Losing Baby Weight

keic10688

Good Morning! I have a 5 month old new baby girl and am a first time mom. I have about 50 pounds to lose and I don't even know where to start. Looking for some advice and motivation partners.

puffbrat

Good morning and welcome! I have an almost 2 year old. I gained 60lbs while pregnant and still have another 20 to lose to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. In general, diet is more important for weight loss and exercise is more important for health. You don't need to go on any special diet or cut out foods you like to eat unless that is what works to help you stay within your calorie goal. I suggest going through the guided setup here to establish your calorie goal. For me, focusing on just building a habit of logging food before even trying to stay within the calorie goal helps a lot. That tends to naturally help me start reducing calories.

For anyone, but I think especially new moms, it is important to recognize that there will be days or even weeks when you don't stay on track. Through sleeplessness, stress, a desire to indulge, etc. it happens. This is not a failure and you shouldn't feel bad or quit. Just get back on track as soon as you can and move on.

Feel free to send me a friend request.

o0kody0o

Hi there

First of all, well done to you for taking the first step! I had my first baby 7 months ago and when I weighed myself in February, 3 months postpartum, I was 184lbs! I have managed to lose roughly 36lbs since then. I’m now 147lbs and I’d like to get down to 138. The things that have helped me shed weight are:

Using a food scale to weigh my portions (big eye opener)

Cutting out refined sugar

Cutting out takeaways/full sugar drinks/white bread and pasta/chocolate

I eat 3 meals a day and have healthy snacks in between such as fruit or low calorie crisps and popcorn. I drink a lot of Diet Coke/Pepsi Max instead of the full sugar versions. I log every single thing I eat and ensure I stay within my calorie allowance. I felt awful about how I looked after having my baby but I’m getting my confidence back and am fitter than I’ve been before. I walk often and I use an exercise bike maybe 2-3 times a week. Feel free to add me as a friend on here! I log everyday and my diary is open to friends.

dsg2000

Nice to meet other new moms here. I'm an off-and-on mfp user for the past few years, but have been logging consistently since about 1 month postpartum with my second. I have a 2.5 yr old and a 6 mo old. I've always been active and relatively fit, but I let myself go a bit during the last pregnancy and had to work in the past few months to drop the added baby weight (about 20 lbs). Now working on dropping a few more, strength, and getting the core muscles back so that I can get back to running.

If you're breastfeeding, I've found that that really helped me, since that burns a lot of calories. (I set my activity level at "active" even though I have a desk job). It's also made me be kinder to myself and on my goals, since my body is just so different now than it was pre-baby. It looks different even though I'm now at the same weight as I was prior to my first.

I also struggled with (and am still working on) pelvic floor weakness & diastasis recti... and I would recommend to any new moms, whether they're active or not, to work with a physical therapist on that. I didn't even know I had it when I was pregnant with my first since I thought pelvic floor weakness only meant bladder control. I love running, and feel that my fitness time is important "me" time that allows me to be healthy and a better mom and still feel like "me" even when my body doesn't feel quite like my own all the time (breastfeeding, etc...) But it's been a struggle to regain that when pregnancy/birth has such an effect on the body. So... I'd say take it easy on yourself, when people say that it took us 9 months to grow a human and it'll take at least that to recover, that's for real. My experience, anyway.