Post partum weight loss at 10 months

[Bibi1234]

Hi all,

Looking to hear some positive stories to keep me going.

Backgroung story:
Currently 10 months and 2 weeks post partum with first baby. Prior to pregnancy I was overweight and was working to lose some weight. I found out I was pregnant and still carried on eating as healthy with the odds cravings here and there. I was doing walks a lot but then SPD kicked in and I couldnt be as active. I was referred to a dietician specialist who would track my weight gain every trimesters. She said I was putting on weight as healthily for the 'required' amount a person of my size should. For ref I am 32 yrs old, 5'8.5 (174cm). I wouldn't ask what the weigh ins were as I'd rather not know about numbers ( at my fittest 5 years ago I was 60kg and now 91.5kg). I do have PCoS.

So I thought after I had my baby I would have lost a lot of weight, but when I saw the dietician she told me I was the same weight I had been at 36 weeks pregnant and I did get a quick glance at the scale then and it read 92kg.

I was a bit disheartened by this. However I did have post partum haemorrage and lost a significant amount of blood. Was put on iron tablets. I also had an episiotomy that took 3.5 months to heal. I breastfed my baby upto 7 months.

Baby would wake up 2-4 times at nights until end of 7 months. I figured he got used to having the boobs as habits at nights but i stopped it for my own sanity.

I also started working out at home from 4 months post partum 4-5 Times a week and eating as healthy as possible. If I crave sweets I have those 99 calories packet of maryland cookies. Or kitkat 104 calories a serving.

I do sleep well *since 7 months pp.

I started weight training from April for 3 days a week. My period has come back at 7 months, then 9 and 10 months. I don't work out on my period days. They last 4-5 days.

I weighed myself the day before yesterday and to my surprise I weigh 91.7 kg. i have been weighing myself prior and the scales read as follow:

91kg-18 oct 2024
91.6 kg- 24 nov 2024
92.1kg -7 April 2025
92.8 kg-30 April 2025
91.7-14 july 2025

My question is what is going on???? I am doing everything I can but the scale is not budging that much at all. My sister is 31years old and lost 10kg in 6-8 weeks just by exercising 3 times a weeks and watching her portion and cutting down on unhealthy stuff. She doesn't have kids yet. I keep rolling around 91-92 kg.

Is there any hope for me please? AIBU? Sorry for being long

If you’re not losing weight, you’re eating too much. It does get harder as you get older, and sleeplessness doesn’t help either.

Hey OP - would it help to repost this in the weightloss section?

I'm trying to lose weight this year (on MJ) and have found that intermittent fasting and keeping a food diary really helps as well.

I'd also say though that I found it so, so hard to lose weight when my children were the same age as yours. I think a lot of it was down to sheer exhaustion.

It's so disheartening when the scales aren't moving - but keep going with the workouts - it's so good that you're doing those.

I’m 5’9 and 93kg, and though I’m about to turn 45, I wouldn’t consider myself massively overweight. I think you are doing better than you think you are for having just had a baby.

You are 10 months postpartum and you presumably have metabolic issues given you have PCOS. It’s going to be harder for you to lose weight as you are time poor and probably prone to hold on to weight anyway.

Realistically, it just sounds like you need to change your diet and exercise more. Weight training is great for building strength, but you aren’t going to lose weight doing it, and not 3 times a week. The best things I did for weight loss were running (I did couch to 5k and then trained for a half marathon) and hiking (was hiking 10 miles or so 2-3 times a week).

And diet wise, it’s just lots of protein and fruit/veg. I’d stop the calorie counting. Cut out processed foods like cookies and kitkats. Eggs or high protein yogurt with fruit for breakfast. Chicken/salmon/tuna/tofu for lunch and dinner with lots of veg, salad, nuts. It’s not that you can never eat carbs or a sweet treat, but fill up on whole foods first.

Thank you all.

I'd like to clarify I do eat healthy with lots of veggies and proteins, i have lower my carb intakes, the odd snacks are just the one a day if i need it. I have tracked my food and I average between 1700-1800 calories. Based on my TDEE i should be eating 2586 calories to maintain my weight. I do cardio 2 days in addition to weight lifting,sorry if i was not clear, and I walk to the gym for 30 mins of those 3 days as well. I am trying. I will consider not having any sugary snacks and but some fruit instead

Exercise doesn’t actually add that much to weightloss, it’s diet that makes the difference.

Calories in.. Calories out .. it’s as simple as that. Track your calories over a week, just to understand where you are up to, and what you can change.

Can PCoS cause insulin resistance? I don’t have it myself but I’m sure I’ve heard that. It could be something worth asking for blood tests for. I am wondering if there is a hormonal element to not being able to lose weight?

Quite simply, you're eating too much. Sorry! Im the same height as you and 38. I eat 1100 calories a day to lose weight and about 1700 calories to maintain. Im not highly active. The calories normally quoted as burning during exercise are usually massively exaggerated.
I went through the same thing, thinking there was something wrong, but sadly, it did just came down to those calculations of what you should eat are wrong. You need to have a calorie deficit of about 500 per day.

I would say be kind to yourself, your body has to take time to heal from pregnancy and birth. From a weightloss point of view maybe look at TeamRH who can give you a proper plan to help hit your targets. Sounds like you are doing fab with exercise, weight training will help enormously but maybe also look at your step count, i always ensure i do 10000 steps per day but i aim for 12/15k most days and that really helps.

Hi OP - firstly congratulations on your lovely little one and on your BF journey!

So the bottom line is that fat loss happens when you eat fewer calories than you burn. There are some conditions that make the progress slower, and very very few conditions which are the exception to this rule. Therefore it’s reasonable to assume that the reason you arent losing fat, and therefore the scale weight isn’t going down, is because you’re consuming the same number of calories as you’re burning.

The first thing to do is go back to tracking your food. You need to track absolutely everything that goes in your mouth - the milk in your coffee, the oil in the pan, the ketchup on the side. Everything. And don’t guess the amount, everything needs to be measured or weighed and input accurately. Yes it’s a pain and time consuming but this is the only way to know how much you’re eating and you need to be completely honest with yourself (and the app you’re using!).

Secondly, it’s great you’ve been focusing on strength training. This is so important for healthy bones and your future self will thank you for it. Also ignore the previous advice that you won’t lose weight through strength training - it burns calories long after the workout has finished, and increased muscle mass also increases your maintenance calories over time.

Id suggest you look at your activity levels when you aren’t doing a workout. 10,000 steps a day is a meaningless number in many ways but it gives a good indication of your general activity levels. Trying to hit this every day is a good start. Get out for brisk walks, do some housework, avoid sitting down for any longer than 45 minutes at a time.

Finally, and most importantly, stick with it. You didn’t gain the weight in a matter of weeks so it’s unrealistic to expect you to lose it in a matter of weeks too. You need to give it an absolute minimum of three months of being consistent. Weigh yourself as often as you feel comfortable and record the weight. Don’t focus on the change in weight from day to day, but at the end of the three months look at the overall trend. Even the tiniest decrease is a step in the right direction and if you persist, the loss will increase. Don’t give up because the loss isn’t what you were hoping for. Also focus on how you feel - are you more energised? Can you play for longer with your little one? Are you sleeping better? Has your mental health improved? These are huge wins as well, not just the number on the scales.

you’ve got this!

Give it a little bit more time. I'm nearly 12 months pp. Just before the birth, I weighed about 100kg (I'm only 5ft3, though). I've lost about 30kg in the past year, 10 of those in the past 3 months or so. I've started to do intermittent fasting and I'm trying to walk a lot (to nursery, school, shop, etc.) and I'm doing HIIT sessions when I've got the time.
It's also helped that my LO has started walking and I need to try and run after her a lot. I tend to snack on fruit (currently mostly watermelon).
I was overweight before I got pregnant because I was on quite a bit of IVF medication and had been told not to exercise.

just need to correct this - weight training (strength training) is actually better for weight loss than cardio. You continue to burn calories after sessions and don’t tend to crave the calories back as much as with cardio. There’s tonnes more science of course but that’s it in a nutshell. Plus health-wise strength training is so important for our overall health, bone health, longevity etc.

Hi OP I'm six almost 7 months PP and back to my pre pregnancy weight (63kg) but im 5'4. I never managed to get down to my pre pregnancy weight after my first, I've always sat a few pounds heavier. So I want to aim for that.

It's hard, I personally find bf makes it harder as your shatterd and need to eat more . I also have a host of gynecology issues I'm getting a full hysterectomy but I really do feel they make it harder . As I'm in pain so struggle to do to much exercise and just feel rubbish.

Be gentle on yourself, if you feel happy in your clothes don't worry about the scales to much. Nothing fitted me and that's what got me down i lived in leggings for months .

Thank you for the messages. I'll track everything again. I would have thought my food intake was alright. The first 4 months of post partum,i barely ate, since I'd prioritise sleep over eating as I was up a few times at night. It would also seem like things that I did in my mid 20s to lose weight are no longer working for me currently. I am also active with housechores each day. I don't get help from my husband as he prefers to chill after work but he will do some cleaning over the weekend. I also tend do everything baby related 95% of the time.. i don't know if stress from that is also a factor.

Stress doesn’t prevent you from losing weight directly. However, it can have an indirect impact - e.g choosing higher calorie convenience food because you are too stressed to meal plan and cook, comfort eating to cope with the stress, reduced movement because you want to recuperate rather than exercise. Again it just comes down to calories in vs calories out - knowing what causes you to eat more calories than you need can help you manage this better. I find tracking really helps me stay accountable even when I’m stressed/emotional/busy