To think dieting whilst having very young children / babies is so hard

[cluffs]

I've dieted and lost weight a few times in my life. I know what it takes.

It takes a lot of sacrifice and it takes being hungry a lot, for me at least.

I have a small baby and toddler. I'm up all night and I'm exhausted. I'm managing to exercise a lot, which is actually helping my energy levels, but I cannot deal with being hungry all the time, like I know I need to be, in order to lose weight.

I usually do high protein / low carb diets and lots of exercise, which has really helped me in the past. But even with these diets, I still end up hungry a lot of the time.

Any advice? My baby is 6 months old and is not sleeping through the night at all, so lots of wake ups. I don't get a lot of sleep at all. I'm very active in the day and I exercise a lot.

My eating is the issue, but I am just hungry. It's more quantity than quality. Finding it very hard, but absolutely hate myself right now.

Not breastfeeding.

Yes I totally agree

Im in a similar boat. It is really hard. I have two young kids and i work 30h/week in a stressful job. I have no time between 6am & 8pm when im not either with my children or working, so exercise just rarely happens. Im shattered, i eat too much as a result.

Hi OP, I advice but in the same situation! Need to lose weight put on while pregnant, feel uncomfortable and not myself at this size. I think the problem is having the time to do, dieting takes time to mentally plan and actually shop/cook for. Also I have a complete lack of motivation at the moment which doesn't help!

Has anyone tried intermittent fasting ? I've tried that recently and it absolutely kills me. By 1 pm I am so so hungry, it's painful !

You don't need to be hungry. I've 3 young kids. Including a 9month old baby. I have lost 35lbs in te last 5months and I'm rarely hungry. You need to plan healthy filling meals. I aim for 1400cals day.

I only have 1 little one who sleeps well but I have sleep apnoea so am always tired.
I find I lose weight best when my lifestyle allows.
Having to constantly entertain a toddler and being tired is enough for me right now so I'm not worrying about my weight. I need to lose 2 stone ish and cut out the snacking and puddings but can't be bothered! I do try to eat healthily in the day but a nice dinner and a pudding are my treats.
I did intermittent fasting (16:8) when my little one was about 2 months old, for about a month. I then gave up bread for lent and the 2 things combined shifted the stone of baby weight I had left to lose.

I lost weight both times my babies were 1ish. What is impossible is losing weight when you have teens to cater for and they are constantly eating loads.

Yes its very hard!
I used to go to boarding school as a teenager. We sneaked out once and got grounded to our rooms. When we asked for dinner we were told “If you’re hungry, drink water!” Its become my diet mantra! I always drink 2 glasses of water before I eat anything! It really helps!

I think when you are getting less sleep or sleep deprived you need extra calories to keep going tbh. I had three dcs quite close in age and was chronically sleep deprived for years , apart from my dh I had no support so had to keep going etc.
I ate loads as had to with lack of sleep , however I was breastfeeding and it burned loads of calories for me and I was thinner and leaner than I’ve ever been. My dcs are older but my weight is the same since breastfeeding, I also do lots of exercise now I have a bit more time etc , I’m still really tired as life with older kids is also exhausting for different reasons so I still eat lots but my weight is low.
I think you should give yourself a break op , you’ve just had a baby and if you are up a lot you need to eat to have energy to deal with the days.

Your hormones may not be helping you as they'll still be fluctuating. You may find the hunger eases in a few months. As far as IF goes, I find it helpful as the earlier I start eating the more I eat. I try to make it to at least 11am.

It’s also great you are doing loads of exercise, well done! I would just cut yourself some slack until your dc sleeps a bit better.

Honestly I would say at this point, with a 6 month old, just be kind to yourself. The early months are just about survival with a bad sleeper. I found it much harder to shift weight after my second pregnancy but did get there with minimal effort once I was sleeping and stopped breast feeding (has crept on again with peri menopause though dammit!)

Bulk your meals out with LOADS of veg. Make yourself feel really full physically but with veg. I have a 4 month old and have managed this by batch cooking and filling the freezer. Agree also with the drinking loads of water point, I carry a water bottle round the house with me.

I think being awake during the night makes you hungrier so don’t be too hard on yourself. But also you really don’t need to be that hungry while losing weight. You only need to eat 250-500 cals below your TDEE to lose and I would go for closer to 250 with all the night wakings at the minute, if not postponing weight loss until you’re in a better place to focus on it.

I think you just wait until baby is sleeping through the night. It's just too hard otherwise.

Try eating keto. You don't need to eat less or count calories, will fill you up more. It just means you can't eat bread etc.

If you want to try IF then have your dinner at say 7pm and don't eat until 10am. Build it up but don't try and do long stretches straight away.

Here's what you need to eat :

Vegetable and lentil soup
Hard boiled eggs
Cottage cheese
Jacket potatoes with tons of salad and grilled chicken
Greek yoghurt and fruit

Needs to be filling but not more than 1400 cals per day

Everything moderation when the children are small.

You can't afford to be starving running on empty with small children, you'll be wore out.

Try to make conscious decisions and meal plan easy preparation meals, let your body do it without punishment.
If it takes years so be it, there is no rush.

Enjoy some treats along the way.

I went in hard on Keto a few months ago.. it worked whilst I was weighing absolutely everything that went into my mouth. I find it's really easy to over eat on protein when you're doing keto. Then I went away for a month where I wasn't able to have food scales and weigh food as much etc. but I still stuck to keto. I lost a tiny bit more weight and then it just stopped entirely. So for me, keto only works when I'm being extremely strict with measuring everything. It does not work when I'm doing it without measuring.

I also tried keto a few years ago and it was exactly the same then.

I feel like a massive failure. It's so embarrassing that I can't manage to lose weight.

Sleep deprivation for me, makes everything harder. I’m definitely more hungry when sleep deprived. Well done on the exercise though, you are getting fit and building muscle, that will help in the long run.

If you have 2 young children and are exercising lots then you need to be fuelling your body correctly.

Diets don’t work long term. They are a quick fix then the weight goes back on. You need to just eat healthily. Do you eat enough protein? So thinks like Greek yogurt is good for breakfast. Lots of veggies. Healthy snacks. But don’t walk around starving that’s not good for you.

You have a 6 month old baby. Your body is still recovering from birth. It takes time. Be kind to yourself.

I agree completely. I'm in the same boat with a four month old. What I'm doing is just aiming to lose really slowly, about half a lb a week. On the good days, I eat well but after a bad night I know I'll be into the sugar! So a slow goal takes the pressure off. I'm also walking at least two hours a day with the pram as it's the only place she reliably naps so that helps, though I see you are already exercising - well done, that's impressive!

Oh an I hate the demonisation of carbs. We need carbs for energy. Especially if you are doing lots of exercise and running around after young children. And not sleeping much.
Wholewheat pasta, brown rice, brown bread. All good.

This is me, my toddler still doesn't sleep well and I'm constantly chasing my tail.

However at six months and doing lots of exercise I think you're doing great OP, I wouldn't worry about it for now at all. Just try to build broadly sensible habits in terms of snacking and junk food and then worry about losing weight when things are more straightforward.

I have tried many diets and bulking with veg etc but for me being hungry is just a part of dieting.I try to drink more which helps but my body knows I am not taking in the same amount of energy I use so perhaps that's why I am hungry all the time.Bearing in that I diet for a month or so at a time in my case I just try to deal with that part of it.