New Mum seeking new body by Christmas!

[CoraBear]

My baby boy is 6 months old and I am quite overweight. Ok, I'm alot overweight (takes deep breath) I'm 15 stone. At 5 ft 7 this is waaay to much. I am sitting here in the one pair of trousers that fit me and my DP's tee shirt because none of my tops fit properly. Basically my stomach looks like a deflated paddling pool and my thighs are so big that I'm fairly sure that if I sit down too much longer they will burst open.

After I had the baby I took the very grown up approach to weight loss and I hoped that if I ignored the problem it would go away and somehow I would have a body like posh spice-because all new mothers lose all the weight instantly don't they? Turns out they don't, and surviving on mini aero's didn't help. I weigh more now than when I gave birth.

I have a serious lack of motivation but I decided to see if I could lose some pounds before Christmas, as I'll be seeing people I haven't seen since I was pregnant and want to look casually fabulous. So are any of you interested in holding my hand, kicking my arse and generally helping each other to stay on track? I really want to do this but I know if I'm not answerable to others my resolve will slip.

I have my first weight watchers meeting tomorrow, which I'm dreading as it will mean that the leader will weigh me and know what a tubby fecker I am. So, if any of you weight watcher followers or followers of other plans would like to come and join me and share stories of jogging up and down while eating maltesers so the points are being eaten and burned off simultaneously or just have a rant about how unfair the world is when you're hungry, you are welcome.

Right, I'm off to remove all the biscuits, chocolate and sweets from my house before tomorrow. That's right, when I say "remove" I do of course mean "eat them".

Arm is still in one piece, however the bag of Maltesers is all gone (I have cramps that would kill a walrus and Maltesers are my medicine!). That might be a bit TMI but I have to be honest.

Weight watchers is ace though. So annoying to get in to the swing of but I'm linking the results. I pointed my Malteser rampage and plan to go for a lovely long walk tomorrow to burn them all off.

I think ww might be the way forward Choos and now that it's coming in to winter it's always nice to have soup on the go. I know that Autumn comes before Winter in other countries but in Ireland it tends to go from slightly warm to frickin freezing so I'm skipping Autumn.

Have a good weekend everyone!

I am in so sad - had a too short haircut and DH said I looked mumsy :(
Grrr so now chubby with bad hair!

Haha Cora, I can relate to having no Autumn. I will def be making the soup again. I NEED to be slimmer by christmas, preferably sooner!!

I was a wee fatso again last night, dominos pizzaz for tea. Dp and I have now decided that we spend far too much money on takeaways though so we need to stop. Hopefully this will also help me lose a few pounds.

Aww don't be sad choos, maybe your new hair is just a shock at first because it's a lot shorter? I know if I change mines it can take a while before I get used to it. Also, once you've washed / styled it yourself you might like it more?

Choos, is your DP still alive?

I can happily say I would've bitch slapped DP for that comment.

I agree with SayHello, wash your hair and lock yourself in your bedroom with mousse, hairspray and a hair straighteners. Mousse is essential for shorter hairstyles because it gives hold once the hair is dry (put it in when your hair is wet). How short is your hair? Can you post a pic of it?I cut my hair in to all sorts of styles regularly, I'm sure I can help. Have you tried changing around your parting, that always looks good. Btw I'd say you look lovely, you're just not used to the haircut yet.

Oh and MUMSY?! You are a Mum. I hate that term. But be sure to comment the next time he brings home new clothes "Don't you think you're too old to wear that?" Complete with amused expression. Men hate it being pointed out that they are no longer cool. Bloody men.

MMM Domino's is delish SayHello, I always and up ordering DP a pizza and I order about a million side orders. Takeaways are a total rip off,but it's nice to have one every now and again.

I have been a savage this weekend, mostly due to visitors and bbq's. I would add up my points but I think the weight watchers calculator would explode. Oh well...

I had my weigh in to day and I weigh the same.

I became so unmotivated over the weekend, it was all my own fault but I never seem to be able to stop myself. However, I have ultra motivation now as we have been invited to a very posh wedding in January so I need to look amazing. I mean AMAZING for it. It's very formal and I know some of the people who are going are rail thin and have just had their second/third baby so I can't be a chubbster (It simply won't do dahling).

So that is my goal, lose two stone/ two and a half stone by January and look the part for this wedding. I'm thinking if I lose two and a half stone I can afford to put back on a pound or two at Christmas.

So that's 28/ 35 lbs to lose in about four months. Is that possible? Yes. I won't be scared. I have a lovely dress I can wear to it from my skinny days so losing the weight will be beneficial to my wallet also.

I just did the maths on the calculator, so that's 35 lbs to lose in 16 weeks which means I have to lose 2.3lbs per week, every week. That sounds far less frightening. I would get one of those ticker things except I think they are naff and are kind of a countdown to failure.

Ok, here goes...

Morning all,

Still sticking to weight watchers but having seen Jessica Simpsons big reveal following her $5 million ww deal I am not sure if my plan will work. I mean she had a personal trainer and chef and she's still very big. What hope is there for me? I know this is the fear that kicks in to make me want to starve but I'm worried about being a chunky munky in January.

Help!

Cora you can definitely do it, it's a really good goal and I think we should call it project wedding. You don't need a personal trainer or $5 million deal, you've got us!
Project wedding:
Diet
Exercise
Clothes
Hair
General fabulousness

So onwards and upwards from this day!
So I agree with sticking to ww. What are your exercise plans and are you going to have 1 day off a week?
Who's wedding is it.

I'm not weighing in - having a really stressful time.
My hair is shoulder length but just doesn't sit right and sticks out at the back. I hate it. It looks awful, a bad cut and too short (and not what I asked for). I just have to wait it out for a few months. Although she cut about a foot off, it was right down my back before. I have tried various potions but it just feels a bit lank when I out anything in it...
Will try and post a pic at the weekend.

Agree with Choos, we'll help you with a plan (says me who can't even lose one bloody pound!!) It's good you have this wedding on though because whenever you want to eat junk you can think of the skinny dress you want to wear and it will hopefully give you willpower :)

I have a weekend away in November so this is my new date to look great! We will be using a spa and getting a massage, maybe some treatments and I don't want to spend my time worrying I look fat and flabby :(

I'm still staying away from the scales though as it was just my eldest birthday and my youngests next week (can't believe my baby girl will be 1) so I haven't been eating great as my daughters birthday cake was fab.

Sorry about your hair Choos :( hopefully once it's grown even a little bit you'll like it more.

Thanks for the support ladies, I'm loving Project Wedding! I am sticking rigidly to ww, 7 days a week. I really want to keep up the momentum and look great at the wedding. I weighed myself today and I am 1 lb down so happy days. I even had some chinese food last night but I pointed it up and I'm living with the consequences.

My exercise plan is non-existent at the moment, I just want to get my eating under control but I've been doing a bit of walking and being active but I haven't pointed any of it. I'm hoping to start using the wii again in the evening soon,I can't afford to do classes so it's going to have to be fitted in to my day.

That's annoying about your hair Choos, are you able to tie it up or anything? Did you kill the hairdresser? I cut layers in to the front of my hair and DS broke my ghd yesterday so I look like a wreck because the front of my hair is curly. I feel your pain.

SayHello your weekend away sounds lovely. I bet you're really looking forward to it. Two kids birthdays in two weeks, has your house been over run with birthday parties and new toys?

Good luck today and go Project Wedding!

Oh My God I'm so frickin hungry.

I would eat a lion right now. And I don't mean the bar, I mean an actual lion, fur and all. Does anyone have one?

I must not eat. I must not eat. I want to look amazing. I must not eat.

I deliberately didn't go to the shops today as I'm trying to break a bad habit I have whereby I buy a big bag of Dorito's on a Friday. That's easily 10 million points. I think I might try looking up dresses that I'll wear in smaller sizes to keep me motivated.

Happy Friday all.

I didn't say a word to the hairdresser but she must have seen my face. Anyway, I have tied it up today and possibly going to keep doing that until it's grown a bit.
Work has been really awful and I am in a turmoil of guilt re being a working mum. We've also just had an early pregnancy loss, I had doubts about it working out from the start because of a couple of things, so we hadn't allowed ourselves to believe it was happening but still it's still quite unsettling for us. We probably have too much going on and I've got myself into a bit of a rut.
I need to shake myself out of it though and so from tomorrow, I am back on the diet and trying a a new positive frame of mind (not starting tonight, having wine and a take away!). I will be starting right back at the beginning re weight though.... so aiming for a stone in the next 6 weeks. I need to lose 2 stone in total.
DH has just taken LittleChoos to the park, probably to get away from me, I'm so grouchy!
Anyway, I am now drawing a line under moaning and stressing. Writing it here may help!

How did the not eating go Cora? You will look amazing at the wedding. What sort of dresses do you like? What's wrong with the ghd's? fixable?
Lovely to have an aim SayHello and your break sounds good.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Hope my post isn't too moaning, hoping to move on now!

Hi Choos,

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. I have suffered an early pregnancy loss myself and honestly, you need to take your time. You've been through a lot and you need to recover. Is there any hope of getting time off so you can get your head together? We're always here if you need a rant or a talk. Have you thought anymore about leaving your job?

And wine and takeaway sound lovely.

The non-eating is farcical, I am either hungry or have just eaten and I'm thinking about what I can spend my next batch of points on. I really messed up my 49 extra bonus points I think, so there will be none next week. I just got my days arseways.

I stood on a scales in the DIY shop today and it weighed me 2 stone lighter than the one I have at home. So I was happily relaying all of this to DP and he said "Oh that's coz of the way it's packed up, I don't think you've lost two stone"

Silence and filthy looks filled the air between us as he realised what he had said. In his rush to be both helpful and factual he had informed me that the weighing scales were wrong. I nearly killed him. How many points would I burn chasing my DP around a hardware shop I wonder?

oh loads Cora - you should definitely do it, for research purposes. My DH just keeps on making the worst comments, he's totally clueless about women!

We'll get there with the diets - I know we will, no matter how long it takes.

I feel ok, I was really hormonal Thurs/Fri/Sat but feel lots better now. I was only about 6 weeks, so really not thinking that hard about it (just a coping mechanism I guess and I am sure I would feel worse if I was further along).. It could be worse. Sorry to hear about your loss too Cora.

I am sticking with my job hopefully until baby No2. We're very short staffed at the moment, but have 2 people starting soon. I am also going to ask my boss to reign a couple of people in who are being very snippy about my team (think sour old bags).

Let me know re the calorie loss for chasing a DP around - I could be tempted by the same!

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss Choos. Glad your starting to feel a bit better but take it easy and look after yourself. Also, please don't feel any guilt about being a working mum, you've nothing at all to feel guilty for!! You're doing the best for you and your child and that's all that's important. Hopefully your work will calm down once the new people start and you'll feel better about it then as it must be stressing you out at the moment.

Got to be honest and say that my diet has been non existent this past week. We went out for a meal last night so between that and all the birthday cake I've been scoffing it's safe to say the scales will be getting ignored til Thursday.

I have given him the "You know nothing about women and you are an idiot" talk. He is still non the wiser and tried to help by saying "You look a bit like Bobby Charlton" when I complained my shorter hair at the front has given me a comb over style. Some days I find myself repeating "You must not hit him, you must not hit him" under my breath. If he wasn't so lovely the other 99% of the time I would kill him.

Your work situation sounds like a nightmare Choos, but don't feel guilty. We all have to make work/family decisions and we always feel guilty no matter what we choose. Women don't want it all, we just want a choice and unfortunately that's not going to happen any time soon.

Stay away from the scales SayHello, they will be there in all their judgey glory on Thursday. I am hoping I've dropped two stone - wouldn't that be amazing.

I am currently tucking into a chocolate cookie - oh well (Do you think people read this thread and think no wonder Choos doesn't lose weight?!)

I am thinking hard about life balances. LittleChoos is starting a nursery near home 2 days a week, when he comes in with me to my work nursery we leave the house at 0630 and don't get in until 7. So it's a really long day. We have finally found a nursery we like nearer to us, so he had 3 hours there Friday and is doing 4 hours today. There are pros and cons to moving him as he is really settled where he is now, he's near me in the day and the staff are lovely. The new nursery however has a massive garden and he does't need to leave the house until 0715. I have kept him in my work nursery too to keep our options open and he does 1 1/2 days a week there. But I am thinking of reducing my hours so he only goes to nursery 3 days week. Also maybe finishing earlier so I get in a 6, we can afford it but it may affect our long term aim of moving. Need to live for the moment more I think, I don't want to regret spending time with him now.

Work is an ongoing internal battle for me, it's a great job but very stressful and unfortunately some of the people in a team we were closely with are not that nice. I really take any criticism of me team to heart as I am a complete perfectionist (and often it's misplaced and it's there team who haven't done what needed t be done - oh the injustice!). I do feel I'm not a SAHM though.

What's happening with the childminding Cora? As for the Bobby Charlton comment, is he still alive this morning?

Hope you had a good meal out SayHello. Where did you go?

What happened to the other posters?
Sorry I have written an essay.

As an aside - how are the babies eating? LittleChoos is very very picky, and mealtimes can be very hit and miss!

I think you should keep your options open regarding childcare Choos. If nothing else it gives your son a chance to meet lots of new people and experience new things. I'm quite a worrier regarding our future but I am convinced there is no such thing as a guilt free decision.

The childminding has all but dried up I'm afraid. Women turn up to meet me and they have these incredibly long list of demands (such as how many hours of structured brick building I do per week with the children? - I was actually asked this, I nearly laughed out loud) and want me to work very long days and pay me 100 euros per week. It's farcical. I really think some women need a dose of reality when it comes to my job. It's very full-on to be with kids all day long and all I want is to be paid fairly for it.

It's weigh in day for me tomorrow and I would be happy with 1lb due to me fecking up the amount of extra bonus points I can eat. I am more organised this week so I should have my calculations in order.

On the fussy eating thing - my son eats like a savage (Just like me) and he tends to have 6-8 small meals per day. He had heart problems when he was born so he couldn't manage to eat a lot in one go so we used to feed him small meals regularly and it's just become his routine now. He will eat anything. I HATE fussy eaters, my brother was one and it drove me insane. I offer DS anything we're eating and if I make something he doesn't like, I freeze it in ice cube trays and offer him a little spoonfull with whatever his next few meals are. That way he gets to try it but it's not a big deal if he doesn't like it.

I also let my son get hungry if I'm trying something new, he'll eat anything when he's hungry and if he decided he doesn't care for it when the hunger has been satiated he can always have some fruit. Dinner time never descends in to a battle that way. It's persistence though. You really have to grit your teeth and get through it.

Morning all,

I had my weigh in yesterday and I have lost 1 lb. I'm actually fairly happy with it but it has spurred me on to be more careful regarding my points. I have been hungry for the last two days and have wheeled out the zero points soup to see me through.

DS has a very bad cold so we are going to have a long day today I think. Lots of calpol and Peppa Pig to get us through. Oh how I hate Peppa Pig. But this way I will get to make a huge pot of zero point soup and devour it before I burn through all my points for the day on biscuits.

I hope everyone else is getting on ok.

Well done Cora! Keep going lovely - you'll get there, here's hoping for a bigger loss next week.
Hope your son is feeling better and you didn't have to watch too much peppa pig.
Can't remember if I have said we are taking next week off, so I don't think my diet will be starting soon, I can see lots of wine and cake on the horizon. I don't feel bad about it for once, I just want to feel more myself again.
Hope your weigh in went well SayHello.

Are you going anywhere nice for your week off Choos or are you chilling out at home? I think cake and wine are essential as part of the time off experience.

DS is feeling a little better, 4 of his back molars came through this week so he has been quite sore.

I'm struggling with my diet this week, not due to temptation I'm just having a self-indulgent whingebag week. I want the world to go away for a week and come back when I'm ready. I have inadvertantly become a SAHM and I'm not sure if it's for me. If I have to hoover one more time I may become psychotic. I think it's a mix of boredom (I have loads to do but I don't want to do it) and being overwhelmed by responsability (my DP is away alot and I dread being here alone).

Sorry for the misery. Gah! I probably wouldn't care if I wasn't so hungry all the time. I eat when I'm bored and carrot sticks aren't making a dent in my self-pitying appetite.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I hope everyone has a great weekend and that you have a lovely week off Choos, you deserve it.

I just logged on and saw your post - spooky, not stalking you honestly...!
Being SAHM is vv hard, it wasn't for me and I didn't like all the time without adult company so I can imagine to some extent how you feel.

So if you don't want to be a SAHM, do you want to go out to work in some way? or do you want to be a SAHM with loads to keep you occupied?

We are going to a centreparcs, going to do lots of activities with little choos and it will nice to have the week of work/nursery and just take breath.
I have the proesecco chilling in the fridge for this evening, we are going to have roast chicken and vegtables. First I have a family visit to contend with - if my mother says 'is he not speaking more yet' I mat throw myself out the window! (Im also dreading any pregnancy questions as they don't know but are very nosey!)

ps is aubergine easy to roast?!

Hi everyone, I have to admit I didn't have my weigh in again on thursday. I still can't face those scales, I know I've been eating way too much junk food and can feel myself getting bigger. Dp goes back to work tomorrow though so will hopefully go better from now on (how many times do I say that!!)

That sounds like a great break Choos, hope you all enjoy it. As for comments on pregnancy, I feel your pain. When I was ttc with my first dd it took 15 months to fall pregnant (I know now this isn't actually long but at the time I was so worried it wasn't going to happen) My boss at the time made comments every day, trying to be funny asking me constantly if I was pregnant and saying it in front of people. In the end I had to be quite forceful and say "Look your comments aren't funny, I'm not pregnant so stop asking me." I know it's not the same but maybe you should say something to your mum?

And Cora I know exactly how you feel with becoming a SAHM, it's what I'm doing now since being made redundant. Due to Dps hours at work it's so difficult for me to find a job around him and the childcare costs are so expensive it seems like I'd be worse off working :( I keep looking in the hope that something will come up though.

Ok, I've written a giant post today none of it about weight!! Hope everyones had a nice weekend :)

Oh Choos your holiday sounds lovely. I bet Little Choos will live having you both all to himself. As for your Mum, just tune it out. Some people say awful things to get a reaction. I like to give people a withering look and move on. And don't throw yourself out the window, throw your Mum out the window! Did your roast aubergine turn out ok? If you don't put holes in them they explode.

SayHello is your DP a bad influence on you? Mine is a fiend for snacks in the evening and while he continues to be trim and toned I am a ballooning hippo. Maybe you should kick the scales away for the next week or so, there's no point in depressing yourself.

Thanks for the words of support ladies, I was feeling guilty about finding the SAHM thing difficult. My DP recently started his own business so he works crazy hours and if I was to get a job that started at 5pm I couldn't guarantee he'd be home by then. It would put him under a mountain of pressure and I don't want him to be any more stressed than he already is.

I would like a job outside the home but childcare in Dublin is 970 euros per month so I'd end up spending all of my wages on that. I just find being the person who runs the house is a lot of responsibility, I never had to be solely in charge of cleaning, cooking, budgeting and bills as well as doing a few bits and pieces for DP when I can. And I feel like I have to do all of these things because I'm home all day long.

Have a good weekend everyone!

I can't sleep so I thought I'd post.

I have been fairly cautious points-wise but I am horrendously bloated due to an epic over consumption of hummous (my friend and I milled through a very large tub yesterday) and while it was delicious it has also awakened a love for cream crackers that I never knew I had. Turns out cream crackers are a point each so they aren't too waistline friendly so I think I may have to substitute them for carrots and celary sicks (SNORE!).

I am dreading my weigh in later as I have been so careful but I don't feel lighter. I really need to stick to this and being hungry all week and still not losing weight is disheartening. I'm putting off weighing myself for as long as possible.

I'm back to drinking gallons of points free soup which is really hitting the spot because it's so frickin cold here- it's only one degree at the moment.

Can anyone give me pointers with regards to low-carb replacements for bread? I've been eating quite a bit and just want to cut back.

Hope everyone else is getting on well.

I wish I could help you on ideas for low carbing Cora but this is my problem too, I do love my carbs. As for my dp being a bad influence on me, I can't even blame him tbh. I think I have it in my head that when he is off work, it's our time to eat what we want. He's not the type to eat chocolate but I am so it's not like he's eating and making me feel tempted. I don't know what's wrong with me at the moment, I just never seem to feel full.

It's so cold here too, we have stormy wind and rain here today aswell. It's awful, we went to toddler group this morning but I'm not going out in that weather again. It's so hard to stay away from junk food when you're sitting in the house but so far I'm resisting it :) I'm also going to start making soup again, what do you put in yours?