[twinkie2006]

I am trying very hard to lose all the weight I gained during pregnancy....and its getting harder !! i've gained around 22 kg during my pregnancy due to a bad habit of eating ice-creams for desert my baby is now 3 months old and I've managed to lose the majority of the weight but still has about 5-6 kg to shake off .... however, they are absoultely impossible to get rid off.... I can't wear my old jeans or pants since they are all pretty fitted.....how long does it take u ladies to lose all the weight ? any tips on what i can do to accelerate the losing weight process?

[ali w]

wHAT DID YOU DO TO LOSE THE WEIGHT SO FAR? We are in the same boat my baby is 12 weeks old but I haven't lost anything. It really sucks. About 7mths before I got pregnant I started working out 7 days a week and I changed my eating habit and lost 37lbs. Needless to say when I got pregnant I gained 45lbs. What I can't believe is that so far I have only lost 10 of those 45lbs and I am completely devasted. I am trying to get back on that old routine but it is really hard. I have gone back to my healthy eating habits but without working out it just doesn't seem to be making a difference.

Sorry for the rant but its nice to find someone who can relate to my struggle.

[crjhht]

Remember this - it took you nine months to gain the weight.. it may take nine months or MORE to take it off. You are doing GREAT for being 3 months postpartum! Ladies I have had three babies and you are being so hard on yourselves! Your bodies are still healing. It will come off. Try to cut out the empty calories. Go for a 30 minute walk with the baby every day. You are doing FINE!! Its easy to get discouraged, I know. But healthy weight loss does take some time.

After my first baby, I had lost it all and then some at 5 weeks postpartum. Well guess what? It CAME BACK because I didn't do it the healthy way. Be smart with your eating and exercise, but remember it does take time if you want to take it off and keep it off.

Are either of you nursing? That can affect weight loss postpartum.

[twinkie2006]

i have intended to breastfeed for 6 months at least...however...my little man came earlier than expected and he was tinyso he wasn't able to suckle very well, in the end we had to bottlefeed him. Needless to say although i try to express milk but the milk supply dried up eventually becoz my boy wasn't able to suckle. I have heard from friends that if you breastfeed you lose weight really fast, I have tried to eat healthy after i give birth, i guess those weight i lost are probably mainly fluids.....

[ali w]

No, unfortunitely I was unable to nurse. I am generally a workout junkie but it's hard to go to the gym because DH works @ 12hrs a day and I'm not comfortable with taking my baby to babysitting (in the gym).
The sad thing is I have a Treadmill and weights in my home but I'm not motivated by working out alone.
I need those group fit classes they offer at the gym.

[KristyDarling]

Give yourself at least a year to see what your REAL post-baby weight is going to be. You're only 3 months post-partum...which means that if you're like 95% of the female population, you're still carrying extra weight. It's totally normal, so please don't berate yourself about it. It took me 1 year to get to my pre-pregnancy weight. In addition to nursing, this is what I did:

1) I ate whatever I wanted, but IN MODERATION. I had small portions of anything and everything: steak, veggies, carbs, ice cream, chocolate.

2) I took 10-minute walks (moderate to fast speed) immediately after lunch and dinner whenever I could. My nutritionist said that this goes a long way in terms of speeding up the metabolism and getting into shape post-partum. If you can't go outside for your walks, try Leslie Sansone's Walk Away the Pounds videos. They're awesome!!!

Best of luck to you, and above all, enjoy motherhood! The weight will come off with time.

[lara0112]

one year past pregnancy i am less than before my pregnancy - for the first time in a healthy weight loss manner. my best tip: stop stressing: cortisol will make you hold on to the weight even more (stress hormone). forget about it. in my case nursing helped but frankly I am running after my child all day long and work in the evenings so I just burn the calories. do not diet, i.e. starve yourself, you will not lose weight, you will be weak and possibly depressed as well, especially with sleep deprivation (bad enough as it is). 3 months after pregnancy i was still a few kilos more than pre-preg weight and considered that as very good. don't worry, it will come off in the next few months as your baby begins to be more demanding.

enjoy yourself and just forget the weight situation. very few people fit into their pre-preg clothes so quickly. oh, at 4 months plus I started post preg classes - I don't think you should work out too much before those in order to re-build your tummy muscles first. very important!. now I do pilates and ballet - from home because I don't have time for anything else.

why not swap the gym for fast walks? good for the baby, you got out of the house and you could even find other mums around you and meet up - for the group effect!

[lara0112]

Originally Posted by ali w

No, unfortunitely I was unable to nurse. I am generally a workout junkie but it's hard to go to the gym because DH works @ 12hrs a day and I'm not comfortable with taking my baby to babysitting (in the gym).
The sad thing is I have a Treadmill and weights in my home but I'm not motivated by working out alone.
I need those group fit classes they offer at the gym.

^ i would definitely not use weights 12 weeks after giving birth without having been instructed by a health professional. if your pelvic muscles and tummy muscles haven't properly been re-built you can cause yourself all sorts of trouble. at that stage i was going for brisk walks - way to get the blood pressure going!

[twinkie2006]

thanks for sharing , I guess i will take it slow and not stress too much about it

[ali w]

Originally Posted by twinkie2006

thanks for sharing , I guess i will take it slow and not stress too much about it

I wish I could let go and not stress about it but everytime I get dressed I am reminded of the fact that I have all this extra weight to get rid of. It takes me so long to get ready, at first I said it was because I had to get my self ready as well as my kids( 4yrs and 3mths). But today I dressed them first and then myself and I realized that I was the hold up because I changed clothes, literally, 5 times before I was ready. I keep telling myself that I just had a baby but I still can't help but to get frustrated.
Starting tomarrow, I will attend the gym at 6am, 4 days a week. Lets see if I can keep it up!

[PrincessGina]

I would definitely recommend the Slimming World programme. You can eat so much - like really pile up your plate and you can have chocolate and other treats. You basicially just have to separate your meat from your carbs - so you have a red day or a green day. You are allowed milk and bread too.

[k. bell]

I am breast feeding right now and its really helping me out. I just had my second child on May7th, she was 10lbs! I gained about 50lbs witch brought my weight up to 200lbs! I didn’t really look like it though, allot of people said that I looked great and some didnt even know I was pregnant (strange uhh). Anyways I’ve lost all my weight and some . I really think its because of breast feeding and that I have a little porker of a baby LOL. Every ones different also every pregnancy is different. I can say that the breast feeding did not help with my first child and I probably will never be able to fit in my clothes that I wore before I had kids. I've just learned to accept that.
I think that lifting 5lbs or even 3lbs wont hurt, its good to start out light anyways. I personally dont lift weights but my bf suggested that I do to help lose weight. I originally had the idea of jogging, but running pretty much just burns calories. I plan on mixing the two together in some sort of way. I have not started working out but I plan on it when I feel like I am able to.

[kristenmi123]

Last year I lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers and have to say it really teaches you how to eat healthy and is not a restrictive diet. I ordered the book off of eBay and I bought the daily food journal too which really helped.

I learned how to eat out healthier and it was such an eye opener learning how many calories/points were in everything I had been eating. My biggest problem was McD's and breakfast after I would drop my daughter off at school I would head strait to the drive thru for 450+ calories and high fat count ~ that has stopped for the most part.

And I took up walking at a local metro park which really helped too.

I'm eating more organic now and lots of fruit.

And I did it with a few friends and one girl was right around my weight and losing which motivated me big time!!!!

And remember if you have a bad day just start right back up ~ don't put it off for a few days.

Hope this helps!!!!

[mellecyn]

Never had a baby, but my friends and colleagues all say breastfeeding helps a lot.

[Quinn's Mom]

It takes awhile. Breast feeding can work for you or against you. In my case, I did not lose all the baby weight until I was done nursing. I also think the weight started to come off quicker as I got more consecutive hours of sleep.

3 months postpatum is not long at all. Check with your doctor to see if you are ready for exercise. Walking and Pilates are helping me get my waistline back now..Remember, your tummy muscles are figuring out that they don't need to hold a baby anymore, so they may need a bit of retraining.

I have had friends swear by weight watchers post partum. I believe they have a special program designed for post partum moms...