NHS BMI Calculator says I need to loose a minimum of 5 stone to be a healthy weight...

[NeedToBeLessLarge2023]

I have gained far too weight since lockdown and having a baby. Ds is now 16 months old and although he is still breastfeeding I don't think I can use the having a baby excuse anymore. I don't want to do anything drastic as I want him to be able to breastfeed for as long as he wants but I know what I need to lose some of this weight somehow. I'm going to start with eating less junk food and desserts. Find an alternative to all the Fizzy pop I drink. Try to find time to do an exercise video or two on YouTube... it's not going to be easy but I really need to start trying 🥺

I recently came across Corinne Crabtree. I've only been doing it a couple of weeks (and sort of skipped it over Christmas) so in no position to state how effective it has been for me. But it seems very down to earth and practical. If you Google her name you'll find it. Oh, and I haven't spent any money on it!

Good luck OP! Small steps are sensible.

OP while I agree drastic is never a good idea you could make a lot of quite significant changes to a diet and exercise programme and still bf successfully.

Good luck

Cutting out fizzy drinks entirely could be a big win for you - they will be a major contributor. If you can do water instead, the benefits will be immense even if you don’t change anything else immediately.

Your issue is the fizzy drinks, snacks and cake.

The exercise won't touch the sides of the issue until you drop those.

Do a count of how many calories you are eating in a day and you'll soon see where the problem lies.

All the sugar is the problem, it's laden with calories. You need to stop with the sweet food and fizzy drinks. Exercise is all well and good alongside diet, but you're not likely to burn any more than a couple of hundred a day on a workout. I'd concentrate on your diet mainly.

Making one or two small changes will probably have a huge impact - cutting out fizzy drinks (including diet ones!) is probably a really good place to start- especially before DS is old enough to want them too.
There's no rush, and it might be helpful to set yourself smaller goals in the short term, eg to lose 2 stone by the time DS is two years old - that will still have huge health benefits.

Whilst it is true that weight loss can only be achieved through eating less, exercise can be a powerful motivator. Try Rebecca Louise, Growingannanas and Heather Robertson - all free on YouTube. Try incorporating dumbbells as well as pilates and cardio/HIIT.

Eat less......... work out how many calories you need to maintain your current, then subtract 500-1000 calories a day.

Cut out sugar, refined carbs and ultra-processed foods.
Never drink calories.
Only eat food that has nutritional value.
"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants"
Plus lean protein and moderate amounts of healthy carbs (legumes/lentils) and fats (EVOO).

You don't need to starve yourself to lose weight, but you do need to re-educate your palate to appreciate real food.

And don't get "conned" by marketing. Things like those "go ahead bar" snacks that are advertised as sugar free - lard is sugar free! And sugar is fat free.
it can be tricky to spot sometimes!

I lost about 3 stone after having kids and whilst still breastfeeding. I did it by:

• Using My Fitness Pal to honestly track everything out ate or drank. Once I could see what I was actually consuming it was easier to see what needed to be cut out.
• Remembering it was ok to feel hungry. I had spent so long pregnant or feeding a tiny baby (when I felt ravenous most of the time ) that I had forgotten it was fine to feel hungry, especially when I had a lot of spare energy stored on my body!
• Using a meal replacement thing for 2 of my meals a day. Not for everyone and they all taste pretty disgusting but the high protein content does make you feel full.

Don't worry at all about weight loss affecting your milk supply, your body will just use your fat stores to make milk.

I'd also recommend slimming world if you have the time/money. It can come across as a bit cult like at times but if you ignore that and focus on the diet it's a really healthy way to eat and lose weight