When I think about the mammoth task ahead of me it brings me to tears :(

[HippyJess]

Its totally pathetic. I just started trying to do one of the yoga DVDs I used to do pre-baby and I could barely even bend!

DS is 5.5 months old. Before I got pregnant I was doing a combination of yoga and Pilates classes, swimming and calorie counting. I was really quite overweight but it was coming off - 12.5 stone at 5 feet tall but now, post baby, I am 14.5 stone and utterly miserable (thanks to SPD that meant I could barely move in pregnancy).

DS was a Velcro baby who has only started sleeping by himself, without being held, this past week. So I thought I'd start getting on with it and its so bad that I can barely exercise :(

So I'm on a healthy eating path that I can stick to as long as I don't buy snacks - I don't miss them if they're not there! I walk everywhere with DS in a sling but have planar fascitis from pregnancy that means I can't do too much of this. Ironically losing weight will help make it better...

I have ordered Davina's 15 minute fitness (thinking I may be able to stretch to that long) and 30 day shred. Planning to start doing every other day and build up from there...

But when I think about how much I have to lose it brings me to tears as it seems totally insurmountable. I'm 14.5 stone. My happy weight, which I haven't been in years, is 8.5 stone, though I'd be satisfied with 9.5. 5 stone, dear god :( how am I ever going to manage that??

Someone please tell me I can do it and it will get better. I can't go on like this but I feel like I can't fix it either... :(

Also if anything breastfeeding is making my body cling to the weight. But I refuse to stop that for my own selfish reasons so will have to wait that bit out.

Baby steps and breath! You can't do it in a week, it's going to take a long time, but you can do it!

You need some interim goals. This is, ironically, the 'eating the elephant' metaphor - although in terms of weight loss (and conservation) eating elephants is not recommended . You do this one bit at a time. Set a goal for a month's time - ideally not weight related but in terms of the number of exercise sessions you've done, or the number of steps you've done, and maybe one of the bends that you couldn't do today.

Having a baby is a hugely physically demanding task, add to which the SPD and it's a fairly major physical trauma that you're recovering from. One step at a time - and make sure you make the most of the warmer weather to get out and feel better. Even a short distance will be beneficial if you've been cooped up since October-ish.

Also 9 months on MINIMUM 9 months off imho (Usual HQ disclaimers)
and in your case you've got the added issue of the SPD -so no , it won't be easy but it will be worth it
tribpot is wise - when she says not to aim for lbs but specific other things
I need to bin the biscuits but true.

I was 13stone at the start of January and I'm only a little taller than you at 5ft 2. I'm doing no exercise apart from short school run and as of Monday I was 11st 2lb. Still a way to go to get to 9.5stone but its achievable. Take it in small stages. My next goal is to get into the 10s by the end of March, then I will set another small goal.

I didn't even have an excuse of a small baby my youngest is 2. You are doing fab even thinking about tackling the weight

I feel similar and have a 4 week old baby. My problem is that I'm constantly hungry, I mean ALL the time. I have at least a stone to lose to get to pre - preg weight but another stone to get to pre - DS1 weight. I have zero motivation, DS2 doesn't really do sleep and to be perfectly honest, the thought of it taking forever to shift some weight makes me want to comfort eat. I also had a section and have been told not to do any major exercise for another 2 months.
Trying My Fitness Pal but I'm probably not being entirely honest with it and when I get close to my calorie limit and I'm still starving, I feel a bit "fuck it, I'll try again tomorrow". DH got me an activity tracker wristband thingy at Xmas but I haven't even tried it yet, do t need an app on my phone to tell me I'm a lazy bastard.

So really nothing useful to add except for a fist bump of solidarity, you're not on your own feeling rubbish but it will get better with a ti y bit of work.

Also don't forget that you will look and feel better with every pound you lose, it's not all about getting to your goal weight. The first couple of weeks are always the hardest but once you start feeling and seeing results it will be worth it! I am not even half way to my goal weight yet but feel so much better than I did when I started and every week I fit into more of my old clothes which is a great feeling.
I also had a non-sleeping baby and didnt start exercising till he was about 9 months old so you are ahead of the game!

Of course you can do it
Last October I was just over17stone (just under 6ft tall) and now I am 12stone 8lbs and within reaching distance of my target. I actually remember thinking in October, just imagine this time in 6 months where you could be. If I had carried on the way I was going I would be a stone heavier, but I just went for it.

I have a one year old and it's hard trying to fit excersize in. But losing weight is mostly down to diet so get that sorted first. I just did bog standard calore counting, it will always work!

Good luck. The most important step of the journey is the first one, and you've already made it.

Don't focus on your goal weight now. Set mini interim goals - like 7lb by, say, end of April. When you achieve THAT set another mini goal. It's so much more encouraging & easier that way. It definitely worked for me & DH. I've lost 5.5 stone in 14 months, DS nearly 7 stone in 2 years.

I agree with the mini goals, I set myself small targets with rewards and bought myself a pair of earring when I lost 5lb, new boots when I lost 10lbs. Maybe it only works because I'm shallow and materialistic but I did get new earrings and boots as I dropped 10lb over a few months

Know exactly how you feel. I tend to let things overwhelm me so love the 'eating the elephant' advice.

Im 6 inches taller, and started the year at 17 stone. I too need to lose a shed load of weight, but i dont even have the baby weight issue as my youngest is 12.....

Start slimming world or weight watchers - invest in yourself - and follow their healthy eating plans. Both have plans suitable for breastfeeding mums. Set yourself a sensible interim target - 12.5 st by July maybe? And just take that first step. DOnt be tempted to lose weight through starvation diets, or your skin will not bounce back. SLowly does it. Aim for all the weight off and kept off for a while by DCs 2nd birthday. Just in time to have another....

Yes, I know exactly how you feel. I gained loads during pregnancy, and even more in the year I was BFing. So as DS 3's first birthday rolled around, I had 5 stone to lose!
It does seem very very daunting, but, as others have said, set interim goals. I'm 5'7" and started out at 205lbs, my first goal was 180lbs. Now, 2 months later, I'm at 177lbs and my next goal is 170lbs (which I wanted to be when we go on holidays over Easter, not sure I hit that target in time).
Anyway, if you just do it step by step, it will come off. I feel so much better now already, I've been able to bin my 'fat clothes' and feel more energetic.
Personally though, I have never been able to lose anything during the breastfeeding period, as it made me constantly hungry and as you said it felt like my body held on to the extra fat. So you may have to wait a bit?
Good luck!

Thanks everyone :) it really is overwhelming and I find setting smaller goals really hard! I think my first target (other than just trying to make healthier food choices!) will be to do the 15 minute exercise DVD every other day until the end of then month - which should help as i always eat better when I've been exercising :) will just have to focus on little steps and keep telling myself I WILL get there in the end! Think I'm going to aim for 13 stone by June 6th which is BiL's wedding so that I feel I look ok in the photos :) then I have another wedding in September so can work towards that...

Thanks again everyone, I feel better already!

Lots of luck!

I had 'goal pants' as well. A pair of jeans that were just too small to be comfortable. I'd try them on every couple of months. When they fitted, I was really happy. Then when they were too big I was ecstatic!

HippyJess can I come be your buddy and commiserate the mammoth challenge ahead? I have over 4 stone to lose, and even that won't put me in the healthy BMI range.

I lost 4 stone over a year from using MFP and C25k, then had DD and decided to eat eat eat. And breastfeeding left me ravenous most of the time. After I stopped I joined SW at 16 stone 6lbs and lost 1 and a half stone before giving up (my heart wasn't truly in it and I was cheating a lot!)

So now I'm here, I weighed myself on Saturday and was horrified that I was 16 stone 13lbs, 2lbs above the weight I was the first time I started losing weight. I work in a cafe and although I'm on my feet all day, temptation is EVERYWHERE.

I'm on day 5 now of MFP and so far so good, one slip up day where I used 700 calories of my daily allowance on crap snacks (who knew chocolate hobnobs were 100cals per biscuit?!?) and by the end of the day I'd reached my allowance and was so hungry I couldn't sleep! I had a midnight sandwich to settle my tummy

Anyway! I'm now feeling more positive and trying to stay prepared. I've prepped lots of salad bits so I can chuck a salad together in 2 minutes, and I'm logging what I eat BEFORE I eat it so I know roughly what the calories are and if I'll have any room for a pre-bed snack in case I get the munchies. The thought of having to do it all over again fills me with dread, but it's comforting to know I'm not the only one

Sorry for the essay

Hi HippyJess
I've got at least 5 stone to lose. Started VLCD alongside DH this week
My tipping point was when I found it hard to put my socks on and DH says I have started grunting like a warthog
Good luck to everyone. Baby steps!!

Thanks guys :) did quite well yesterday considering DS has a cold and was extremely clingy... Hard to overeat when you're trapped under a baby all day! Glad I'm not the only one :) I'm sure we can do it!

15 Minute Fit arrived yesterday, so I guess I'll give that a go later eek!

Look for things that taste like they're 'naughty' but aren't.

Bag of walkers Sunbites crackers, mini tub of philly extra light, tablespoon of Doritos salsa - 'nachos'

Wholemeal pitta split open into two, tablespoon of salsa on each, sprinkling of low fat cheese, onion, peppers, maybe some chicken or ham - 'pizza'

Chopped fruit, 10 cal jelly, Mullerlight yoghurt - 'trifle'

OP

What is it that you are eating in a typical day?

Can you give an example?

My best advice is slow and steady wins the race.

Going for a drastic diet change rarely works.

So if you eat ten biscuits a day, half that amount.

If you eat lots of crisps, still have them but half the amount.

Try to have meat and veg dinners.

Rib eye steak with your fav veg

Try to limit your carbohydrates. They are nasty things! Avoid white!

What are your favourite meals? Put some on here and we might be able to come up with Similar healthier versions.

Its really not my meals that are the problem, its that I'm a snack fiend :( when I'm tired or have had a bad day I stuff chocolate down my face... Example, if DH phones on his way home and asks if I want anything and I say "something chocolatey", he'll bring me a massive, sharing/should-last-all-week size or a packet of Cadbury fingers and I'll eat it all over the course of an evening

I'm making a real effort to cook decent food for meals and have had strong words about the enabling that goes on in our house so hopefully things will improve!

Breakfast is porridge and fruit or scrambled eggs on toast. Lunch at the moment is finger foods I can share with weaning DS - veg sticks and hummus, rice cakes with Philly. Its lacking a protein element that I'm struggling with but I'll work something out. At the moment our dinners generally come from the A Girl Called Jack cookbook, and as long as I resist the urge to make freezer food (chicken nuggets and chips is DH's favourite because he has the food tastes of a 6 year old) then its fine and filling so I don't feel the urge to snack in the evening.

My starting point is trying to drink more instead of snacking, so a pint of squash or a decaff coffee or herbal tea. I think I've been letting myself get dehydrated a lot more since DS was born!

I've been maintaining for a while with that type of snack several days a week and having pizza for dinner far too regularly and doing little to no exercise so hopefully it'll start going down with just a few changes!

I'm a snacker too OP, and very much guilty of sending DP to the shop to get me something for my sugar fix

What about a boiled egg or some chicken as snacks if you want more protein? I could eat boiled eggs every day as I love them, plus I'm sure they'd be a good weaning food?

I have the awful habit of finishing DD's meals, she's a very dainty thing with a tiny appetite (doesn't get that from me!) and I find myself picking at her dinner all the time. I hate waste too so if she doesn't eat much I end up finishing it! Wahhh!

You can do this, you really can. I know that feeling that it's an insurmountable obstacle. I began losing weight when DS was two months old, I've lost 7.5 stone and kept it off for the last year. You can do this ?? and it is totally worth it.