Post baby weight

[travispickles]

It has been 16 weeks since birth and I still have over 2 stone to lose. In part this is due to having given up smoking last January, so I ballooned and then fell pregnant in April and suffered terrible sickness for the first 20 weeks at least. I did use pregnancy as an excuse to eat crap and gained loads of weight. I have just got the shred DVD and am trying calorie counting as well as walking miles with the baby. I am EBF so can't go mad with dieting and had EMCS so have a belly hanging down over the scar. How am I going to get my body back? Anyone in/ been in the same boat? How much weight can I hope to lose and how am I going to get rid of flabby belly? Sympathy/ heart-warming stories/ motivation desperately needed...

Hi Travis - firstly, good on ya for giving up the smoking .

I can't remember what the 30 day shred is but I'd be careful if it means restricting certain foods such as carbs. You are still EBF so your body will need to have extra cals for that.

However, you don't have to be eating less healthy stuff so I'd try and do what you're doing with the walking/cal counting (taking into account 500 extra a day I think it is for bf). Then, with all the walking that'll sure tone you up.

Also - although you will need the extra cals, that doesn't have to come from fat. So cut back on stuff like cheese, crisps, processed foods and concentrate on whole grain bread, rice and pasta, lots of fruits and veg and cut out fizzy drinks etc.

I used to stock up on yoghurts and pots of cottage cheese to eat with pineapple and I ate lots of prridge and other healthier cerela if I got hungry at night for example.

Exercise-wise, the walking is fab for toning, are there any water aerobic classes nearby? They are great cardio and more gentle after the section than heading off down the gym.

I didn't start dieting until DS2 was 25 weeks and I'd cut down BF to 2-3 a day and he was having solids. I found EBF esp between 16-25 weeks very hard physically, and was feeding up to 10 times a day (he slept through from 6-16 weeks, then started waking again as he was hungry in night) and it wasn't the right time for me to be worrying about my weight, exercise or calories. So yes it is hard when you look at your body and think will it ever be the same again, but it does get easier. I was a size 16-18 and unfit and I felt so fat, and comfort ate as I was so tired.

But, DS2 is now 13 months old and I have got my body back and more.... I am more toned than I have ever been, and lighter than I have ever been etc etc. I am doing a sprint triathlon in a week and a half... and after that will focus on more toning.

I ended up loosing 50lbs in total, lost most of it in 5 months. The last few pounds took longer but TBH I didn't really plan to loose them, I am almost a stone lighter than my pre DS2 weight and half a stone lighter than my pre DC weight. I also had a flabby belly now its flat and toned. It just takes time.

op you could be me apart from the ebf and my baby is 17wks,i am shredding and def feel bit better and have lost a couple of ponds,i get frustrated at people saying you'll be ok youve had a baby cos im sure it wont miraculously disappear now!Dieting is so hard when on mat leave and stuck in alot, forever-my baby was the same slept great untill this week and now a nightmare!!

Thanks - you have all given me hope!

Hi, my baby is 14 weeks and I'm trying to shift about a stone and a half. I'm EBF too. I'm using my fitness pal, adding 330 calories a day for feeding, am walking as much as poss and logging it on Runkeeper, which also gives you a calorie count that you can add to mfp and trying to run twice a week - with the odd shred session thrown in! If I do a decent walk every day I've found I can still eat quite lot and the weight is still coming off. Really just want to be back in my old jeans!