My body was perfect before I had a baby.

jdsmom0104

i will say your body will never be the same.... your body goes thru so much during pregnancy & childbirth & it's a beautiful & terrifying experience, but YES, you can have your BC body back.. that's what i'm goin for... but an even better 1... yet, this time around, it'll include my war scars... i mean stretch marks

Audrey3512

My baby is 4 months now. I lost 35 pounds in the first month. Now im just stuck at the same weight since i lost that 35lbs. But i have always been naturally skinny and have had a fast metabolism. I could eat whatever i wanted and never had to worry about gaining weight. So i thought after the baby it would be the same thing but boy was i wrong. It sucks walking into your closet and not being able to wear any of your clothes. I am a size 16 right now and i never thought i would be. Alot of my friends have had babys and their weight just fell right off of them. Now im the fat one when i was always the skinniest and it just makes me feel very insecure.

megleo818

Your body IS perfect. It grew a baby!

RuthSweetTooth

By the way, you are one tall girl. It says in my nutrition book that if you are 5'10", the minimum healthy weight is 132 pounds. That could be a great goal weight for you, especially if you want some cute muscles for hubby to squeeze.

Have a great day!
Ruth

TubbsMcGee

I have a family member that had her son over a year ago. It took her about 3 months to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight (she's extremely petite, about 5'7" and 105 lbs, was a ballerina for years).

She's 28 and now looks better than ever. You'd never guess by looking at her that she gave birth to an 11 lb baby boy! She gained about 75 lbs while pregnant, but 3 days after the baby was born, she looked 50 lbs lighter (she was mostly tummy). She's an RN, so I highly doubt she did anything stupid to get rid of the weight so quickly. Just be sure you're eating the right foods and with the time you get alone, try and fit in some running. One of my bosses had 6 kids, and she credited her flat tummy solely to jogging

Audrey3512

well... there are a lot of variables... First of all, how many months are you post-partum? I know you don't want to hear this, but it took some time to come on so it's gonna take some time to come off. Secondly, what does your diet look like? Are you eating really processed meals like Lean Cuisine, fast food, ramen, canned soup? How often do you eat? What does your physical activity schedule look like? Like I said, there are many many variables. But not all is lost I promise. You can get there.

I had my baby 4 months ago. It was a c section so it took a little longer for me to be up and moving around. My diet is mainly cereal, sandwiches, and a meal at dinner time. I eat breakfast lunch and dinner. I am a stay at home mom so theres not alot of activity. A friend just gave me the insanity workout videos. I have done them the past 2 days and im already feeling a higher energy level. Like i said i have always been skinny so i dont even know where to start when it comes to losing weight.

Ljordan_fitflow

It depends on what you do. I was in a similar boat except I didn't carry my baby to term. MC at 5 months but nevertheless. before pregnancy, i was 145 and after I was 207. This was April 2011, I started exercising almost everyday. I WASN'T really moderating my diet that well. So this process didn't do much for me. By October 2011, I lost only 10 pounds and I was devastated to the point that I just gave up. I started doing some research about different diets and exercising. Then I discovered Atkins/Low carbohydrate approach to eating. SO I started the new year off, January 2012 @194-197 lbs. I also began Atkins plus exercising again. The first week I lost 15lbs. I still follow a low carbohydrate diet to this day. This month I'm at 152. In the beginning I did a lot of cardio and now I do a lot of strengthing and toning with Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. IF you want your body back, you really got to work hard both at exercising and modifying your eating habits.

If I had of started a low carb or atkins diet right after pregnancy, the process may have taken 6 months. But It has been a year for me following pregnancy. If you want to know more just shoot me a message. I hope this helps.

Audrey3512

It's all hereditary. Usually from whatever side you take after. I look like my dad and my stomach has stretchmarks and changed shape just like my dad's sister's did. Even with my body fat lower than before my pregnancies my stomach will never look the same unless I get a tummy tuck.

I was wondering because my mom had 4 9lbs babys and never got one stretch mark. She kept telling me since she didnt that i wont have them either. Girl i got them on my boobs, butt, thighs, inner thighs, hips, stomach. My mom just lost about 80lbs in this past year and her stomach looks great. I just feel like theres no hope for me sometimes

Audrey3512

It takes a little time. Figure that it takes 9 months for your body to accommodate a baby so it will take time to change back. I have had 4 children and I am the same size I was when I was 20, as a first time mom (and 3 of those babies were triplets so you know there was some serious stretching and bone-breaking going on there). In fact, I am in better shape now than I was when I was 20. You can do it!!

Wow thats AWESOME. Now im finally finding some hope. If you could do it.

mcarter99

Your body IS perfect. It grew a baby!

Yes!

I saw the thread title and my first thought was, "Consider yourself lucky for that! Mine was never perfect!"

But there's no reason you can't get it back. It's going to take some work and a lot of patience. We change. It's a GOOD thing!

Audrey3512

i hate to say it, but your body will never be exactly the same as before.

Wrong!

I had a baby at 20. I look better now than I did before having my daughter. There is hope!

I agree. I have plenty of friends IRL who look the same (if not better) than they did before having babies. I think the key thing is that prior to having kids, a lot of us (myself included) might have been teeny tiny size 0s or whatever, but not necessarily in great shape. I was skinny fat when I was in college, but since I stayed in the size 0-4 range, I was happy with my body. Now that I'm getting back in shape, I might not get back to a size 0, but I'm sure as hell gonna look way better than I did then because I'm eating healthy and working out---treating my body right.

The stretch marks won't disappear, and you might have some loose skin, but work hard and focus on your health, and you can get there. Some women bounce back really quickly, like a few months (like my best friend who didn't get so much as a stretch mark and was back into her pre-pregnancy size 2s by the time her daughter was 6 months old...ugh) or me, who after 5 years, I'm still a work in progress---that's my fault though. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll be where you want to be!

ETA: check out some of the success stories, there are some pretty freaking amazing mamas in here. I can't remember her name, and I'm sure some of you will know who I'm talking about, but there's a woman on here who has like 5 or 6 kids and she has ROCKIN abs (I want to say she's in her late 30s or maybe 40s?). Having babies doesn't mean your body is ruined

My best friend had her baby 6 months ago and is already in a size 0. But she starved herself to death and i dont want to do that.

Audrey3512

I think with the right food and exercise you will get there. You have age on your side. Much much easier to do it when you are younger. I am 37 yrs., 5"2' and was pushing 160 lbs. while pregnant. I was around 120 lbs. before I was pregnant. I am now around 110 lbs. My daughter is 4ys. old and I didn't start working hard at weight loss until Jan. of this year. I right now am in the best shape of my life. Keeping on this site was a great help to me. Tons of great people to learn from and get motivation. I had to get in the mind set of doing this for me and being the best I could be for my daughter.
Good luck

This website is really helping me alot and im glad i found it. Thanks everyone for your support and help. Feel free to add me!

brynnsmom

I can only speak from my own experience when I had my daughter, who is now 18 months old. I gained less than 30 pounds with her, granted she was a small baby (6 pounds, 1 oz). Within 4 months of her birth I had only 5 pounds to lose to get me to pre-pregnancy weight but I still had belly flab and a pooch. Even now I see the slightest bit of one, and I weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. Stretch marks can take a long time to fade but I hear they will eventually. I dodged that bullet.

Bottom line, you can definitely get it back but it will take some hard work (good diet and exercise) and patience on your part. I have several friends who were able to return to their pre-pregnancy size. You may never look exactly the same, but that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Enjoy your new role as a mom, it's the best!

Audrey3512

You're young and it appears that your baby is also very young. You need to give your body time to heal after that.

I know this sounds like a silly question but are you breastfeeding? It helps you lose weight faster and return to normal sooner.

Also, I've seen some bodies go back to being quite amazing after having a baby but it took some work and a positive attitude.

Don't dwell on how much having a baby has changed your body but on how amazing it is that your body supported the growth of a healthy baby for 9 months. Focus on the amazing feat it performed while you were pregnant and how resilient it is because it will transform back with work. Think about how it allows you to care for her. You cannot hate the body that allowed you to bring someone that you love so much into this world. That's what kept and still keeps me going now...

I tried to breastfeed but my body was only producing 4oz a day and it just wasnt enough for my baby. I think thats why i lost so much weight in the first month

Audrey3512

I know how you feel. After my first child was born, I cried when I saw how saggy and stretchy my tummy was. I too was 121 for many years until having children. I cried because I knew that I was too lazy to make the effort to exercise and make it the way it was. Finally the joy of having my child distracted me. You can still look wonderful but you need to make an effort to become the same weight before pregnancy. You do not have to crash diet, but you will need to be very diligent and plan to be on here with us. You may always be on her with us, even once you reach 120. Are you ready? I think you are. You might still have a few stretch marks, but you can look fabulous. Take your baby for walks in the stroller. Eat healthy and set a reasonable calorie goal for your age! It will be fine. Are you nursing? That will help too.

Hugs
Ruth

I am more than ready! Im not nursing. I couldnt produce enough.

SuperSexyDork

You're young and it appears that your baby is also very young. You need to give your body time to heal after that.

I know this sounds like a silly question but are you breastfeeding? It helps you lose weight faster and return to normal sooner.

Also, I've seen some bodies go back to being quite amazing after having a baby but it took some work and a positive attitude.

Don't dwell on how much having a baby has changed your body but on how amazing it is that your body supported the growth of a healthy baby for 9 months. Focus on the amazing feat it performed while you were pregnant and how resilient it is because it will transform back with work. Think about how it allows you to care for her. You cannot hate the body that allowed you to bring someone that you love so much into this world. That's what kept and still keeps me going now...

I tried to breastfeed but my body was only producing 4oz a day and it just wasnt enough for my baby. I think thats why i lost so much weight in the first month

It's too bad that you couldn't get help with this by seeing a lactation consultant. If you're judging only producing 4 oz based on pumping, then you were certainly producing more as pumps are waaaaay less efficient than a baby at getting milk. If you really weren't getting enough than there is an herb called fenugreek that you can buy over the counter and it more than doubles your milk production in less than a week. It worked miracles for me! You would have smelled like maple syrup though. That's the only side effect and it's certainly not a horrid one!

If you want to try again, there is hope with that... I know it sounds odd but relactation is possible. You could look into that.

Audrey3512

By the way, you are one tall girl. It says in my nutrition book that if you are 5'10", the minimum healthy weight is 132 pounds. That could be a great goal weight for you, especially if you want some cute muscles for hubby to squeeze.

Have a great day!
Ruth

Yes my husband loves me to death but says i was way too skinny when we got together. I told him my goal weight would be 135. He thinks thats perfect and thats satisfying to me.

Audrey3512

It depends on what you do. I was in a similar boat except I didn't carry my baby to term. MC at 5 months but nevertheless. before pregnancy, i was 145 and after I was 207. This was April 2011, I started exercising almost everyday. I WASN'T really moderating my diet that well. So this process didn't do much for me. By October 2011, I lost only 10 pounds and I was devastated to the point that I just gave up. I started doing some research about different diets and exercising. Then I discovered Atkins/Low carbohydrate approach to eating. SO I started the new year off, January 2012 @194-197 lbs. I also began Atkins plus exercising again. The first week I lost 15lbs. I still follow a low carbohydrate diet to this day. This month I'm at 152. In the beginning I did a lot of cardio and now I do a lot of strengthing and toning with Jillian Michaels workout DVDs. IF you want your body back, you really got to work hard both at exercising and modifying your eating habits.

If I had of started a low carb or atkins diet right after pregnancy, the process may have taken 6 months. But It has been a year for me following pregnancy. If you want to know more just shoot me a message. I hope this helps.

This helps alot. My mother actually lost 85lbs on the atkins diet and walking on the treadmill everyday. Shes been on my butt about getting on the atkins diet. Its just really hard for me to follow. After reading your post I think I am really going to stick to it this time! Thank you.

Annette_rose

I ballooned up while pregnant with my first and I had been 115-120 before that. I gained 75 lbs with her. I did better with my next two and it may have helped that I craved watermelon while pregnant with them and went through watermelon like crazy. I do have stretch marks which are discouraging but I am actually in better shape now than I was in my 20's after having 3 babies. And, there is hope. You are on a great start!

ironanimal

I think you should google search Olya Haidner and go from there