creates results.

Work with Natalie Bacon to lose weight here:

I Didn’t Tell Myself “This Is Just My Body Now”

This one is subtle but powerful.

After having a baby, it’s very common to hear messages like:

This is just what happens after kids.
Your body is different now.
Weight loss gets harder with age.

Some of that may be true biologically—but it doesn’t mean change is impossible.

I decided that my results were still within my control.

I Didn’t Work On Mindset First

This one might surprise you, especially if you know my work.

A lot of what I teach in motherhood and personal development focuses on mindset and thought work. Those tools are incredibly powerful in many areas of life.

But when it came to losing weight, I didn’t spend months trying to “fix my mindset” before taking action.

I didn’t wait until I believed everything was possible.
I didn’t journal about my relationship with food for weeks.
I didn’t try to think my way into weight loss first.

Instead, I started with the actions that actually create weight loss.

Weight loss happens when you consistently eat less than your body burns. That’s the strategy. That’s the mechanism.

Once I understood that, the focus became very simple: creating a small calorie deficit and allowing mild, doable hunger along the way.

Of course, mindset still matters. The thoughts you practice can make the process easier or harder. But mindset wasn’t the starting point—it was something I worked on alongside the actions.

In other words, this wasn’t a mindset program.

It was a simple, practical strategy that worked in real life as a busy mom with three young kids.

A Final Note

Now that you know what I didn’t do to lose 50 pounds, the next step is learning what I actually did.

Inside my Mini Course, How I Lost 50 Pounds In 4 Months After Having My Third Baby, I walk you through the exact strategy I used—including how I created a calorie deficit, how I approached hunger, and how I lost the weight while raising three little boys and running my business.

You can learn more about my Weight Loss Mini Course here.