Please help me with my diet!

[Fudgewhizz]

Just had my second child and I'm so down about how I look. I know I need to be a bit more patient (I'm only 2w pp) but because I was so nauseous during pregnancy and the only that helped was food I put on quite a lot. Before my first child was a size 10 and now I'm about a 14 (in fact 14 doesn't fit me but I'm hoping it will when the tummy swelling goes down). I'm really struggling with this - I've always been naturally slim and never had to watch what I ate and I just don't feel like me any more. I know 14 isn't massive but because I'm not overly tall it looks a lot bigger on me iyswim, and I also can't afford to replace all my clothes! I don't really know where to start. My diet is the same as it's always been (except pregnancy) - looks a bit like this:

Breakfast - bran flakes with sultanas and semi skimmed milk / sometimes toast with peanut butter & banana

Lunch - cheese toastie / egg on toast / half a thin crust oven pizza & salad / sandwich

Dinner - eg shepherds pie & peas & carrots / stir fry / chilli & rice / Bolognese (always at least 2/3 portions of veg)

Snacks - apple, banana, few squares of chocolate, couple of biscuits

What do I do to lose weight?! Can I change any of this? Lunches are always an issue as I can never think what to have. I try to walk rather than drive places and as I recover from the birth am going further. I detest running but will do it if I have to. The only form of exercise I like is dance but obviously that's out atm, and when I'm back at work I can't really do it as I work lots of evenings when the classes are.

Any help much appreciated as I just don't know where to begin! I just want to be able to wear my clothes again :(

You’re only 2 weeks postpartum, give yourself a chance! I’m impressed you’re functional and cooking. Congratulations on your shiny new baby.

Up your water. Only eat when you’re actually hungry and eat consciously. Before you eat anything ask yourself if you’re actually hungry.

2 weeks pp you need to just eat what your body is asking for and give yourself a break. if you are breast feeding do not attempt to diet, and drink plenty of water.

in a few weeks/months time when you are ready:

ration yourself to no more than 30g cheese a day. if you had a cheese toasty or pizza at lunch do not put any cheese on your dinner. and half a pizza is a lot of calories, make it a third, plus a bigger salad. the spare slice will keep for another day.

try to eat 10 portions (a portion = 70g raw weight) of fruit & veg each day, no more than 2 of which should be fruit due to the sugar - you can only achieve this by cutting out bulky carbs. each meal including breakfast should be mostly vegetables, with modest amounts of other food groups. start being really miserly with oil in your cooking - use 1cal spray fry lite wherever possible. I used to easily get through most of a bottle of olive oil each week cooking for my family but now DH and I are both eating lower fat and we only use oil in meals for the DC and a single bottle has lasted months. just a tablespoon of oil is about 120 calories.

stick to that for a few months to reset the balance, but you may not lose weight till you also add in proper calorie counting, which is the only way to be sure you are giving your body the opportunity to burn stored fat.

Thanks - yes I'm more thinking for a few weeks down the line, trying to make sure my diet is healthy. When I've stopped feeding I can then go on to calorie counting but I may as well plan ahead and see what changes I might have to make to my diet then slowly transition. I don't know how to calorie count with stuff that's made from scratch - I tried using My Fitness Pal in the past but I'm just guessing at calories really.

2 weeks pp... please give yourself a break and get the rest you need whilst enjoying the new baby .. congratulations
Start looking ahead to when you up to shopping healthily and out walking with the pram , in the meantime your body needs to recover from the last 9 months .. take things slowly

Please, please don’t think about this now. You are naturally feeling delicate and a bit vulnerable but it is absolutely normal and natural to still have your pregnancy tummy at this stage - completely normal! All that matters right now is your lovely baby and keeping yourself nourished and satisfied - especially if you are breastfeeding. All those ligaments need to slowly fit back into place, your rib cage will start to move together again, even your bladder is growing back to its normal size. So much is happening inside your body to correct itself after this enormous miracle it has performed. Be kind to yourself and put it all out of your mind for at least another few weeks.

Congratulations!