Weight loss after baby

eimaj5575
eimaj5575 Posts: 278 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi moms. New mom here and wanting alittle experience advice. I have a 5 week old and a first time mom. My body is not reacting to food as it usually does. Im not new to losing weight and keeping it off. But for some reason after baby my body won't respond they way it normally does. I can't run or lift yet only walk but my calorie intake is on point. I should be losing at least a lbs a week but scale not moving. Anyone know how to get things back to a normal response?

Replies

  • amgreenwell
    amgreenwell Posts: 1,267 Member
    Agree with above poster, your body is not ready to lose weight or adjust to any sort of calorie deficit. Are you breastfeeding? if so you need to add calories (about 500 per day) so your supply does not diminish. Give yourself a little time.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    You just had a baby. Your body is still readjusting its hormones, its fluid levels, EVERYTHING.

    Please be kind to yourself. Take it easy, don't freak out.
    Becoming a mom is an enormous physical and mental change. Your body - your hunger, brain chemicals, metabolism, all of it - is not going to respond the way it used to. For quite awhile. I have never been so aware of being subject to my body's chemistry as I was after having a baby and while nursing.

    Celebrities that "Get that pre-baby body back!" in days or weeks generally have expensive professional help, and unfortunately some of them do it in ways that aren't healthy (mentally or physically) because they're under huge amounts of pressure to look like they never had a baby.

    Things *will* start responding more like you remember, in time. But for most of us, that time is not 5 weeks after giving birth.
  • eimaj5575
    eimaj5575 Posts: 278 Member
    Thank you! I'm not breast feeding so I don't need the extra calories but I just wanted to make sure that this is prob temporary. I know my body is still healing but I'm just so ready. Im wanting so bad just to run and do a hard workout. I still have a week and a half before a clear from my dr. I'm determined to get back to myself. Just I guess will take longer. Thankfully I learned the tools to a healthier lifestyle 5 years before I got pregnant so going back shouldnt be too bad. I did have some fun though with food while pregnant
  • Vanilla_Lattes
    Vanilla_Lattes Posts: 251 Member
    Yes please please take time. I couldn't try to lose weight for 8 weeks this last time. Everytime i tried, my bleeding would pick up again. You're retaining a lot of fluid. You'll be surprised around month 3 if you keep realistic calorie goals.

    Source- mom to three children under 5
  • marisanne
    marisanne Posts: 38 Member
    Definitely let your hormones regulate! Enjoy your little!
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Oh, also?

    Really -- take it easy physically with the "hard run" idea at first. Even after you are cleared, start slow and work up.

    I will tell you why:

    After my second kid, I felt GREAT. I started pregnancy at a lower weight than my first, I was fitter (from chasing a preschooler). Birth was easy, I felt awesome.

    Two weeks postpartum I had to drop off some paperwork at work for insurance. It was a gorgeous day, I decided to park at my usual commuter lot and walk with the stroller - one mile down the road, one mile back. With a stop at my office to show off my baby.

    Well, one of those hormonal changes of pregnancy is one you might not notice: To prepare for birth, you release hormones that loosen the ligaments that hold your pelvis tightly together. (It actually works on all your ligaments, but its specifically about letting your pelvic bones move, like the jaws of a snake eating an enormous egg).

    Those ligaments take awhile to tighten up, and until they do, your pelvis moves and shifts when you walk.
    By the middle of the last mile, I could FEEL it shifting. I could feel my bones grating around, and it was really nasty.

    A quick Google tells me that at six weeks, things might not be 100% tightened back up.
    Moral of the story? Don't leave the doctor and go out and throw yourself into stuff that stresses hip/knee/ankle ligaments. Take it slow and build up and see how it feels and how stable things feel.
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