Help!

michaelar_ae
michaelar_ae Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there!

I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice. I've been dieting on and off since January of this year. I started "dieting" seriously again about three weeks ago. I'm getting really frustrated because I'm seeing little to no improvement. Usually when I lose weight, I lose fast. When I started 3 weeks ago, I was around 194 pounds. I'm currently 188 pounds. So that's 6 pounds in 3 weeks. sounds reasonable, but when you compare to past "first week of dieting" it is nothing. i used to lose up to 6 pounds in the first week.

My measurements are/were:

Bust: 43.5 now 43
Waist: 38.5 now 37
In between waist and hips: 43 now 42.5
Hip: 44 now 42.5
Glutea: 41.25 now 41

So I have seen some progress, but my main area that I really want to focus on is the area between my hips and waist. I know that is the last place women usually lose weight, but when I did insanity in January, I lost 3 inches within month 1 of the program. I'm at a loss as to what I should be doing. I calculated my caloric needs, and based on my height/weight, I need to eat 1598. I am also nursing my 14 month old, so I add 400 calories to the 1598. I'm also doing C25K, currently on w3d3. Not sure how accurate my hrm is, but I'm burning around 300-500 calories a workout.

Basically, I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what I should do, or if you've noticed that I'm doing something wrong.

Replies

  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    Did you weigh more before?
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    This should help: http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • michaelar_ae
    michaelar_ae Posts: 24 Member
    In 2010 I weighed 210 pounds, did dr Bernstein for 5 months and lost 60 pounds. From the time I got off Bernstein, to the time I found out I was pregnant (October 2011) I had put all back on, plus 8 pounds. So when I found out I was pregnant I was at 218. I was very ill during my pregnancy, so I only gained 5 pounds which put my postpartum weight at 223 in June 2012. From June 2012-January 2013 I had gone up to 228. Like I mentioned before, I dieted on/off from January up until mid August. I weighed 194 when I started working out and eating healthier again.

    So, as you can see, I've been up and down throughout the past years. I was very fit in highschool though. I'm 5'9, and weighed 135 from gr 10-12 until I ruined my knee in a gymnastics injury.
  • joshdann
    joshdann Posts: 618 Member
    wanted to add: losing weight while nursing is tricky business. You have an additional caloric/metabolic factor that the rest of us don't. I'm not qualified to give advice on how much of a deficit for you is safe or healthy for your child, but hopefully you discussed this at length with your doctor(s) before starting your weight loss effort. Best of luck, and hooray breastfeeding!
  • michaelar_ae
    michaelar_ae Posts: 24 Member
    Haha yup. I've figured that out the hard way. I thought losing weight would be a breeze because of all the great stories of people just dropping the pounds because they breastfeed. Not me. I have read that about 1 pound a week is safe if you want to maintain supply. I'm not too concerned about supply right now, my son mostly nurses for comfort now. He gets most of his nutrition from food. I have been to the doctor though, and she has filled out a requisition for bloodwork. I will have to go get that done soon. Apparently hypo(I think hypo)thyroidism is common after pregnancy and can seriously eff up weight loss efforts.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    2lb per week is really good weight loss... readjust your thinking not you 'diet'....
  • enchantedgardener
    enchantedgardener Posts: 214 Member
    2 lbs a week for 3 weeks is excellent progress! You say you're disappointed because you've lost more than that before when first beginning a diet? You can't expect the same results as you've gotten in the past. Your body has changed (postpartum) and you've gotten older, perhaps your body composition (fat%, etc) is different now than it was before. Who knows? What I can tell you is that if you're losing much more than 2 lbs in a week, it's unlikely you're losing only fat.

    Eating approximately 1600 calories a day would be fine for a woman who is not breastfeeding. I'm not sure whether it is enough in your case. I would really suggest getting your doctor's opinion.

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