postnatal weight loss

[Bo]

Any ideas how to safely shift all that post natal weight? 7 months on after having 2 very close together I am getting fed up with all my bulk, but I'm still breast feeding, so feel I need to be careful, especially as I am very low in iron (at least).

I know I could loose some weight when I stop breastfeeding, but that doesn't help me now! I hate cooking and preparing food, so I can't do anything too complicated. my husband had a fit when I even suggested something along the lines of slimfast. Any words of wisdom gratefully received. (Ireckon I need to shift about 15 Kilos)

Did I really write 'way'...? so much for being less exhausted!

Lizzer - well done - I feel very pleased for you & totally jealous of you!
As for me, I have been running a few times now and am still enjoying it which is great, BUT I just can't seem to stop eating and eating and eating. I just can't stop myself - why is this??? It's been a lot worse in the last few weeks. It's so frustrating. I just want to eat all the time. So despite taking up exercise & sticking to it - 2 weeks now - I've eaten my way fatter bigger & heavier. What am i going to do with myself? Jaw wiring seems a little drastic, but becoming temptine. Does anyone know how to invent self control when it is completely lacking - I nearly gave in to temptation & have my first cigarette since pg but I didn't - only because of the earache I would have got from dh. What is happening?

i've lost 2 lbs!! i'm starving tho'-any tips on healthy -hole filling(i've tried grapes-they're not too bad)

Well done Lizzer, wondered where you were. You will have to tell more about your holiday, we would love to go to Ireland and it sounds like you have found a great place to visit.
Im still losing weight (well I think I am, I dont have any scales), but at a much slower rate than most of you, but I plan to stop breastfeeding in the next few months so I will be able to really get down to it. I know I can diet while feeding but I like to be strict and would worry while feeding. Good luck everybody for next weeks weigh in

Bo, don't get disheartened, it's normal for your body to need food while breastfeeding and I think it's hard because you get used to eating so much and when baby is cutting down on milk you carry on eating the same amount as when they were on millions of feeds a day! I felt so hungry when I was b/feeding but I found that eating little and often really helped - and eating the 'right' things of course. The book I was reading recently 'the diet cure' has really helped me because I've stopped worrying about calories and started listening to my body more - if that makes sense. I'm also eating loads more protein and good fats (olive oil, nuts, avocados etc)that I ever ate before because I thought they were full of calories (which they are but it really doesn't matter). I used to snack on carbohydrates to fill me up but I found that they filled me up but once they were out of my system I craved more, so now I eat them only at mealtimes and have cut out all wheat flour - which has helped so much. I had a slice of bread when I was away and my stomach became so distended and uncomfortable that I realised I didn't miss that feeling at all! I am back eating dairy products though as I have found they agree with me just fine. One thing not eating wheat has helped me with is I have to make far more concious choices about what put in my mouth - I can't just run to the shop and grab a sandwich or cake - and that's helped me to understand why I'm eating in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I am not holier than thou angel by any strech of the imagination, only last night I watched a video and scoffed my way through half a packet of popcorn, frozen yoghurt and pistachio's but I'm not feeling guilty like I used to. I really hope that this has been a change forever and I'm not going to revert back to my old habits in the future. I can only hope, but it's nice to feel I'm in control of my eating for once in my life!

Thanks for all your encouragement again

thanks for your encouragement too Lizzer!

I don't know why I feel so hungry at the moment and once I start I can't stop, and I NEVER snack on the 'right' things - it's always sweets, cake, crisps & chocolate.

I haven't worked out how to overcome this. Why is wheat so bad? How can I find out what are the 'right' & 'wrong' things to eat, apart from the obvious apple vs mars bar? How do I retrain myself? I have no will power at all at the moment. I suppose if wheat is bad then beer/lager is too - is wine - not that I drink barrels & barrels you understand!

Anyway, I'm starting to weigh myself on Mondays - you're Tuesdays aren't you? I'm still running, still eating, still gaining weight. Hope you have a good weekend.

Bo, try Snack a Jacks, various flavours I love the caramel, come in little sizes or big rice cake sizes! Very yummy and great at shooing away the cravings!

Fill yourself up more at each meal with vegetables or salad. I actually ate more on my plate when I was losing weight and being sensible.

Cut out as much bread as possible, if you have it at breakfast as toast, try not to have it at lunch too, have a jacket or a salad for example.

I like the Weight Watchers magazine for good recipes and good common sense advice. Plus you look at the real life stories and think, well if they can do it, then so can I!

Bo, I really sympathise about the chocolate etc. I only put on 7 pounds during my pregnancy but in the year I was breastfeeding , I gained well over 2 stone. In my case it was due to going for pram walks which led to trips to the baker's for cream cakes, preferably with chocolate too - obviously if I'd gone for a walk I 'needed' to maintain my strength... I was also told that eating lots of carbs following pregnancy could help to stave off PND - hence all those 'medicinal' cheese sandwiches..
Eventually I realised that at 5'4" and nearly 13 stone I had to do something so tried to lose weight. All my initial attempts led to an increase in weight (told you I understand) and until I started writing every mouthful down, I couldn't understand why. Part of it was my attempts to encourage my daughter to eat ie I'd demonstrate how nice her dinner was (and then finish what she didn't eat) and the other was lager !
I've now switched from lager to drinking an inch of white wine topped up with mineral water and trying to follow a low fat diet (Rosemary Conley style) and never (almost never) eat leftovers. Thanks to this thread I've kept at it (thanks to you all !) and lost 1.5 stone so far. If I get the munchies I hit the fruit bowl or occasionally a packet of Skips. The other thing that helps me is that I subscribe to Choc Express chocolate tasting club - they deliver one box per month, I don't buy any other chocolate so it rations how much I can possibly get through.

Sorry to go on, just hope it might help a bit.

Twink, That chocolate club sounds good. Like you say, one box a month stops the cravings and ultimately means you eat less of it, and you probably get nicer chocolates in the end.

Well I'm doing Ok, 10st 1lb now, just 2lbs to see reach original goal!!! However this week has been very difficult. I think it's because I am so nearly there I get the 'what the hell' thoughts!! However I am determined to get there. I start work on tuesday, so I'm already working out my best options. I used to have a scone every day from the railway cafe for breakfast, and I know they don't do any healthy stuff, so I guess a banana will have to do until I get to the office (no time before I leace home) and then a box of weetabix kept at work? or more fruit?

I am also running more so I need to find a route for lunchtimes.

And Bo I do find the SW plan works for me because I am eating loads of carbs I am not hungry for snacks. However as we all know snacks are not to relieve hunger, they are for many other reasons - habit, depression, with a cup of tea, 'cos you fancy it, because you are shopping, comfort, Rikki Lake is on TV etc etc. I have found this week hard not because I want to eat snacks due to hunger, but because I am stressed about going back to work, I am craving chocolate simply because I don't 'need' it and so yeaterday my 'snacks' included : 2 huge bowls of cereal, one portion of chip shop chips (I was driving past and I caught the smell, one galaxy ice cream bar, large pack Revels and 2 glasses wine. OH DEAR. However today I decided that was yesterday, and so I've simply got back on the plan (so to speak) and found that I seem to have got it out of my system. I think some days you need to do it! I also cheered myself up by trying on all my clothes for work and found they fitted and some were too big. I know it seems hard, and I know I've found it difficult, but I have found a way of re-educating myself to lose the guilt, that is the destructive force, not to actual food we eat when we binge. I eat for England yesterday, but made the desision not to feel guilty, and therefore enjoyed the rubbish I ate, but didn't feel the need to repeat that today.

I have never been in control of my eating before, I have fooled most people including my husband, he thought it was since I met him that I yo-yoed in weight!! (Men think they are the cause of everything) But I feel I am finally strong enough to have that one cream cake, enjoy it and not eat the whole box of six - and hate myself, feel sick and not enjoy eating one bite.

Whether this feeling will last, who knows, but I hope so as I know I can lose weight, I've done it before, but I don't know I can keep it off. That's the hardest thing I've yet to find out!!

Good luck everyone
Crunchie

twink -your mail has inspired me & made me feel much better. I have woken up today full of resolve. Let's hope there's at least a glimmer of encouragement from the scales on Monday1 I went to the hairdressers and even resisted the bakers next door on the way home - and I was starving too, so I do feel impressed with myself, and it's the weekend now, so i can't go crazy in front of hubby anyway, so here's hoping. Cheers. The lager tip was great too. No more for me - or at least not as much. I really really do feel positive about this. Maybe it was the haircut that did it!

Good luck to everyone else out there!

wow twink - just to go on some more - I can relate totally to the walk ending in cakes senario, and post natal weight gain - that is me! i thought I was the onlt one. One and a half stones- that's so fantastic. well done. One day soon I may be able to say the same!

Hello everyone...here I am back from my swim and the usual Saturday morning madness that is town! The good news is I have lost weight the bad news is: only 2lbs!!! 2lbs in 4 weeks!!! I know 2 lbs is better off than on... I will simply have to try harder! What is most discouraging is the fact that I was feeling so much better and my clothes are so much looser! I am doing 3 x 1hour aerobics/weights/toning workouts and 30 minutes constant swimming each week. I also walk miles. so fingers crossed for next weigh in... Glad you are feeling much more positive Bo...IT WILL BE WORTH IT!

Winnie, don't despair, from your description of the amount of exercise you're doing you must be losing inches not weight. Apparently as muscle develops it weighs heavier than fat so you might be getting smaller but the scales don't reflect it. If you're not convinced, every month try measuring the usual bits plus circumference of upper arms, thighs, and that yucky bit between waist and hips which seems to collect all the post-natal fat and see if that's the case.

Hello Everyone and guess what - I've shifted another 2 pounds on today's weigh in, yay! I am trying not to let it get to my head, but I feel so much more alert and alive than before and, like Crunchie, I feel I'm in control of my eating for the first time in a long time. I'm not wanting to binge and am listening to my own body a lot more (which I remember people telling me was the thing to do but could never quite get the concept) I don't know what's happened (an epiphany?!) but I'm feeling great. I also think that weight loss is very personal to that individual and I'm hoping I've found something that really works for me. For example giving up wheat worked wonders for me and so did giving up hardcore aerobics for toning exercises and swimming, and now I know I don't have to have be on a low-fat diet for me to lose weight - just healthy fats.What I'm saying is I think everyone has their own ideal diet and exercise and I'm pleased to have found mine at last. I hope you all are having a good week, I'm off again this thurs to stay at friend's in Norfolk so I won't be around til 10th Sept, so in the meantime keep up the good work everybody...

Bo you sound v motivated at the mo - good for you, and Winnie - you're really going for it aren't you - well done, and suew is right about the body fat thing, so think of all the toning going on in your bod!!

'See' you all soon!

just read all your messages on weight loss.Congrates to you all.I wasn't going to go to the gym this morning but you've all motivated me to go to my 'total body toning' class. Chat to you all later

well done lizzer. I too am still feeling great & enthusiastic!
I have in the last week lost very little weight but it's the first week i've not gained any for a while, so I'm pleased. Plus, I've been running loads - and enjoying it! Plus, I've even convinced my chubby hubby to do some exercise too, so I've vvv pleased about that!

I actually feel energetic and enthusiastic about lots of things this past week - housework hear I come (see disorganised chaos thread if confused) I'll feel REALLY good though when I can get back into those trousers I bought about a month ago - or less? - they were only a bit tight in the shop, but a couple oof days later I expanded so much & so rapidly I haven't even been able to get into them!

Still early days for me, but I feel I have finally cracked it too!

Good luck all

Enjoy your other break Lizzer - I would be jealous, but now I've got ovens to clean & cupboards to declutter I'm glad to be here! (smiley face would be here if I knew how to do it)

"Forgive me father for I have sinned. It's been five weeks since my last weigh in and I must owe you a fortune in back fees"

"in fact it would be cheaper if you just rejoined" said the SW rep!

Oh the shame....

Anyway, have put on a 1lb. Not much I know, but had hoped to have shifted something in over a month rather than going other way. Problem is last four weekends have been choc full of social do's - best friend's wedding, in-laws 40th wedding anniversay dinner and party, dinner out with friends/my parents/etc etc etc. So while I have been v good during week and shifting the lbs come the weekend I've been putting it all back on at drop of a hat. Ate one measly chinese meal the other night (and a small measly one at that) and had put on 2lb by next day. Aaaaagh! Am back on wagon now but concerned that weight goes on so quickly if I so much as put a foot down on the ground.

Ah but Willow2 you know you shouldn't be weighing yourself everyday!!! Easier said than done. I was reading in my SW magazine this month a useful bit of info. It was about recognising your weaknesses and finding out the habits that cause you to eat. One of them said about weighing on their scales every morning, if they weighed 'light' they would feel justified in having that extra snack, and if they weighed 'heavy' they would try to cut back so much that day that they would end up binging anyway! Now that souns logical to me, I weigh myself and if I weigh light I do sometimes think great I'll have extra XYZ today, and if I weigh heavy I'll try to be extra good. In fact last week I didn't think I would be able to get to class, but before I went I weighed myself 4 or 5 times that day to decide if it was worth going!! (ie if I had lost any weight) How stupid can you get.

Oh well I'm now back at work and slowly getting into things, all I need to do if keep up the good work. In fact everyone has commented on how great I look and how much thinner I look than even before I got PG. I am thinner now than I was before I got PG 1st time around. I just want that extra few lbs so all my 'thin' clothes fit me well.

Crunchie, how did you find it going back to work? I bet losing all that weight gave you an extra boost. Are you back full time? I've been back 18 months now and am nearly back to my pre-pregnancy shape, it doesn't take much to sway me though. I find I have so much to do, so many different stresses, so little time, I often end up thinking to hell with it. It's too easy to relax with that extra glass of wine, order a takeaway when you realise there's not a lot in the fridge/freezer to make a meal you fancy. I don't think it gets easier, you just get more used to it!! I'm making a determined effort to get the last 10lb off so that I've done it before I have to start thinking about Christmas. All that shopping and planning.............

Hello, can I join the gang? I had my 4th child in May and as this will be the last (and I really mean that this time!) I now need to lose all that weight! Actually, I'm already back to my pre-4th pregnancy weight, it's just that I put on about 2 stone with mt first pregnancy that I never lost. Having all this scrummy food around for the kids makes it really difficult to be good, I could do with some support!

Jane - moderator

Hi Janeyfran, welcome on board and good luck!

I'd like to ask everyone how they deal with 'comfort eating'? I've had bad news today, bad news that is going to take time to deal with... in fact I feel as if I am going through a grieving process (hence the time of this post and my inability to sleep...) Whilst my 'diet' has been going okay and I have been breaking bad habits my reaction today was to simply eat... and whilst I was doing it I was saying to myself this really won't help... but it didn't stop me. I know I have to move on from today 'diet wise' but I know I am in for a rocky time ahead any suggestions for dealing with it without resorting to cake and bread?

Winnie It's intersting you should ask that. I was reading in my latest Slimming World mag (sorry I seem to always quote them!) all about comfort eating. Now if I can remember the gist of it...

If you are comfort eating due to a shock of some kind or other (as opposed to boredom eating that we all say if comfort eating) then go right ahead.

'the first ting that happens when you have a shock or bad news is that the body pumps out adrenaline, which causes a blood sugar slump. You then correct that by eating something sweet or fatty. During the period that follows bad news, the adrenaline surges and blood sugar lows continue to occur, prompting you to continue to reach for chocolate etc. When that adrenaline flow stops, you are likely to feel a sense of loss and emptiness and it's then that a pattern of comfort eating can take hold'

The article explains that if you are comfort eating during the first early stages, than it is like 'first aid' for the body. It also says stop and decide what you want to do. You have the choice to eat what you like and worry about the weight gain later, or to realsie that this is very short term and to try to eat healthily a much as possible. You sound like you are doing well, so just don't feel gulity. There are loads of top tips in this article (Sept/Oct issue) so it may be worth getting, but some of them include.
-Don't let yourself get hungry, make sure you eat well at mealtimes are are not reaching for those snacks
-Fill your house with healthy snacks if poss. I find exotic fruit feels much more exiting than an apple and if often really sweet. Try kiwis, mango, passion friut, pineapple etc. They do help me
-Allow yourself the chocolate when you really need it. This is my thing that has meant I think I am conquering the binge eating. If I crave a food, and crave it enough to get in the car and have to go and buy it, I eat it. If I try to 'be good' and not have it, I still fall victim to the craving and then eat twice as much as I would have if I just ate it anyway. ie I want a cream cake, I will have one. I used to try not to, and then eat a whole box!
-Accept that this maybe a time when you don't lose weight; you may even gain some. This is not a failure. You will get back on track if you don't panic.

Good lick and I am sooooo sorry for whatever it is that is causing the grief.

I'm back (again)!! That's it now for my summer madness, I'm starting college (also again, but this time really meaning it!) I have come back from Norfolk happy but was worried about getting on scales (friend had none so wasn't tempted) I did this morning and found I had put on a pound but really given the amount of food we put away it could've been worse (ie a whopping £38 on a Thai takeaway meal for two - gah!!!)I didn't go totally off the mark and was pleased that I had control enough to know when I wanted to let myself go it wouldn't ruin everything (my usual 'what the hell' attitude to food). So we made up for it by eating lots of fresh fruit and veg to balance out the takeouts and even when we had them (only twice) we went for the more nutricious stuff!! So here I am again ready to take on the colder months with renewed optimism. Does anyone agree it's much harder to eat less in winter, especially when a chunky sweater will cover up all the hideous bits?!!