Losing weight

[Justamumof2x]

Hi,

I’m trying to lose weight after having my 2 kids and for some reason I’m stuck on 78kg.

I was 65kg before kids and after kids I was 80kg.

my main goal was diet and controlling what I eat because my youngest is 5 months and my partner works away all week plus I have no family or help around so I’m struggling to find the time to exercise but I’m on my feet all day long looking after the kids and cleaning the house and cooking etc.

ive tried calorie counting and counted every last thing I eat in a day, this is the lowest I’ll go calorie wise otherwise I start to feel ill.

I eat very clean, and healthy. I don’t do processed food or sugar etc. I’ll list what I eat and when and how many calories, protein etc I consume.

am I doing something wrong? By body just won’t budge under 78kg and I’ve been doing this for about 3 months now. Occasionally allowing myself a cheat meal but its not a weekly occurrence.

todays food - i eat between 1pm and 6pm only.

coffee, with collagen peptides, 50ml semi skimmed milk - 95kcal / 20g protein

organic protein powder, 100ml semi skimmed milk - 140kcal / 30g protein

Greek yoghurt 200g, raspberries 75g, blueberries 75g, banana 100g, honey 15g - 420kcal / 15g protein

Salmon 190g, cavolo Nero 100g, avocado 100g, 2 fried eggs, aparagus 100g - 871kcal / 65g protein

total: 1,500kcal / 70g carbs / 84g fat / 120g protein.

3L water all throughout the day.

any advice please? Thank you

Try some walking workouts at home , I recommend Get Fit With Rick,.lots of free content on you tube without subscribing.

You have too many hours without eating. What happens is your body panics thinking I'm not getting food so when food comes it stores it as fat incase it doesn't get any more. You need breakfast lunch and dinner at appropriate times

That dinner seems a bit obscene to me.

I eat 1400 calories a day, spread out over 3 meals and one snack. I’ve lost 1.5 stone in 3.5 months.

I make sure I walk 10k steps a day minimum, ideally 2x 30 minute walks. Being active at home isn’t enough.

was it Davina or someone that said that they managed to burn more calories when they were at home with small children by doing everything at speed? So running between tasks, hanging up washing as quickly as possible etc and then adding it squats while the kettle boils, lunges while you push the buggy etc all can add lots of activity to your day.

I’m in a similar position. I use Noom and I’m hoping my step increase, thanks to the school run, will help me shift this final stone.

You could try boiled or poached eggs rather than fried, then you're not adding unnecessary calories in the cooking process. Go for snacks which release energy slowly or at least aren't a massive sugar hit in one go. Salty popcorn is good. Cornflakes are also low calories compared to other cereals, are cheap and more filling than a banana if you do a decent sized bowl. Not as breakfast though, just a snack - if I only had cornflakes for breakfast I'd be hungry again too soon.

The best way to eat is the good old traditional 3 meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. It keeps your energy level up all day so you won’t suffer from hunger pangs, energy highs and lows and won’t be tempted to raise the fridge or stuff yourself with some garbage. I’ve been eating like this my whole life and never gained weight and I’m nutritioned up to the chin.

You would do well on keto or low carb, looks like your diet is naturally going that way anyway. Try not to worry about calories, not al calories are created equal! Keto/low carb also goes really well with fasting. I lost 3 stone in 6 months following this way of eating, felt fantastic and I found it quite easy to maintain.

It can be tough but worth persevering.
You will lose weight less quickly than someone who is breast feeding, don’t compare yourself.
That seems quite a lot of food for weight loss. The calories you give may not be exactly correct. Protein powder is processed food and for 30g it would probably be better to eat protein such as fish. Some of the nhs guidelines ( they vary so much) suggest eating 600 calories to get faster weight loss, I can’t remember for how many days.
You need to be sure you are getting enough calcium and vitamins.
You are very sedentary for a young person. One of the best ways of introducing exercise is to put the baby in the buggy and walk. You will feel better for it. Use your phone to monitor your steps and increase until you get up to 10000. Your baby is at an age where they can start swimming, just being in the water with the baby will give you a tiny bit of exercise. If you meet another mum there it might be that you can take turns minding the babies while the other one swims. Have a look at post natal exercise for mums, there may be a class near you or you can follow one on line.

How long have you been on a diet? I did intermittent fasting 16-8 for 6 months and lost 10kg. No exercise at all. Just clean diet, focus on protein, and halved my usual portions. I didn’t count calories and I just ate what I cooked for the family just half the portion I would usually have.

I couldn’t have done what you are doing as I found it too hard to with the sleepless nights.

if you’re sure you are in calorie deficit then I cannot see why your aren’t losing weight and I don’t see a clear answer to that on this thread really.

Sometimes eating too little causes a stall in weight as your body tries to hold on to the fat stores. Try increasing what you eat a little, particularly at lunch to see if that helps.

The miss information on this post is astounding, there is no such thing as starvation mode! People wouldn't die from starvation if that was the case. Do not eat 600 calories a day that's ridiculous OP and not sustainable at all. I am 5'7 and interestingly I start off at the same weight as you 78kg I am now 65kg, this is since December. I lost the majority of weight on 1600 cals, swapped to 1800 in March and just moved up to 1900 as I have started to loose muscle (regular scans at the gym). I weight train x3 weekly and do 10k steps per day. It looks like your macros are OK, if I were you I would increase protein and slightly reduce fat. Can you invest in some home weights or walking pad to boost your activity? If your not loosing it's because you are not in a calories deficit are you weighing everything? Butter, oils, sauces etc

Jeeeee OP! Cut yourself some slack. Your baby is 5 months old. Go back to eating 3 balanced meals a day, spread throughout the day so your poor body isn’t in a state of panic. Get the baby in a carrier and walk every day. See where you are in a few months time.

I agree with this and the PP who recommended intermittent fasting (or Time Restricted Eating (TRE)) which is what you are doing anyway. I'd cut down on the carbs, especially the fruit (It's just too much sugar and your insulin will be shooting right up). Keep your good fats high and your protein decent (ditch added protein - get it from food).

Aim for 30g carbs a day (but don't count veggies) and eat until satisfied. The weight will shift.

There is interesting research about CICO (calories in, calories out) so if you want to investigate a bit more look up Dr Jason Fung and Dr Eric Berg. Both advocate a low carb way of eating, with TRE/fasting.

Best of luck.

I've lost 78 over the last 12 months and never felt better. I am never hungry

Hi OP! I saw a few comments saying this, but as someone who's spent YEARS in competitive weight-dependent sports, you cannot, no matter what anyone tells you, lose weight by starving yourself!!!

Our bodies are smart, & if you're in a deficit already, they adapt, clinging onto fat to stop you losing valuable fat that protects your organs, preventing muscle breakdown etc.

I've followed horrible diets stripping calories to nothing with zero change, but seen amazing results with a high protein, healthy diet coupled with walking & some gym time, but nutrition is key to feeling awesome.

The absolute best advice any credible nutritionist would give is to look at latent calorie burn (what you burn just living) macro balance (fat vs carb vs protein intake) & check off the basics like enough sleep, controlled stress & hydration - which you're nailing!!

Also, you're a Mumma to little ones, and your health & happiness are exponentially worth more than what you weigh. Being heavier after kiddos is a part of life for most of us, but being healthy & energetic is way more important than any random number on the scale xx

Im 5ft 7 and 38yrs old, with 2 kids. 1500 calories a day is what I need to eat to maintain my weight. Higher and i put on. I have to drop to 1100/1200 to lose weight, so you could simply be eating too much for your metabolism

I too am struggling and have no expertise but when my kids were the ages hours are at I did a Davina video a day. I know that ages me but it was really good and I felt great afterwards!

Give yourself more time. Plateaus are normal for dieting as your body stops to reset at various points. Just carry on regardless and eventually it'll pick up again.
Btw well done

The only way I lost weight after having my second was intermittent fasting but literally having one big meal at about 2:30pm during the week and upping my steps. I don’t recommend doing that as it’s obviously not healthy and needed so much water to be able to poo.

Wow that’s good to know! Thank you. I miss my metabolism pre baby. It was fantastic. Since the kids It’s been unrecognisable! ☺️

Thank you for this.

yes I have a treadmill and some light dumbbells.

my partner suddenly had to change jobs and is not working away 5 days a week so it’s been a struggle to fit any exercise in but I’ll try and make it work.

okay so less fat… got it! Having more protein is easy so I’ll try it your way for a bit.

I’ll post an update in a few weeks ☺️

Thank you, I appreciate it.

its easy to get fixated on your goal without considering other factors

Hey! Awh thank you so much. Some a wholesome comment ☺️

I really appreciate what you’ve said and I will take it into account. I think at the end of the day I don’t mind how I look, I quite literally gave my body to my kids and it’s natural I’ll be bigger. I guess I just miss that feeling of not being out of breath almost ready to die after a short run should by son leg it at the shops 😂

what I’m eating now is probably the lowest I’ll go, and to be honest it’s the cleanest I’ve eaten ever so I do feel pretty great and the only time I feel like I need more is when I try to watch something at the end of the day and I’m in that natural habit of snacking. 😂

I used to scoff at the difference walking or just moving can make, but I find weight management a lot easier despite my diet not changing that much now that I’m in the habit of walking a lot more and just general movement. Sounds silly but if I go upstairs, I’ll do 5 mins of kettlebell. I’ll run up the stairs. I do bends, calf raises and squats when boiling the kettle or cooking dinner. I’ll do a half hour walk if it’s not raining on my lunch break, 10 mins of resistance bands before I have my evening shower. It’s not much and embarrassing compared to what so many people do but it genuinely has helped me, and it’s easier to build on stuff you’re already doing than starting something new full throttle. It’s hard having little kids, your body is still recovering so please don’t feel too despondent.