To ask how you got your fitness back post baby?

[postbabyfitness]

I'm almost 14 months postnatal. It's time to address the post baby weight!

I'm 5' 9" and been a toned size 8-10 my whole life before this baby. I used to run and go to the gym, it was something I really enjoyed. I'm now a size 12 and whilst I accept this is not huge, it is to me because I was very slim before. My tummy, thighs and bum wobble where they used to be firm and I utterly hate catching sight of myself in a mirror post shower. I won't allow DP to see me fully naked anymore, I hide under tops that cover my tummy. I was never like this before.

Some of it is I'm sure because DD was a larger than expected baby at 8lb 3oz. My ab muscles were stretched to absolute capacity and basically separated down the middle in the late stages of pregnancy. It's left me with a lot of wobble on my tummy and I hate it. 😢

Anyway. I'm struggling to find the energy to exercise and I don't know where to start. It used to be such a key part of my life. I even ran a half marathon 5 years ago at my peak fitness! Now the thought of half a mile is making me want to cry never mind 13 miles. I've totally lost my confidence with it and never have any energy to face it as I'm exhausted dealing with DD and working almost FT.

Anyway... i went for a little walk / jog this evening at DP's insistence (think he's sick of listening to me day how much I hate my body). And once I took those first little steps it actually really helped, I got my stride and (albeit very slow!) I managed 1.7 miles of walk/run intervals. I feel very proud of myself but this is just a small start - not sure I will be able to keep it up!.

Does anyone have any success stories of regaining their fitness post baby? Any tips? Words of wisdom or motivation? Thank you

Have your ab muscles gone back together or are they still separated? Because if still separated you might want physio to get them back together again which will help with how your belly looks and make it easier to get fit again.

I've only just started getting fit again after my youngest baby (he's 4 now), had issues from the pregnancy (separated ab muscles too and too much overcompensating with my back) so had to have physio to strengthen my core first but now I do Ringfit every morning (only way to get me to exercise - need rewarding feedback beyond physical fitness ) and I feel the fittest I have since I was a teenager!

Walking and Pilates.

size 8, 50kg pre pregnancy. Gained 20kg. Ds was 8lb8. Back to pre pregnancy around 2 months later

i put it mainly down to loads of walking and breastfeeding. Ds ate every hour the first year of his life, and was a baby who couldn’t be put down for one minute without screaming. So I walked him in the sling or pram every day for hours and hours.

Now he’s 2 years he still hates being indoors sitting, so we still spend most the day outside.

Slow and steady. Start with walk/ run and increase pace slowly. Lots of walks with baby in the pram including hills. When I was ready I joined an outdoor fitness class- I was the slowest and most unfit to begin with but now a year or so later, I am back to running regularly and am back to pre baby fitness and have made friends from the group who I run with, which has helped motivation! I’ve started weight training recently as well which has done wonders! It’s hard to fit it in, but taking an hour for yourself a few times a week helps with more than just fitness.

I was size 8 pre-pregnancy and I'm 5'6. I ran a lot of half marathons and took part in a variety of endurance activities such as the Three Peaks Challenge and long distance bike rides.

My (now 18mo) DS was 8lb7 at birth and I was approx. 2 stone heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight afterwards. I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight at around 10 stone 4 months PP. My rib cage is still slightly wider though, so some size 8 clothes aren't as comfortable.

I breastfed, which I think did help as I could feel my ab muscles contracting sometimes whilst my DS fed. I walk anywhere I can and gradually lessened my snacking as my DS allowed me to sleep more in the early days. I run a 5km distance rather slowly once a week and have done since 10 weeks PP and I also go on a casual bike ride with a friend most weeks.

The most important thing is to keep an eye on food intake. I had to reduce my grazing habits to shift the final pounds.

I'm the same OP. DD is 9 months and I'm about 2st heavier than pre-pregnancy. I'm too knackered to exercise, and never seem to have the time (she will only nap on me, in the car or occasionally in the pushchair). I'm thinking snacks have to be the first thing that goes...

Probably not what you want to hear but breastfeeding was how I lost a lot of weight! I'm thinner now than I was before...

Good luck, and be kind to yourself :)

Start by getting you muscle separation addressed, find a women's health physio. I went to one who was also a Pilates instructor. When your core is working better, then you can start high impact exercise again. It's well worth the investment.

Thanks everyone.

I actually did breastfeed DD for 7 months. It didn't help 😭

I will look into a physio as it sounds like I need more specialist support with the ab muscle problem.

I do actually feel quite good after my little run/walk earlier. DP even made a video from the window (cringe) of me jogging back to the house with a bright red beetroot face😂 He's just shown it me now to apparently "motivate me and spur me on". My first comment was "god I look fat on that" 😩🤣

Still... it will motivate me!

Hi OP, this was me after two in two years, if you enjoy running, book a race and plan a race plan as having something booked helped me stay focused as I was too stubborn to not do it after committing, tell your friends and family as that also boosted me. I completed a marathon 10 months after my second and without telling people so I knew I wouldn’t back down I absolutely wouldn’t have done it lol best of luck, if you done a half marathon before baby you absolutely can do it again! X

Sweaty Mamas classes

And a few sessions with a chiropractor

Oh and Pilates for your abs and core etc. Especially if you had separated stomach muscles.

Urgh, why do these threads always bring out the smug women who lost weight within weeks by breastfeeding. It's particularly irritating in this case as the OP clearly states she is 14 months post birth, and she wants to be fit through exercise, so it's not really relevant. I definitely did not lose weight breastfeeding, so it's really not the automatic solution it's sold to be. Sorry OP, I don't have any practical advice as I'm certainly not fit, but I hope someone will come along who will actually help, and not stealth brag

@canyoutoleratethis

I breast fed for 7 months and endured several bouts of horrific mastitis in the process. I lost not one single pound from doing so 😩

Walking loads & home hiit workouts !

Sorry to gatecrash as I don't have a baby - but have you tried switching from running to lifting weights OP?

Honestly, it's not as scary as it sounds, and you won't bulk up, you will lose fat and gain lean muscle. Even 3 times a week, for 20 - 25 minutes should make a difference, and you can do it at home when your child is asleep. You can get cheap weights on amazon, find a small space in your house and get going.

There are loads of beginner videos on youtube - Nourish, Move, Love is a great one, she does pregnancy and postpartum videos. Also Johanna Soh does beginner weightlifting videos.

@canyoutoleratethis - it’s not smug, it’s just true in many cases. I literally couldn’t keep the weight on and was dropping to a low bmi until Ds started weaning. Op asked how people lost weight, it’s true.

The walking non stop was because baby would scream non stop and want feeding every more otherwise. I would have preferred to have had a baby who would nap in bouncer so I could nap myself being so sleep deprived but it wasn’t possible.

@Roseglen84

I actually used to do some (very low key!) weight training pre baby - I would run a few times a week and do at least one class a week. I used to go to Bodypump classes at the gym and I have a barbell and dumbells at home - they're in the garage somewhere. I used to really enjoy weights actually, I had such nice definition in my arms, shoulders and back when I used to do the classes. I might have to hunt out those weights from the garage!

I know exactly how you at Christmas I weighed about 7-8kg more than pre baby. She was 15months. I also ran and cycled a lot pre baby, I’d got back into cycling but not lost that much weight. I felt rubbish about myself, only leggings and hoodies fitted and I decided enough was enough!
So I started tracking what I was eating on MyFitnessPal. Tried to eat 500 less than I needed most days and started running again. My first run was much like yours! Now 5 months later I weigh 6kg less and can run 5-6miles. Not as quickly as I could. But it’s definitely success! So you can do it too!

Hi OP.

I'm same height as you and went up
To a size 16 post baby. Initially I did walking and calorie counting and lost 2 stone (over about 5 months so slow and steady). Once I'd lost a bit of the bulk, I started going to the gym and lifting weights and supplemented with running (did couch to 5k and once completed was running 5k in 33
Mins a few times a week). This helped me tone up and the difference was really noticeable once I started with the weights. All in all I lost about 3.5 stone and was back in a size 10/12 when I got pregnant again
Im just about the give birth but this time im only giving myself 2 months "freedom" on food before I started trying to eat healthily again - it was hard work whacking it all
Off !

My little one is just over 4 months old. In pregnancy I managed to gain over 20kgs. I absolutely hated my reflection post baby. I’m only short so I really carry the weight badly.
I swear by the app FIIT. It has a great post partum workout series which really helped my pelvic floor and learning which workouts are best for my body. It also has other great strength and cardio sessions.
I’ve also been calorie counting. DD is exclusively breastfed and won’t even look at a bottle, but I don’t find that’s helped with weight loss one bit. If anything, at first I think I think I was under eating and my body was holding onto excess fat because I was feeding. There’s a great calorie calculator which takes breastfeeding into account, and I’ve based my targets off that.
I’m down 10kg. Almost 11. I would like to be at my pre-pregnancy weight by August, and then keep going down from there.
It’s so so hard sometimes. I feel like my body is not my own, between breastfeeding and all the saggy skin. But it gave me LO and I am grateful for that.

Same height and also used to be size 8-10. Never managed to get quite that small again since DD was born although I’m aiming to finally get there this year. I’m doing the Joe Wicks exercise app and it’s really helping with toning up. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea though, my sister can’t stand him! I also had quite bad ab separation but my NHS physio was pretty useless. I found some good exercise videos addressing the problem on YouTube and following them really did the trick.

I was 64kg before I fell pregnant and on month 8 of my pregnancy, I was 88kg. The last month of my pregnancy I didn't even weigh myself as I couldn't face it. I also had a big baby. I am 5'10 though. I bf and quickly dropped down to 78kg within 6 months but stayed at 78kg which is roughly more than 2 dress sizes than my pre pregnancy size for 3 years until the lo started nursery just recently and btw, I did bf for 3 years as well but stayed at 78kg. I've been going to gym 5 days a week now and I've just weighed myself this morning coming up at 72kg. My target is to go back down to 66kg. There's a wedding in the summer and everyone's so petite whereas me, I am tall and big so that's when something inside me snapped and got me in to this journey. You realising and wanting to do something about it means you are half way there already. Walk loads, go running, run with the pushchair in the park, count your calories until you reach your target and then just protect your weight by staying active.

@FolkloreEvermore what is the calorie counter please? I'm breastfeeding and a bit nervous about limiting my intake (although we're in early stages of weaning and she's eating like a trooper). I definitely think feeding is making me hang on to weight btw OP.

I echo the women's health physio recommendations. With baby no 1 I did physio, then pilates, then couch to 5k (my head could run but my body couldn't keep up) which I had just finished when second pregnancy happened.

You need to get checked by a female specialist physio before you do any exercise in case your abdominals are still seperated.

Then potentially pilates for you.

I went from a size 10 to a size 18 after pregnancy!! I lost it all in a year with careful eating, lots of walking with pram, Pilates and yoga.

I was a marathon runner pre pregnancy.
As soon as was signed off by the doctor I started doing short runs again, and sweaty mama classes.
I don't do anything like the mileage I did before I had DD but what I love about running is you can just put trainers on and go. Even just getting out for 20 minutes is something and you'll feel better for fitting it in!
I also planked every day working up to 3 x 1 minute planks. I don't do that anymore, I need to get back to it.
Good Luck! It sounds like you've already made a good start 👍