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.

If you don’t have enough energy to look after the kids you’ll burn out, you can’t do a hard core diet right now. Try making all the healthy switches you can - whole grain everything, no treats in the house, no alcohol, healthy veg and fruit snacks only etc.

It is hard, I agree. I have a non sleeping 2 year old some nights. The days after those nights I just want to eat everything!

You don’t need to do any special diet or cut this and that out. Eating what you want in a calorie deficit is enough. And don’t cut calories to low. I’ve lost 4 stone but just calorie counting.

OP, I did intermittent fasting to lose my baby weight. However, I wasn't extremely rigid with it. Most days, I would not eat until 5.00pm, but I would allow myself coffee with milk or cream. If I was hungry, I found that the milky coffee was enough to take the edge off the hunger pangs.

I wasn't religious about sticking to it, so there were usually one or two days a week, where due to meeting someone for lunch, etc. I would eat before 5.00pm, so I would say that most weeks I was doing it for 5 days out of 7.

The weight came off pretty slowly, but it worked. I have lost over 8 kg since June and am now back to my pre-pregnancy weight. I found this method the easiest to follow, because I could eat normal food in the evening and didn't have to worry about either counting calories or sticking to something that restricts certain foods.

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

I'm so sorry you feel like this. Of course you're not a failure! You are bringing up small children and regardless, having some extra weight is not any kind of failing.

I really have to refute that being hungry is a key component in losing weight. As you've observed it works - but isn't sustainable. And it's miserable. And now that you need energy with sleep deprived nights & small DC, it's not possible at all.

I think it's great that you are exercising. On MN it's so often said that exercise doesn't lead to weight loss which is somewhat true - but exercising has benefits beyond the immediate period of exercising, increasing your metabolic rate for 12 hours (after intense exercise) meaning you burn calories more efficiently.

In your case, I would get advice from a dietician with a workable plan to follow.

Aiming to be hungry is not a sensible or healthy way to manage weight.

Agreed. AB's it's very personal - as I've got older, I can tolerate certain carbs less easily so have had to adjust my habits but I absolutely need carbs to feel sated, and fuel the amount of exercise I do.

I'm in a similar position. Try not to be too hard on yourself, especially if you are keeping the exercise going. I find I can't be hungry and look after DC, I just get hangry and miserable. I just try and plan healthy meals where I can. And avoid too much sugar - but I am failing at this 😄 Having clothes that fit has made a massive difference to how I feel about my weight. I got some clothes from kind people on Olio and in charity shops.

My ds is now 17 months. At 2 weeks pp I was back running 5ks....I regret this deeply. I now mess myself at times running and have to wear a nappy just in case. It's gotten much better now. I wish I'd just concentrated on diet, let my body heal and rest for a year then started exercise again. I was desperate to lose the weight and unfortunately didn't bounce back like some do. Be kind to yourself op.

You’re not wrong. Lack of sleep actually affects the hunger hormones, and makes you hungrier. Trying to diet with insufficient sleep is extremely difficult as your body really works against you.

You don't need to be hungry. You should be eating low calorie dense foods.

You can have an absolutely massive egg white omelette with mountains of whatever veg you want with a bit of cheese for like 400 calories.

Eat smarter not less

Definitely. I started a thread about this yesterday. I’ve gained so much and feel gross.

I think you just have to be strong for a short period of time and trust that you'll feel so much better and less tired when you lose the weight that it's worth it. Not much fun though.

If you are hungry you are not eating enough protein and fat. It’s not your fault you can’t lose weight, you just have to make sure you eat the right foods. Have you looked at Diet Doctor or LowCarbDownUnder on YouTube? Lots of good advice and help.
Be kind to yourself, changing how you eat is not easy when you are looking after young children. Make a few changes at a time and you’ll see results and feel better about yourself. Good luck 🙂

It's so hard. I've lost weight in the past and kept it off for years. I just can't do it post children. Before I could be a bit hungry and grumpy and deal with it. Add in kids saying 'Mummy...' 14,000 times a day and it sends me over the edge.