After birth weight loss

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I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant and up to 187 lbs. How soon after I give birth can I start a diet/exercise routine. I know obviously I have to feel up to it. I just really don't like that number and my goal is 130-135. And I will be asking my doctor the same question. I just want someone else opinion.

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  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    I had a section and I waited 3 months before i did anything strength based. you can do some gentle cardio, but it all depends mama! maybe your birth is textbook and you are recovered in a few weeks. may be you have recti and need physio.. may be you have tears.. must enjoy the last few weeks and see how you feel after! oh and congrats! xxx
  • beatyfamily1
    beatyfamily1 Posts: 257 Member
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    I think my doctor told like 6 weeks. Obviously, it depends on if you had any complications or had a c-section. I had no complications so I started exercising about 4 weeks after giving birth. I had a very physical job at the time and I knew I needed to prepare myself going back to work since I was on light duty for the majority of my pregnancy. An hour of exercise was nothing compared to the 10-17 hour work shifts I had. I’m glad I did start exercising because it helped me get back into the routine quickly.
  • marieamethyst
    marieamethyst Posts: 869 Member
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    It's just going to depend on your experience and how you feel after delivery! With my first I had a third degree tear, so all I could do was get some walking in until about 7-8 weeks postpartum. With my second I had an extremely easy delivery and felt back to normal by the next morning, so I resumed exercise a week after I had him (I had exercised until the end of the pregnancy though).

    If you're planning to breastfeed you should discuss how many calories you should be consuming with the specialist at the hospital. Otherwise I started/went back to calorie counting within a week or two of giving birth since we went with formula.

    Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!
  • nikkylyn
    nikkylyn Posts: 325 Member
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    While you are recovering. Make sure you just make healthy choices. Really limit fast food, soda, processed snacks as tempting as it may be to eat something quick. Most doctors will clear you for exercise around 6-8 weeks depending if you have a natural delivery or a c section. Depending on the birth even light walking could cause pain or excessive bleeding. Good Luck! and Congrats. Its really mostly about what goes in your mouth vs exercise. You will lose a lot when the baby comes. Fluid water, baby etc..
  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
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    The general doctor recommendation is 6 weeks for vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for c-section for exercise. However, everyone heals differently. After my son, I started feeling ok after about 3-4 weeks. As far as diet goes, that depends on if you plan to breastfeed or not. I agree that talking with a specialist at the hospital would be a good idea. Otherwise, I would recommend waiting until your supply is established before you do any sort of calorie restriction.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    There is general advice but I would ask you dr. and see how delivery goes for you. As for diet, if you are breastfeeding, you don't really want to restrict calories at all for a while (a couple months at least) in order to establish your milk supply.
  • FariasMomOf3
    FariasMomOf3 Posts: 215 Member
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    Hey☺ I went up to 186 with my third baby, he was born at 36 weeks. I was 134 pre pregnancy weight so I gained a little over 50 lbs yes, well I lost like 30-35 lbs on the first 6 weeks just by eating clean n lots of water, oh and I breastfeed for the time too. After that I keep eating as healthy possible, my weight went down little by little. I started working out after 6 months, just because I wanted to give my body some time. I was on my pre pregnancy weight when my baby was around 10 months old. Good luck on losing the weight mama, but be gentle with your self and dont try to rush things😉 it will happen, don't stress your self to much.
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
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    You will know more after the birth...

    With my first, I had some pretty nasty tearing so it was a few weeks before I could do much.
    However that did give my body a few weeks to just do it's thing - turns out quite a lot of my remaining extra weight was water retention, so by the time I got back to more activity at least that was out of the way!
    I found most of the baby weight went away without much intentional activity on my part (and breastfeeding meant I could eat plenty too).

    My second birth was mostly easier, though I ended up bleeding quite a lot and needed IV fluids. So after that, I was probably overall in better physical shape for exercising, but due to blood loss my iron was low and it took me a while to have much energy!

    The things these kids put us through!!! :wink:

    Enjoy those baby snuggles.
  • tburgardt
    tburgardt Posts: 62 Member
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    Thank you so much for help
  • evemariepaiement
    evemariepaiement Posts: 14 Member
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    After my first, I did post-partum yoga (a video I bought), it really felt good. I tried to walk more too, stayed active and not feel so alone and stuck in my house. I waited until 2 months after birth and started to do some youtube cardio video for new moms. It was lots of fun and I feel I was more energetic.
    When my second baby was born (very bad birth for him and me), I didn't do much and I feel that I was more depressed, felt like a prisonner in my home, stuck there. I look back at it, and I should have move more. I was still walking a lot but no much more, and I lacked having a fun time for me.