losing weight after pregnancy - please help!

[ellsbellls]

I'd be very grateful for some advice from anyone who has managed to shift the pregnancy pounds.

Before getting pregnant I was a size 10/12 and worked out 3 plus times a week - running, weights, spin. Found it relatively easy to maintain this although I do have a natural tendancy to put on weight especially around my middle. i didn't think I'd put on that much during pregnancy but I certainly have - got at least 2 and a half stone to lose to get back to where I was.

DS is now 11 weeks old. For the past 6 or so weeks I have been back exercising and eating very healthily and yet nothing - I can't seem to shift any weight at all. I just don;t understand it. I'm not breastfeeding and my periods have returned (great...). It feels like my body is doing something to actually hold on to the weight I gained during pregnancy. Can anyone advise as I'm at a pretty low ebb about this?

Thanks!

[ThatsNotMyBabyBelly]

I am probably not the best person to talk to about losing weight due to my lack of willpower love of food but I'll give it a shot.

After dd1 I tried and tried to loose the weight and it wouldn't come off. And then when she was 9 months I lost a stone in a month without trying. It certainly felt as though my body was ready to let it go iykwim. I had stopped bf'ing early on and felt perfectly normal though.

However with dd2 I have lost 10lbs now (she is 14 weeks) and I have been properly calorie counting using a website called food focus. I think due to stress/lack of sleep etc I had not been as careful as I thought after dd1.

By the way I have been having 1600 calories a day so not starving myself, but it is coming off slowly but surely.

Lots of luck!

[stargazer1]

hi ellsbells

I think the key thing here is that it's only been 11 WEEKS since you gave birth! It takes time for your body to recover from the trauma that is childbirth, for your uterus to shrink back to its normal size etc. I really wouldn't be worrying so early on if I was you. I'm sure I've heard it said that it takes 9 months to put on all that weight and you should allow another 9 months for it to come off gradually. By all means start to do some gentle exercise but do give yourself a break woman!! That body's been through the mill, be kind to it!

[ThatsNotMyBabyBelly]

Yes actually stargazer1 you are totally right.

Ignore me ellsbells, enjoy your baby. It'll come off when it is good and ready.

Now where did I put those biscuits...

[foreverondiet]

I shifted 3 stone of them (pregnancy pounds) but didn't even start until baby was 6 months old......

[Sleepwhenidie]

Just wanted to second what stargazer said, Fgs give yourself a break. You have a new baby who needs your full attention and time and you are probably very sleep deprived- just google the effect of this on your appetite...craving for sugar, hormonal impact re hanging on to fat etc. it's not good I have to say that if I had tried to diet when my DC's were as young as yours the combination of no sleep and no food would not have made me a very nice mummy to be around

You have plenty of time to get back in shape and it sounds like you are a bit of a gym bunny which, IMO, is key to the process. I have gone through it all three times and am smaller and fitter now than I was before DC1 but I didn't start even thinking about diet and proper exercise until they were each sleeping through the night...which was a whole year for dc3. Have patience, you will get there...maybe try getting back into exercise gradually and think about being healthy and well fed rather than slim, I am sure you will shrink back and you can put in serious effort later if necessary.

[TurkeyBurgerThing]

Took me almost a year of exercising and diet before I shifted a single lb after both my DS were born, then all of a sudden off it started to come! I even went to the doctor and had every single test done possible to try and understand what was happening but all came back clear. The doctor said to me it was probably simply a case of how my body was still producing hormones for a while after they were born.

Oddly enought after DD was born (she was in between DS1 and DS2) the weight started to come off much, much sooner!

Hormones, pregnancy and weight loss is all pretty complex and I think it can really affect people in hugely different ways.

I think the most important thing is to be KIND to yourself, DON'T get frustrated (as hard as it is!) DON'T give up (as hard as it can be!). You've only had your baby 11 weeks ago too and that really is nothing.