weight loss after children

[shelley72]

i seem to have lost a bit of weight without trying . some would say lucky old me but i am starting to look positively ill (so friends and family say). am just wondering could it just be down to giving birth, breastfeeding, not sleeping properly, being on the go constantly running around after two kids or is something more sinister going on?

so a bit of background, i have two children DS (nearly 4) and DD (1) - pre preg with DS i was 95kg. i lost a bit of weight during pregnancy and at the end was prob about where i started. i then lost the baby weight (10kg) really quickly - within a few weeks and then a bit more, and between him and getting pg with DD i was hovering around 75kg. again with her i didnt put on an awful lot of weight and now one year after childbirth i am 60kg.

i am 5ft 7 and have always been big so i needed could afford to lose some weight. so the question is should i be worried or do you thikn its just down to having children and being on the go. i dont seem to have any other symptoms apart from being very tired - but then DD doesnt sleep and still wakes to BF a few times in the night, and im back at work too. fwiw my hair is shiny and my skin is ok so i dont look ill as such, just a bit more bony! i am not sure whether i should be worried or not

anyone been in a similar situation after birth???

[Metalhead]

Hm, it sounds a bit unusual to me, tbh. If you were 75kg pre-pregnancy and now you're 60kg that's quite a dramatic weight loss. Do you eat less than before or eat more healthily? I'd say if you can think of something that might explain it, fine, but if not I'd have a word with your GP just to be on the safe side.

I've recently lost a few kg without trying and have been extremely tired (more than would be normal from a little lack of sleep), and some blood test have revealed there is definitely something wrong with me, though the docs still don't know what.

[Zimm]

As a comparison I 12 stone 6 before PG. About 14 stone 6 when I gave birth and am now one year later) 11 stone 6. So I've lost 3 stone total and am 1 stone lighter compared to pre-preg. 15kg is a lot (about 35 pounds?) but I too have lost weight without even trying - just BF and running around and I've eaten cake and chocolate most days - i think if I'd eaten properly I've have lost another stone!!

[Clarence15]

I lost weight without trying after my second child, and looking back at photos I looked far too thin. Pre-kids I was 8 and half stone, after dd1 I was about 9 and a half. When I was pg with ds I went up to 11st but within a few months of having him I weighed just over 8 st, lighter than I'd been before either children and probably less than I'd been since a teenager. I wasn't dieting, just running about a lot and very stressed so maybe that was it. I mustn't have been eating well but at the time I didn't really notice.

This lasted for about a year at which point I started work again, ds started sleeping and I gradually went back up to 9 and a half st, again without really noticing. I think its normal really, I suppose it depends whether you feel ok about losing it or if it's too much. It should even out again eventually.

[shelley72]

thanks for the replies. i feel ok about losing, as i said i needed to really and i am happy as i am now, though i really dont want to lose any more. metalhead i still eat as much as i ever did (like you zimm lots more biscuits, cos im BF!) but the only thing that is different is that as DD is dairy intolerant i too have had to cut dairy right out - so no milk, cheese, yoghurts etc. i used to have quite a bit of dairy so i wonder if maybe thats the difference?

clarence i have lost a little bit of weight since returning to work - but that may be due to stress as you say - i hate leaving my littloe ones for a job i dont enjoy (with redundancy over our heads) and finding it hard to juggle dropping off kids, work, home etc. i guess i will just hope it stabilises at least. colleagues have been saying there is prob something wrong with my thyroid - but it all sounds normal if MN is anythign to go by!