Impossible weight loss after pregnancy

fbmandy55

I'm really angry right now at this condition. After TTC for 2 years and successful pregnancy on metformin, I'm down 36lbs. My metabolism worked well while pregnant and I ate well due to gestation diabetes and having to strictly maintain my blood sugar all day. I lost 6lbs during pregnancy and 20 more after I delivered. In the weeks after my child was born, I was shrinking and just moderately watching what I ate. I was pumping and trying to nurse for about 6 weeks. Due to a very low milk supply, baby's reflux and allergies to anything but soy I had to stop pumping. Since then, I've been struggling with water retention and cannot lose a pound.

I'm restricting a ton and eating the low carb diet I stuck to while pregnant and the scale has only moved 2 pounds in 2 months. Even when I have logged a loss, the next week my weight is up from 2 to 3 to 5 pounds and I have to work for weeks just to get it back down to the original loss. It's like my metabolism has just completely died. I've never been ok with weight loss pills, surgeries or anything of the sort but I'm getting really disappointed and frustrated that my hormone changes over the last few months have made weight loss impossible.

KnitOrMiss

That whole first part sounded just like me. I weighed 200 pounds, checking into the hospital, 9 months preggo in labor. I had my gallbladder out 7 weeks later, and was like 223. I was breast feeding and eating reasonably and all that...

The emotional stress of infertility and physical stress of labor, delivery, caring for a newborn/older child/significant other both/all combine to have an incredibly stressful effect on our bodies. For many women, this causes a drain on the adrenal system, which if left untreated and/or triggered by undiagnosed or other conditions, can become digestive problems, hypothyroidism/other thyroid issues, and all manner of things... Many of these things are considering "comorbidities" just with PCOS, much less adding in all the other stress and life factors.

Low carb worked fabulously for me. Until it didn't. And this was over a decade after my pregnancy/delivery and getting up to 319 due to a horrendous pile of factors...

The part of this that jumps out at me most is "RESTRICTING A TON." Restricting a ton does not help weight loss. It does not speed it up. In fact, it causes ADDITIONAL STRESS on your body, which slows the metabolism (the body really likes homeostasis, which makes it want to be level - you lower your calorie intake/add lots of exercise? It will slow your metabolism to match. Any drastic differences in the numbers, and your body will essentially spazz and throw a tantrum, much as you describe above).

Something else that pops out at me is - low carb is not just about weight. It is about changing the composition of your body. You ditch the bad yellow fat, and create healthier (essential to life) brown fat and add muscle weight. So the scale alone is the absolute WORST measure of progress. Have you taken measurements, pictures, or anything like that? Are you fitting into smaller clothes or having your clothes get looser? Are you getting closer to a goal weight range, no matter what your personal goals? Remember, also, that if you have lose skin, it weights a bit. People who have loss masses of weight can have 20, 30, 40, or even more pounds of just excess skin!! You probably don't have THAT much, but just perspective here...

All of that being said, nutrient deficiencies and underlying/undiagnosed health issues have made a huge impact for me. This article is really helpful. http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2015/12/why-not-losing-weight-2.html

Personally, if you have access to good healthcare, I would get a full workup, including glucose numbers, A1c, fasting insulin, cortisol, hormone panel, thyroid panel (TSH WITH Total and Free T4, Free and Reverse T3, antibodies tests, if you can), traditional vitamins known for deficiencies (D3, B12, Iron/Ferritin/% Sat/Uptake, and others), as well as any area you've had issues with in the past.

Also, are you diabetic/pre-diabetic? Are you still on metformin?

I'm sending you good thoughts, as it took me over a decade to decide to fight back, and even longer to make any progress (my DD is almost 17 now)... It's fabulous that you aren't letting this get away from you. I wish I had been that ... aware ... when my issues started...

And continuing to read - yes, the shifts in all the insane hormones from having the baby and breastfeeding then not breastfeeding and compounding it all with PCOS hormonal havoc, there are so many thing this could be!!!

So, TL/DR - 1) up the calories from restricting a ton - moderate deficit at MOST, even with PCOS - don't double dip by restricting food and adding exercise - one or the other. 2) look at other measures of success - when my scale stalled - my inches dropped, and vice versa. 3) get a full health workup if you can. 4) make sure your expectations of progress are realistic - our bodies progress slower than most, and you're still progressing albeit turtle speed.
5) don't give up/love yourself/keep researching!!!

All my good thoughts, gentle hugs, and positive energies are heading your way, @fbmandy55 ! By fighting back now, you're already ahead of the game.