Losing Weight

I have just given up breastfeeding and want to lose weight how have other people done it?

Kerrie

Hi Mya'sMum, I put on a huge amount of weight when I was pregnant, due to over eating and gestational diabetes. Then I had a caesarean which slowed me down for a while, followed by not being able to breastfeed. I have lost a fair amount of weight now and just about into my prepregnancy clothes. What worked for me was watching what I ate ie smaller portions and things like salads with no dressing(you can have lemon juice or vinegar), salads, steamed veges & grilled meats. Nothing fried in a huge amounts of oil. I cut out butter and switched to skim milk. No greesy take aways. I ate plain biscuits with tomato, avocardo or cheese. You can snack on rice cakes or rice biscuits. I use to spice foods up with herbs, spices and pepper. Dont have too much salt as this will give you fluid. I also switch to diet drinks and cut out sweet things except for the odd jelly baby or snake & chico. No alcohol. You can buy a calorie counter from the news agents which will tell you how many calories food has. If I really wanted something I would have it and just be careful what I ate for the next couple of days. If I knew I was going out or to someones house I would eat carefully for a few days before and after and eat what I wanted on the day. The other thing I did was WALK. I cant stress this enough. You go when you want where you want and at the pace you want. You can go with a friend or a walking group or just go by yourself. I found I use to feed my baby his morning bottle and then go for a walk as he use to go back to sleep again. I use to put on my walkman (either with the headphones in one ear or on low so I could still hear traffic or someone coming or the baby crying) and walk and walk and walk. I would fill up a water bottle (try to drink as much as possible when loosing weight as this helps flush out the yuk) and most days I would walk for an hour but you can start with just 15 mins. If I was really naughty with my eating I would go for another 30min walk again in the afternoon for a few days to get the weight back off again. You dont have to walk up hills just flat. If you live in a hilly area you can do this in your local shopping centre and no one would ever know. This is also good when the weather is bad. When the baby was older I also use to drive to a local park and walk round and round it and then sit in the park with the baby and feed him and let him watch the kids playing in the swings.
I also use to do a few floor exercises when I had put the baby to sleep like push up, sit ups, squats, leg extensions. Just doing a few say 10 and then slowing increasing as I got better. Dont forget your pelvic floor exercises. If you have stairs in your house they are very good exercise. You can also use tins of things from your kitchen cupboard as weights to build up your arms. You can also put them in big football socks and tie them to your ankles when doing floor excercises for your legs. This will give you thighs a great workout. A skipping rope it excellent and a friend of mine used her childrens trampoline and she looks wonderful. If you have a push bike they are also great but you would need someone to watch your bub for you. You can buy exercise bikes new and second hand or even hire them. You could then ride away to your hearts desire. Just be careful with this when your little one is getting around as they can get their fingers caught in the wheel when you are riding it. I saw this on an episode of Oprah and the child lost its finger. You can always join a gym or get a personal trainer if you are in a financial position but I found the plain old walking did it for me. A friend of mine also lost a lot of weight with weight watcher. Also take your measurements before you start and redo in a months time as muscle weighs more than fat so the scale may not show a loss which is depressing. When you are feeling down you can look back over your past measurements and see how well you are doing. The other thing I did was find a piece of clothing and try it on once a month when you do your measurements. This works best with jeans, slacks or shorts. You will see every month how that much easier it is to get into them or even do them up. If you are really brave you could take a photo each month and stick it on your fridge to remind you how far you have come. It will really motivate you!! even if you have a photo now you hate looking at stick it on your fridge. Good luck with loosing weight it was one of the hardest and longest thing I have ever done. I thought it would be SSSSOOOOO easy to loose the weight hence I eat what ever when ever I wanted and paid for it in the end. Just remember it will not happen over night so stick to it

Wow Thank you so much. I have decided to do the Carbohydrate Addits diet. I lost 10kg a couple of years ago for my wedding. It's where you only eat protein during the day and for 60mins at night you can eat normally which means you can still have takeaways etc you still have to watch what you eat though. And with not working all day I will be able to walk more often. I am hoping to lose about 15kg by April, when my sister is getting married.
Just have to get some will power.
Thanks so much again

Kerrie

oOoOoO 0 give me more info about that Kerrie!!! I am getting married in February, and I don't want this jelly belly!! Hehe

Their is a book around called the Carbohydrates Addicts (I can't remember the right name), it should be in the libaray. It's not the Dr Atkins Diet with his you're not allowed any carbohydrate. With the Addicts diet you eat things like meat, chicken, fish, cheese, low fat milk, diet drinks, and what ever else that is protein and low in carbohydrates, from memory each serving of a food has to be below 3gms of carbohydrates. And for an hour each day you can eat your normal lunch or dinner, you choose. I found this alot easier than other diets where you can't have takeaways but with this you can have whatever you want, so long as you don't go overboard. Though it is quite hard to stuff alot in, in 60minutes, I've tried. The book explains it all alot better, but thats it in a nutshell.
Good luck for you wedding in February, I'm sure your future husband will think your beautiful, jelly-belly or not.
Kerrie
PS their is a website can't just think of what it is at the moment probably carbohyrateaddictsdiet.com or something like that.

Hi Mya'sMum my father in law is on the Atkins diet. He eats meat and more meat and has so far lost a lot of weight. I have lost around 17 kilos so far and would like to loose a bit more. Good luck at what ever you decide! I am sure you will look just gorgeous for your sisters wedding what a great goal reason to help you stick to it.

hi Janeen my names Michelle and I'd love to ask you a question(s) about losing weight after baby.
I have a 22 wk old baby girl and I"m still breastfeeding except for one rice cereal meal in the afternoon (for iron).
I too was also diagnosed with gestational diabeties when I was 17wks pregnant. I had put on a total of 18kgs throughout the pregnancy and not one kilo has come off since. Family and friends have said not to worry until i stop breastfeeding. In actual fact I'd love to keep going with breastfeeding for as long as I can but the weight facture is a big influence to stop at 6mnts! Can I loose the weight and still breastfeed? Will it interrupt my milk supply?

would love to chat smile
dmazzo@optusnet.com.au

Hi Michelle I am not too sure about the breastfeeding question as I wasnt able to breastfeed my son. I expressed my milk and gave it to him in the bottle until he was 6 weeks old and then stopped. I would be asking the breastfeeding association about it or even your health nurse or GP. I do know you do need heaps of fluid when breastfeeding so if you are exercising be sure to increase your water intake. As you know you do have to keep your food intake as well, but I think certain foods. When I attended the anti natal classes one of the ladies did ask the midwife about breast feeding and exercise and she mentioned about the water and to be sure you have a very good support bra. She said there was no reason why we couldnt. I kept loosing weight until Caleb was around 9 - 10 months and then nothing. I didnt put any more back on but I wasnt loosing it either. However I have started to loose weight again without even trying. I am not too sure if my metabolism has kicked in or perhaps I am just more active. Caleb is now 17 months old. When Caleb was around the same age as your little one we were looking at buying a block of land. We had a lot of dealings with this particular sales man (who was very nice) but in the end decided against it. He sent us some more info on land releases about 4 months later and in his letter he mentioned Caleb and commented that no doubt I would have had the baby by now!!! My husband tried to cheer my up by saying he had confused us with someone else but no he hadnt. If I wasnt already depressed I was after that. Then I had some photos processed with me and Caleb and I couldnt believe how BIG I was. I was so embarrased I put them away without showing anyone. I remember Xmas last year and trying to get out of going to my husbands Xmas party as I was so ashamed to go and let people see me. Then a friend of ours fell pregnant and you wouldnt even have known. She gave birth and within weeks she was just about back to normal except for bigger boobs from breastfeeding. I still check out other mothers and envy the ones that have a great figure!It is very hard to loose weight and it does seem to take forever. If you are worried perhaps you could visit your GP and get him to check things like your thyroid gland as that can cause weight problems. Breastfeeding is very important to both mum and bub as you know and one of the benefits they say is it helps you get back into shape faster??? You figure...What ever you decide to do I hope it all works out for you. Just remember you are not alone even if no one else knows how you feel, I do. Take care.

Hi Michelle,

I put on nearly 20kg (through bad eating) during my first pregnancy and was unable to loose the weight through walking 3 times a week. Don't know if l was really committed to it though. I tryed to watch what l ate through my second pregnancy and only put on 14kg.

I was still a size 16 plus after giving birth to my second child. I began to watch what l ate (not too much as l have a bit of a sweet tooth). The main thing for me was not snacking between meals, just fruit, only eating when l was hungry, not from boredom, and not eating after dinner.

With the help of a friend l went the gym (bit of cardio and some wieghts twice a week) I started this when my son was approx 6 months old. By the time he was 11 months old l had lost a total of 15kg. I breastfed both my children and am still fully breastfeeding my son today. I found that with me, the weight loss did not affect my milk supply, however l make sure that l have an endless supply of water on hand.

I am now pleased to say that l can fit into a size 12 and even enjoy shopping for clothes.

I hope that all goes well with you MIchele and that you find what works for you. Good luck

rtry weight wtchers or i thnk those home deiverd meals sound good no cookin 4 a start go 4 a walk put bub in ht pram or harness join a gym with a creche dont eat fish and chips for lunch like me at the moment

Wow, I never realised how lucky I am with losing my pregnancy weight!
I put on 22kg with my first and 20kgs with my second! Didn't look like I had put on that much but I did!
My daughter is now 4 months and I am 1.5kg off from my pre-pregnancy weight before my 2nd.
I was never able to breastfeed for long with both my 2 but I watched what I ate and made sure I did at least a littel exercise, even if it was just housework...mowing the lawn is great for burning up the kilojoulies....840 in 30 minutes.....of course who feels like mowing their lawn everyday? Not me!

Best wishes

I am also a lucky newish mum! I put on 18 kgs during my pregnancy. My little girl is now 21 weeks and I have lost 24 kgs! I'm actually 6 kgs lighter now than when I fell pregnant! I will say that I usually have a massive appetite but since I had bub I've hardly had an appetite at all!! Lucky I suppose. I'm 176cm tall and now weigh 62 kgs. I put it down to breastfeeding!