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Original poster

To think that a woman who still has pregnancy weight 8 weeks after having a baby is normal?

110 replies

speedymama · 31/05/2007 14:25

Just read an article from a magazine left on the train. It was about Mel B and it said that she had been to some event in Hollywood and still had not lost all the weight she had put on after having her baby.

She had a baby 8 weeks ago! I know that in La La Land most things are surreal but having a baby is as real as it gets and a woman's body will invariably gain weight. It takes 9 months to go on so why the modern unrealistic expection by meeja types for new mothers to look like they have never had a baby?

I wish more slebs who have babies would lose weight properly instead of indulging in unrealistic diets so that they can fit into tiny frocks agian.

Grrr!

OP posts:
hatwoman · 31/05/2007 20:30

the thing that really pisses me off is the implication that there is some sort of moral value to loosing the weight quickly. c'mon gals if sleb b can do it that just goes to show that the rest of you are lazy and morally inferior.

Judy1234 · 31/05/2007 20:36

But there is in our culture, isn't there? Perhaps we should move to Tonga or certain parts of the USA.

LoveAngel · 31/05/2007 21:14

I didn't lose a single pound for 6 months after my son was born. After that it started to fall off, and I was back to a normal-ish weight within a year. It felt exactly the right sort of timescale - I didn't do anything more than gentle exercise and didn't diet at all. My body took its own time to heal and regain its shape, and I'm glad I did it that way. To be honest, I think its worse than depressing that women feel under so much pressure to be slim again after giving birth - I actually think its disgusting and irresponsible that these stupid magazines bang on and on about it. It amounts to woman hating of the worse kind. Grrrrr.

LoveAngel · 31/05/2007 21:15

Forgot to add - I put on 4 stone when pregant!

divastrop · 31/05/2007 21:24

i lost weight very quickly after having ds2,due to stress,marriage break up etc,i got down to my pre-preg weight in 6 weeks but kept on loosing it after that.i thought it was great at the time but when i see photos from back then i just look skinny and ill

after having dd2,i finally got into my pre-pregnancy jeans when she was 6 months old.then 2 weeks later found out i was pregnant again.

dd3 is 12 weeks tomorrow and ive yet to lose any weight!i do feel under alot of pressure,like when i was pregnant and i kept seeing pictures of pregnant slebs wearing size 6 jeans under their neat little bumps.

i cant believe anybody would put their baby's life at risk for the sake of their figure,though.why do they have babies if staying skinny is so important?

scootermum · 31/05/2007 21:25

Who said that re the face?Who said it?!My face is the size of the moon currently...I am not amused!
It happens to some of us who are unfortunate to suffer with lots of swelling-just genes I guess..but it goes down straight after birth..well it did last time..God what if it doesnt this time?!Honestly I think my face alone currently constitues about 30% of my total body weight!

berolina · 31/05/2007 21:26

I weighed 49kg (7 1/2 stone-ish? bit more?) pre-pg with ds, put on about 17kg with him, lost 8 or 9 of that almost immediately and oscillated between 56 and 58kg until this pg. Have only put on 3 1/2 kg so far and am 25 weeks. My take on it is that you aren't necessarily meant to weigh the same post- as pre-pg, especially if you didn't weigh much to start with. I'm still bf ds - it really didn't have much of a weightloss effect for me. I haven't actually actively tried to lose the weight, either - I eat pretty healthily and walk a lot - and my weight before this pregnancy was still in the healthy BMI range. I don't mind being rounder and curvier.

Judy7 · 31/05/2007 21:26

You're going to hate me. DS1 was 2 weeks early and I was back in my size 10 jeans on his due date.. at my 6-week check after having ds1 I was sent for thyroid tests cos I'd lost all my baby weight plus half another half a stone...really wasn't deliberate, just fell off me. Same thing happened with ds2 but took about 3-4 months. I normally put on weight at the drop of a hat, so have no explanation whatsoever. If it's any consolation all my clothes are now too big and DH keeps telling me I look like a sack...

Bouquetsofdynomite · 31/05/2007 21:31

Everyone's different. I lost 2stone of excess weight while pg so I was superslim post baby. 10wks of vomiting is a high price to pay. But...
It's the single, childless journalists who write bitchy articles - Mel B still looked fab and is having a hard enough time without spiteful, ignorant people making up rules of thumb about things which they know nothing about. They'll get theirs but not until they've brainwashed our daughters with their nonsense.

octo · 31/05/2007 21:37

I got back into my normal clothes after 5 weeks which am rather proud of as have been stuffing myself to the point of popping to keep bf. I do have the most unattractive and rather large layer of flab which luckily is pretty flexible and can hang over my trousers/skirts Its my under arm bits that bother me - I need to do press ups not diet! And my tits are huge - as my sister so kindly pointed out

Am starting running after my 6 week check and hope to tone up but have no plans to diet whatsoever.

Hello buckets

MadamePlatypus · 31/05/2007 21:44

The thing that annoys me is that having a baby is about the most amazing thing that you can do, but once you have had it you are supposed to look as though you have only just started your periods.

Bouquetsofdynomite · 31/05/2007 21:46

Yo! Way to go, I still gasp in amazement at anyone who goes running, let alone whilst breastfeeding. Get yourself a good bra young lady! (lack of sports bra is my excuse for not even trying running.)

LazyWoman · 31/05/2007 21:48

I went back to my normal weight after 3 months with my first child, about 6 weeks after my second but lost it all after about 3 weeks with my third! I did breastfeed them all but also I had so much running around to do - I had 3 kids under 3 1/2 yrs old and just didn't sit down I think. I am petite anyway and my weight had been stable for 15 years - I think my body couldn't wait to get back to normal!

However, I think it's really sad that the emphasis is on how you look after you've had a baby - as if that's the most important thing on the list! What about all the time you spend nurturing and caring for this new life you've brought into the world? Doesn't that count for anything now?

octo · 31/05/2007 21:49

buckets - hadn't thought of that - not even sure have a sports bra that fits! May do test run round the garden and skip it altogether if too painful/wobbly!

paulaplumpbottom · 31/05/2007 23:23

Its the others who are abnormal surely

missgriss · 31/05/2007 23:29

I was at the doctors last week and there was a girlin the waiting room in with her baby (looked about 8 weeks old) and she was lucky if she was a size 8! Not even the slightest bit of a paunch.

Judy1234 · 31/05/2007 23:30

This thread seems to be full of women who lost all the weight quite fast. I think most women in England who have a baby actually never lose the weight to be honest, given the average woman is size 16.

paulaplumpbottom · 31/05/2007 23:31

I think that the girls in their early 20s rebound quickly

missgriss · 31/05/2007 23:32

I think (I may be wrong here) it is easier to lose the weight after your first baby. I lost the weight fairly easily after having DS but it's since having DD that I've struggled.

allgonebellyup · 01/06/2007 09:48

Yes maybe it is an age thing- was 20 when i had dd and 24 when i had ds.

seamonster · 01/06/2007 10:00

Ok, let's put things into perspective. We are shown through tv etc that normal is about being around 6ft tall and naturally v. thin. Of course in real life these people are different (freaks if you like). Therefore it stands to reason that anyone not like them is 'normal'.
But even within 'normal' there are going to be differences. For most women getting back down in size is about time and some effort.
For others, obviously it is not, they seem to just do it.(Hmmph)
Then of course there are those who cannot get back down to pre-pregnancy size/weight.
Perhaps we should all concentrate on eating reasonably, exercising reasonably and stop worrying, whether we are the 6ft tall (or indeed smaller versions) who pop back or not.
((rides off on high horse into the sunset))

dionnelorraine · 01/06/2007 10:09

I still have pregnancy weight after 2 1/2 years!!!!!

zizou · 01/06/2007 10:16

And I after six........

Judy1234 · 01/06/2007 10:55

i think the problem is that most people in the UK whether they have children or not just don't `eat reasonably, exercise reasonably'. They eat badly and don't exercise much and get fatter.

mylittlefreya · 01/06/2007 11:59

I was into my normal jeans the day I came home from hospital.

I was NOT normal - with severe hyperemesis, having spent a lot of the pregnancy in hospital, I will be spending the equivalent 9 months reversing the muscle wasting and liver failure, and dd catching up from the growth restriction.

These celebs AREN'T normal - you guys are, who had healthy pregnancies and healthy babies and a normal healthy struggle to get the weight off.