BTDT moms - realistic post-baby weight loss?

servilia

I wanted to ask second, third time etc moms about realistic goals for getting back into shape post-baby?
Is it THAT hard, even if you make the time and put in the effort? I'm 31.5 weeks and have gained 37lbs so far. I'm pretty tall so I think I carry it well but there is definitely some extra padding everywhere lol Of course I don't know how much of that is fluid that can be easily shed post baby and how much is actual fat that I'll have to work to get rid of.
Assuming I make the time to workout and follow a sensible diet (I plan to breastfeed so don't want to cut down tooooo much), how long can I expect it to take to lose the extra weight/cellulite etc? Is a lot of the weight water, fluids, etc?

ehg87

Let me start by saying everyone's different. With my daughter I was under a lot of stress, and ultimately the week after having her I weighed less than I did pre-pregnancy. I was in a size 5 right after having her. That was baby number 1. My son I was under no stress and was hungry all the time, and I gained 60lbs with him. YIKES!!! That put me at a whopping 200lbs when I went into labor! By my 6 week appt I was down to 150, and back into a size 8 comfortably. That was with no exercise and no dieting. It just fell right off. A whole lot of it is fluids, excess blood and let's not forget baby and placenta etc. Now prior to this pregnancy I actually decided I wanted to get in shape, tone, and lose that 10lbs that didn't seem to move after giving birth to my son (who is now 2) I did Power 90 over the summer and was in the best shape of my life and the smallest I've been in 3 years. You're body definitely changes after giving birth, but it is possible to get it back, to have a flat tummy again.

aprilkida

I gained 40 lbs with my son. After my 12 weeks of maternity leave I had only lost about 15-20 lbs. That's when I realized it wouldn't come off on its own and decided to get serious about losing the weight. I lost the rest of the baby weight by the time my son was 5 1/2 months old with hour long walks 4-5 days a week and watching what I ate, without truly dieting because of breastfeeding. I kept it up since I was doing so well and lost another 20 lbs. by the time my son was 1 year old.

Yes, everyone is different! I've had a few coworkers who lost all the baby weight in about a week postpartum! I don't know how they did it! And then I've had other friends who never lost the weight at all. I know I wouldn't have lost it if I didn't work at it but breastfeeding was a huge help!!!

RBXChas

I tried to make this easy to read with bullet points. My story with my first (and only other) pregnancy is:

-started ~190lbs (may have been slightly less, but I'd been avoiding the scale like the plague)

-at 38-week appt (last one before I delivered), I weighed 255lbs (!)

-two weeks postpartum I weighed ~235lbs (I was breastfeeding but had a horribly low supply, and I was still eating like I did when I was pregnant - which was basically eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted)

-shortly thereafter I started paying attention to my junk food intake and got down to 228lbs

-by two months postpartum I was back up to 235.8, and I started MFP and quit nursing/pumping altogether

-I lost quickly after that, at least to start, and even with a couple of weeks off about three months or so into my weight loss, I was about 205lbs by mid-August (6.5 months postpartum) when I started Couch to 5K

-by March 2012 (my one-year MFP anniversary and about 14 months postpartum) I was 153.8lbs (or 82lbs lighter than my settled postpartum weight, about 101lbs less than I weighed at 38 weeks pregnant)

In short, if I hadn't gained so much during my pregnancy, I'd have been back to a normal weight much, much sooner. I logged daily and exercised 5-6 days/week, either running (never more than 3-4 miles, and I'm a slow runner) or Spinning (1-hour classes). Spinning really boosted my loss, since it was so hardcore in comparison to my runs. I was never big into exercise before, and it really changed my body for the better. Less visible cellulite, more muscle definition, smoother curves, plus I just felt way better overall.

I'm 5'7", too, if that makes any difference. People consider me to be tall (even though I don't - I think I'm on the higher side of average height), and I've been told I don't look like I weigh as much as I do. At my lowest weight I was comfortably a US size 6/small in most brands. (In brands like Old Navy and Ann Taylor, I wore a 4/XS.) I definitely still had some meat on my bones and wanted to work on strength to build muscle, even if it meant a gain on the scale.

So yes, it is absolutely doable - it just takes determination is all! You are MUCH better off than I was when I started MFP after having a baby, and I did it. I didn't even eat "clean" or gluten-free or vegetarian or anything, just as many healthy foods as I could eat and everything else in moderation.

I will admit that getting my butt into great shape kind of messes with your head when you know you plan on getting pregnant again. I really had to get my head in the right place before I even suggested to my husband that we have another baby. I intend for this to be my last baby, so I am kind of looking forward to doing it again knowing that I won't be "undoing" all the hard work I will have put in.

ETA that I wore a bikini comfortably this past summer. I have a really small waist and a flattish stomach, so getting that back when I lost the weight overall was not difficult. Only the lower part of my belly looks kind of sad when I lean at certain angles, but point being you can have a baby and still have a stomach that looks great. (Note that I did not have a c-section, and how that affects things has a lot of variables, I'm sure.)

vim_n_vigor

Well, for my first, I gained 64 lbs. I was holding so much water my legs couldn't bend. I lost the weight and was 5 lbs below my starting weight one month after birth. My second son I gained 45 lbs. I lost the weight within 2 months.

My SIL has had 4 kids. She gained 60+ pounds with each and took up to six months to lose the weight. She was actually trying to lose it, mine just happened. Just keep in mind, it can take up to a year for your body to fully recover from childbirth. Do what you can to take care of yourself and your baby and do what you can to get back into pre-baby shape, but understand that for you it could happen quickly or it could take some time.

cocolo89

With my DD I gained 47 lbs. I started out at 146lbs and ended at 193ish. I gave birth and weight stopped coming off I weighed 178lbs. :-/ I was on and off "diets" and got to 170ish. I held on to that weight up until my daughter was 8.5months old and decided to FINALLY do something about it. I started WW and was super strict. Absolutely NO sweets, NO fast foods during this time, I started exercising 5-6 days a week (DVDS EVERYDAY) Jillian Michaels and biggest loser DVDs were a life saver. I got down to 123-125 (yes 20-something lbs lighter than when I first got pregnant) by the time my daughter was 16-17months old.( so in about 8months). But I reached my pregnancy weight of 146ish by the time she was 11months. Anyways, I was able to maintain that weight up until I got pregnant again when she was 23months. I am currently 34.5wks along and have a weight gain of just about 30lbs and weigh about 153-154. You can do it. I was the MOST unmotivated person in the world before my weightloss journey and envied skinny people.LOL. I always blocked out unsolicited advice from people telling me how I should lose weight. One day the light just turned on and I said, lets do this!

auzziecawth66

Everybody is totally different!! Took about a year with my first before the extra weight really started to come off, and lost about 50 pounds the following year to get to lower then pre-baby weight. With the second it took about 6 months before the weight started to come off and about another 4 months after to get within 5 pounds of pre-baby weight. I was breast feeding both of them and I find unlike with other people that breast feeding makes me hold onto weight rather then lose it!! Lol, this was with exercise and eating healthy too, oh well I gave my kids a good start so I don't regret having to hang onto the extra chub for a bit :P...

jls8209

I'm 5 weeks postpartum and so far have lost 19 of the 36 lbs I gained. I'm exclusively breast feeding, and my weight has been coming off slow and steady. Much slower than I'd like, but at least it's coming off! I've been trying to log every day (some days I'm too busy with baby and it just doesn't happen) and exercise has been minimal so far (just walking, still waiting for doctor to give me the ok to go back to my normal routine).

I agree with other posters, everybody is different. I have some friends who dropped their weight really fast, others who didn't lost much at all. I know some mothers who even had different losses after each pregnancy, holding onto their weight after one baby, but losing quickly after another. Just try to eat healthy and be active (when doc says it's okay) and the weight will come off!

ETA: As for my "goal", I'm hoping by summer I'll be back to where I was size-wise pre-pregnancy. I can tell a lot of the weight I have left to lose is fat on my hips/thighs (the jeans that I'm currently wearing are jeans I wore when I was 15lbs heavier than I am now) and could be harder to lose this time around.

RBXChas

I was breast feeding both of them and I find unlike with other people that breast feeding makes me hold onto weight rather then lose it!! Lol, this was with exercise and eating healthy too, oh well I gave my kids a good start so I don't regret having to hang onto the extra chub for a bit :P...

One of the stars of The Office here in the US, Jenna Fischer, had a baby in 2011, and she made some comment about how she expected to be thin again with breastfeeding, but her body did not let that happen! I know it's a big calorie-burner, but for some women it doesn't help the weight just fall off like it does for others.

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-body/news/jenna-fischer-i-havent-lost-any-weight-from-breastfeeding-2012301

Since I bring it up, though, I think she looks stunning in that dress. I would love to wear that!

servilia

Thanks so much for all your input and experiences!!