postpartum frustration... ouch

My boys are 9 and 4, and the only advice I have is, "give yourself a break"! When I was nursing, I was exhausted and irritable and easily upset and frustrated. It may take longer to lose weight and tone your muscles, but you'll get there! I think breastfeeding burns about 300 calories a day, so just make sure you're eating enough, make the healthiest choices you can, exercise when you can (both my boys loved being in a carrier for walks, and my oldest loved the jogging stroller), and get as much rest as you can...

How old is your baby? The number of calories she takes will increase as she grows, then decrease as she is weaned. I agree that around 300 calories is a figure often given. Have a look in the food database - if you put in "breastfeeding" there are a lot of entries. Pick the one that matches your situation as best you can and it will give you a "negative calorie" amount to add to each day.

Were you given exercises to do after your c-section? They'd be a good place to start, then you could add in Pilates-style abdominal exercises.

How long ago was your second section? It can take longer for the second incision to heal, according to several friends who've had more than one. I was blessed to have all of my four naturally - not even an epidural. But it's hard to get your body back either way. I say give yourself a break, eat healthy, push the kiddos around in a stroller and don't worry about much else for a while. A newborn is enough.




ETA: Get yourself some Lindt or Godiva truffles and plan one into every day. If you need chocolate to get through the postpartum period, then plan for it and have it. Chocolate is not evil. It may in fact be one of the best things God created: antioxidants, feel good hormones and great taste in one little package.

I have a piece of chocolate everyday!!! I plan those 150 calories, but only dark chocolate 70% or higher:)

Even though both my kids were born vaginally, i can feel your frustration. Please give your body time to heal. Your little one is still so young. At this point with my kids, i was always tired and cranky due to lack of sleep. If i were you, i would take it easy on the workout. Try to take walks with your kids. If its too cold where you are, go for a walk in the mall. Its free and warm, lol. Try to watch what you eat but dont cut your calories too drastically. Just make sensible choices. And dont forget to drink your water. Good luc, you can do this but the key is to take it slow and listen to your body first.

Hello, I have also had 2 c sections...Don't give up! 4 months is definitely not enough time for your stomach muscles to heal. It has taken me almost a yr until I really started to work on my stomach. If you push to hard too quickly, you can actually do more damage to the tissue. It has been almost 2 1/2 yrs now of consistency and good nutrition and my stomach is now looking amazing! I never thought that it would be possible considering that I had 2 c sections! So there is hope! Also I would like to invite you to my private Facebook group. It is a great place to seek encouragement & support to stay motivated. I will also be having group challenges after the Holidays which will require you to check in daily. Although, they will be optional. Does this seem like something that you may be interested in? The group name is "Fit and Healthy Minds" I would love for you to join us! Anyone else is also welcomed!

I began walking 5k's every weekend with the stroller brigade-every 5k has one. Just get in back with the walkers and other strollers. You get loads of positive energy and support from the other athletes. You are also doing charity work and you get a nice healthy snack at the end along with your t-shirt. All before most people wake up on saturday. I always took a photo of me with my daughter. I went from a size 18 to a size 10 in 1yr. The positive effect grew beyond me as my daughter left the stroller and began to run in fun runs, then walk 5k's. Her school began to have cross country down to kindergarten due to parent demand. That led to kid triathlons and duathlons. Now my kid is NOT some great athletic talent...and likely won't be. But she has learned that healthy eating and exercise are mandatory no matter what your wt is. Also check your labs, low vit d, anemia, and hypothyroidism will scuttle wt loss. Avoid simple carbs like the plague and get your good fats in. That's what worked for me, good luck!

Please don't be hard on yourself! :flowerforyou:
I had two babies but no C-section, I breast fed both of them, one for 6 months the other for 12 months. All the time I was breast feeding I was starving! I lost weight during both my pregnancies, then put it back on while nursing. This is not the time to be exercising hard, take it easy, drink plenty of water and let your body recover. In a few months you'll feel stronger and will be in a better position to attack an exercise programme. Don't let photos of new Mums in bikinis depress you, photoshop has a lot to answer for!
Good luck and enjoy your family - they're not babies for long.

Are you still taking your maternity multivitamin? You should probably make sure too that you're not iron deficient. This can cause a lot of tiredness.

After having my last child I thought I had developed asthma. I had never had breathing difficulties before and it came on gradually about 2 weeks after the baby was born. I had retained so much water weight, so much more than with my other two children. I was exhausted all the time and couldn't even walk out to get the mail and back without being winded and exhausted. My legs felt like they weighed 100 lbs each.

When I tried to speak to the doctors about it, they blew me off as a "hysterical new mom" and told me it would get better in a month or so. A week later it got so bad I could hardly breath whether sitting up or lying down and went to the emergency room. I had post-partum cardiomyopathy, a relatively rare, but not unheard of heart condition. It was very treatable and I recovered from it with medication and rest over the period of about a year.

If your body is telling you something and the doctors will not listen, listen to your body and find another doctor. In the meantime, if these symptoms don't sound like you, don't worry. Give yourself some time to recover from having the baby (6 months) and in the meantime eat a normal diet for your baby, walk to exercise, pushing the stroller and pour on the diet/exercise later.

I had no luck at all with any of the diets on this site, after years have finally found one that works. I am doing the Somersize diet, from Suzanne Somer's books and it is working for me. I don't have a lot of time to exercise, but this works with what I am able to do. I have lost 8 lbs in 2 weeks and plan to continue forever. It is a healthy diet full of good nutritious home-cooked recipes and I love it.

Give yourself time. I have a 14 month old 3 & 6 yr old aNd after the last on I was like a bottomless pit for almost 4 months I nursed for 7 months I didn't make the best eating choices so I gained weight during this time and no exercise. And my eating of sweets junk etc was not in moderation. I have now learned I can eat anything I just need to plan for it and eat in moderation.. Just make sure what you are eating s healthy stuff with just a little unhealthy when you want it. I had all three via csection Enjoy your baby let your body heal and as you get more energy then workout. Or just go for walks I did this with my last one all summer and loved it. However it's way to cold right now for me to do that. I did get on track with eating and exercise when he started sleeping through the night and I wasn't so tired. Good luck to you.