losing motivation :(

Murloclouise

Hiya, Ive never done this before... but Ive recently found myself lacking motivation with this weight loss. I need to lose a LOT after having my son. talking about 80lbs or so.

I started using this on the 4th of may and being on the slimfast diet.. usually have 2 shakes a day and one meal at tea time, roughly taking in about 1000 to 1200 calories a day ( sometimes I forget a shake and make up at tea time by having a bit extra). I weigh myself daily, which might be part of my problem, I am breastfeeding my baby so hopefully burning calories there too lol.

Ive lost a lot since i started 10 days ago, about 11lbs.. but the day before and today, I stood on the scales and weighed first thing in the morning.. only to find that my weight has stayed the same as the day before..

Considering my previous days of weight loss, having no change at all is killing my motivation! Part of me is saying that I should just give up and remain this weight for good.. and that maybe this is my natural weight after having a baby. ( being silly I know)
Maybe I should weigh less frequently? I dont know.. I'm not sure how long I can go eating less calories than normal and knowing im not losing anything!


Sorry for the pointless post, just airing my feelings xx

dollaqie

Hi there, do NOT lose motivation, the only thing you may lose here is weight...lol. I was at a standstill for 3 weeks and it was killing me, I think you are eating tooo little, I was doing the same and the clever guys on this site educted me with info and I started to use it and whoo hooo, the weight loss is activated again. Do not lose motivation, just take it a day at a time and you will see this through, that I am sure of.....................strongs

yarmiah

I'm no expert and can only comment based on my own experience.

#1. you are likely eating too few calories and your body is starting to function in "starvation mode".
Depending on your current weight and exercise level, you may need to increase your caloric intake and shoot
for about a lb a week. You goal is to make smart, healthy changes that you can live with. Don't see this as a diet,
but more of a permanent healthy way to eat and to live.

#2. Be patient. You did not gain the weight over a day or even a week's time. Trust the process. Slow and steady will help you to reach your goal . . and keep ya there.

#3. Along the way, don't rely soley on the scale to measure results. Take measurements and check every couple of weeks. Notice when your clothes feel looser. Take pride in the forthcoming comments/compliments from friends and family.

Remember why you are doing this. To feel better? To feel better about yourself? To be a healthy mom for you child? Focus on that instead of that fickle scale.


These are some of the things that worked for me. I struggled with weight most of my adult life and tried all the diets out there.
I got on MFP, started eating REAL foods in measured portions, exercised regularly(and incorporated the help of a trainer) and finally lost the weight, but more importantly for me, have kept it off for 18 months.

YOU can do this! YOU are worth it!

hlandry6

If I am reading correctly and you are only eating 1200 calories and breastfeeding YOU ARE STARVING yourself and your baby. Please go and talk to your doctor. Your baby is not getting the nutrients it needs =/

dollipop

Don't give up but make some changes.
Eat more. Ditch the shakes, you're breast feeding so you owe your child to give hi
/her good nutrition. You may be on a diet, but your baby doesn't need to be.
Up your cals. Eat well and often.
Good luck!

MrsBlobs

Was just going to post the same as dollipop - I'm not sure you are taking in enough for breastfeeding too, cut yourself some slack. If you are taking in 1000 calories and breastfeeding on top of that you're risking your health and your ability to continue feeding.
11lbs in 10 days is really nothing to sniff at and is actually an awful lot. Please take care of yourself - losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint.

SirZee

11lbs in 10 days is wrong and not sustainable, unless you burned around 4000 calories more a day than you consumed. If thats what you expect, you will fail.

Also, and I am completely NOT an expert at nutrition after giving birth/while breastfeeding a baby, but you might want to be very very careful about your drastic goals/steps. Two of you will pay the price for your choices, I certainly woudln't want to be wrong.

particleastro

For your childs sake dont go on a restricted calorie diet while breastfeeding. WHen you ween him, your motivation will return.

JU.

VickyJo21

Don't lose the motivation, but would concur with much of what others have said. If you are limiting your body to that degree then yes in the first week to 10 days you will lose quite a bit, but then the starvation mode kicks in.

I also find weighing yourself ever day is very demotivating. Your body fluctuates alot throughout the day and each day is different. Fill out your food diary and eat nice foods within reason. Shakes are ok short term, but not on a long term basis.

Good luck and hang in there

Vicky

sarahrbraun

I could be wrong, but I believe as a pregnant or breastfeeding mom, you should be consuming an extra 400 calories a day--so instead of consuming 1000-1200 calories, you need about 1600. If you really want to do slimfast, I would suggest adding a piece of fruit OR a scrambled egg with your morning shake, and maybe a large salad with your lunch shake. That should give you the extra calories and vitamins that you need to provide good quality milk for your baby.

robertdestree

Just letting you know that you do burn alot of calories breastfeeding, I hope your weighing yourself same time of day, also your milk is going to increase so try to take that factor in to consideration, while I am no expert my wife is also breastfeeding and her doctors told her try to eat better not less

teinepalagi

I agree with all the above posts. I breastfed both of my babies and I wanted to lose weight so badly after each one of them...but my priority was breastfeeding. After my second, every time I tried to lose weight, my milk supply went way down. I went to a dietician and she told me to WAY up my calories and only try to lose around .5 week.....and stop weight loss efforts if my milk supply went down.

You only get one chance to breastfeed your baby.....but you'll have additional chances to lose the weight at a slightly faster pace once you've finished. Good luck! I remember how hard that was to feel like you've lost your body (self) for awhile. It gets better. I've now lost over 50 pounds...you can do it!

Scorpiotwinkle

I got hooked on weighing every day too and that is the quickest way to get demotivated! Hide the scales and weigh once a week as a minimum, but once a month would be better! Eat more. Also, to keep motivated, you might like to try setting yourself a realistic target to reach in a certain amount of time/days. Once you have decided on your target (one dress size smaller, 7lb lighter, party to go to etc etc) then start a countdown on a DAILY BASIS - rip off each day at a time and you will be amazed at how it keeps you focussed and on track. I did that on 3rd Jan - set myself a date of 31st May to reach a certain goal weight (I am not going to make it, but I am so into my journey and how I feel now that doesn't matter so much anymore). The countdown really helped me. Good luck, keep at it and stop weighing every day!

JessJessB

I've lost 109 lbs since having my daughter six months ago, and I used this to calculate how many calories my body needed while breastfeeding: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/breastfeeding_calorie_calculator.htm

You're going to lose a lot very quickly after giving birth through decreased blood volume, water retention, and your uterus shrinking back down to a normal size. That probably contributed to your losing 11 lbs in that first week or so- it's not sustainable loss, though, so please don't expect that pace to continue. When I tried to speed up the process by cutting my calories really low, that's when my weight loss would stall out, because that "starvation mode" thing they talk about really is true. I suggest trying some foods instead of the slim fast shakes- Luna bars or Clif bars are a quick way to get the calories you need in a healthy way. Talk walks with your new baby (congrats, by the way) and focus on getting as much sleep as you can. Those who have commented are right, losing 1-2 lbs a week is the best way to be sure you're losing fat and not muscle.

If you find yourself getting dizzy when you stand up too quickly, stop and have a snack- a glass of skim milk or a piece of fruit is a good choice. You've got a lot going on right now, and you need fuel to make it happen. Good luck!

LizKurz

Hiya, Ive never done this before... but Ive recently found myself lacking motivation with this weight loss. I need to lose a LOT after having my son. talking about 80lbs or so.

I started using this on the 4th of may and being on the slimfast diet.. usually have 2 shakes a day and one meal at tea time, roughly taking in about 1000 to 1200 calories a day ( sometimes I forget a shake and make up at tea time by having a bit extra). I weigh myself daily, which might be part of my problem, I am breastfeeding my baby so hopefully burning calories there too lol.

Ive lost a lot since i started 10 days ago, about 11lbs.. but the day before and today, I stood on the scales and weighed first thing in the morning.. only to find that my weight has stayed the same as the day before..

Considering my previous days of weight loss, having no change at all is killing my motivation! Part of me is saying that I should just give up and remain this weight for good.. and that maybe this is my natural weight after having a baby. ( being silly I know)
Maybe I should weigh less frequently? I dont know.. I'm not sure how long I can go eating less calories than normal and knowing im not losing anything!


Sorry for the pointless post, just airing my feelings xx

Well, it's already been mentioned about the drastic weight loss you've seen in the last 10 days, but I wanted to touch on something.

As a breastfeeding mother, you need about 300-500 cals per day ON TOP of your TDEE to maintain weight. Now, what this means is you can lose weight, safely while nursing a baby, (I have multiple times) by calculating your TDEE and subtracting just 500. This on top of exercising will get you something like 1.5 to 2lbs a week, consistently.

Another thing that screams "STOP' to me is that the weight loss you've experienced is likely a lot of water weight, and that's a huge NO NO for a nursing woman. You need to be drinking a lot right now. 1) because you need extra just by nursing. 2) because it's getting warmer out, which means you need more simply because you'll be expending more trying to cool your body, and 3) you need even MORE than those two because you're losing weight.

The body makes milk by using water, and fat from our bodies, if you have a depleted supply of water, your milk will dry up. You could ask me how I know.

So not to tell you what to do, but please, don't make the same mistake I did. I was losing 2lbs a week consistently until I dropped 102lbs. I was eating WAY more than you are, and drinking a lot and my milk still dried up after about four months, and by month six, it was almost completely gone and I had not only supplement formula, but put my daughter on all formula.

Murloclouise

Hiya, thanks very much everyone. Ive been trying to figure out why my weight has frozen.. and from what you've said, it would probably be down to too few calories! I dont eat less out of choice, but more because I'm so so busy all the time, but I'll try to up the calories a bit, even if its just an extra snack or two.

Thanks for posting that link to breastfeeding calorie calculator! I didnt know I needed more ( obvious in hindsight though lol), at the moment my milk supply is excessive ( which might be why Im staying the same weight?!) . After reading your posts, Im starting to think its my weight just settling so I can lose it at the pace its meant too.