New mom Bethenny Frankel: How I'll lose the pregnancy weight

New mom Bethenny Frankel celebrates her first Mothers Day with
the birth of daughter Bryn Hoppy, May 8. Frankel, 39, already has
a plan to lose the pregnancy weight. (Photos/Bethenny Frankel)

New mom Bethenny Frankel, who's celebrating her first Mothers Day after the birth of daughter Bryn Hoppy May 8, already has a plan for dropping the pregnancy pounds.

Frankel, 39, delivered a healthy 4-lb, 12-oz baby girl Saturday in New York with husband Jason Hoppy, 38, by her side. The baby was born several weeks earlier than her June due date.

When Bethenny entered her third trimester, she drastically reduced her salt intake and followed a mostly vegetarian diet to combat water retention, especially in her face.

'I WAS A SWOLLEN BEAST'

Frankel had lamented April 25 on Twitter that her face looked "deformed" and she was a "swollen beast."

"When I was approaching my eighth month, I was exhausted; it was brutal," said Frankel. "Right after my wedding [on March 28], I swelled like a balloon." 

She continued: "My face was literally deformed so much that I look like a different person."

In an attempt to control her weight and stay healthy, Frankel was active throughout her pregnancy.

"I've been doing yoga, walking a tremendous amount and feeling fit," she said.

Bethenny, who wrote the best-selling diet book, Naturally Thin, thinks it'll be relatively easy to drop the pregnancy weight, as long as she works out daily and follows a healthy, organic diet.

ELLIPTICAL TRAINER + YOGA

Frankel recently purchased an elliptical trainer for her apartment so she can work out while she's with her baby, and plans to continue doing yoga and exercise to her own fitness DVD, Body by Bethenny.

Frankel, a natural-foods chef, says portion control and limiting processed food consumption helped her to lose 20 pounds she previously carried for years.

The 5'5" Bethenny confesses she struggled with weight problems her entire life and battled eating disorders as well as exercise addiction.

'I LOST 20 LBS & OVERCAME FOOD ADDICTION'

"I used to be 20 pounds heavier," said Frankel. "I would have been 50 pounds heavier, but I was white-knuckling it my whole life. I was completely obsessed with food."

Bethenny reveals she wrote her best-selling diet book Naturally Thin last year because of her own addiction to eating and obsessive workouts.

"Since I was 8, I was obsessed with every single diet ever because I came from a very toxic, dysfunctional household with a complete emphasis and obsession with food and being fat," she says. "It was absurd and moronic to be an adult and to be worried about dieting.

"You [don't] have to be a size 2 or 4," explains Bethenny. "[Being a Skinnygirl] means knowing how to eat, drink, and be merry without obsessing over food."

She adds: "A Skinnygirl eats what she wants and stops when she's had enough. This might mean looking healthy, beautiful, and curvy in a size 10 or 12 or 14 or whatever size you wear, and feeling good in it."

If you do overeat on a particular day or over the holidays, Frankel says it's important not to overreact and feel defeated.

"People beat themselves up, binge-eat, and vow to be ‘good’ tomorrow," says Bethenny. "I don’t calorie count — but I’m aware of what I eat."

Frankel, who married Manhattan real estate broker Jason Hoppy in March, will debut her own reality show, Bethenny's Getting Married, June 10 on Bravo.

Read more on Reality TV Stars:

• Bethenny Frankel delivers 4-pound baby girl named Bryn May 8
  
• Bethenny Frankel flaunts pregnant belly: 'I'm a swollen beast'
• Bethenny Frankel's pregnancy weight gain: 'I swelled like a balloon'
• Bethenny Frankel: I lost 20 pounds and overcame food addiction
  
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