Miserable about pregnancy weight gain...any advice?

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DawnieB1977
DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I had my third baby on May 1st, 11 days overdue and weighing 9lbs 1. I started off the pregnancy at 154lbs(i'm 5'6) and was eating 1500 calories a day. I felt nauseous until 14 weeks so was just eating what I could, which ended up being a lot of carbs, but after that I was able to get back to my usual eating habits. I still exercised 4 times a week, and continued to do so until 38 weeks pregnant. I was also busy working as a teacher and looking after my then 2 and 4 year olds, so I did a lot of walking. I gradually increased my calories up to 2000 at the end of pregnancy, which put me at maintenance.

So, just over 4 months on and I dared to weigh myself today. I knew I'd gained, obviously, although I'm sad about it as I did everything right, yet I was still shocked to find I weigh 202lbs today. How the hell did that happen? I'm so miserable about it. I lost 66lbs after my 2nd child (I weighed 220lbs when she was 8 weeks old) and I honestly didn't think that had happened again. For a start, my measurements are a lot smaller.

I'd guessed I weighed a bit less, so MFP had given me 1660 calories a day to eat, so I've been aiming for that since my baby was 3 weeks old. I don't eat back exercise calories, and I go to the gym/do classes 5 times a week, and I do lots of waking too, around 2 miles most days.

So, I've decided to drop my calories a bit and cut out bread and potatoes (I don't usually eat rice or pasta). I figure cutting them out will help a bit.

Any other advice, or anyone know how this can have happened?

Here is what I looked like at 154lbs:

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And this is from just over a week ago:

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Replies

  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    P.S I meant to add that I do use a food scale so I am pretty accurate at my food diary recording.
  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
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    If your measurements are less could you maybe have more muscle now and therefore weigh more.

    BTW you don't look 202lbs
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    If your measurements are less could you maybe have more muscle now and therefore weigh more.

    BTW you don't look 202lbs

    Thank you! People always think I weigh less than I do. Can I really have gained that much muscle?
  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
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    I'm not an expert by any means but if you weigh the same but your measurements are less I can only think of one thing that it can be.
  • MarilynTC
    MarilynTC Posts: 98 Member
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    Can you judge by the fit of your clothing, or measurements maybe, going forward? I doubt that you could have that much more muscle unless you are strength training.

    I have read that eating more lean proteins and moderate fats aids in weight loss, especially as people reach middle-age. Do you eat much processed or prepared foods? I find that when I make a concerted effort to eat a lot of my carb calories as fruit or veggies, I tend to do better (probably because I am able to eat more produce, volume-wise, than bread/potatoes for the same calories and thus feel fuller and am less apt to over eat).

    I am finding that losing weight after the second baby is much harder than losing after the first one, but my fitness level bounced back much more quickly.
  • Binky_Muffin
    Binky_Muffin Posts: 191 Member
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    Every woman is different and every pregnancy is different. You lost 66lbs already and you can do it again. No sense in lamenting what happened in the past. Just get back into the swing of things if you're feeling up to it and the weight will come off eventually. The slower you do it, the more likely it will stay off.

    From your picture, you look reasonable for someone who just had a baby…never mind your 3rd one. I think you look good. :)
  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
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    Can you judge by the fit of your clothing, or measurements maybe, going forward? I doubt that you could have that much more muscle unless you are strength training.

    The OP has said her measurements are less!!!

    I have read that eating more lean proteins and moderate fats aids in weight loss, especially as people reach middle-age. Do you eat much processed or prepared foods? I find that when I make a concerted effort to eat a lot of my carb calories as fruit or veggies, I tend to do better (probably because I am able to eat more produce, volume-wise, than bread/potatoes for the same calories and thus feel fuller and am less apt to over eat).

    The OP isn't middle-aged

    I am finding that losing weight after the second baby is much harder than losing after the first one, but my fitness level bounced back much more quickly.
  • penny0919
    penny0919 Posts: 123 Member
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    I had my third child in September 2013 and losing the weight is much harder this time.

    I gained to 200 lbs with all three (from about 150-160). I lost the weight in about a year with the first two, now my third will be a year old on the 21st and I am still sitting at about 180.

    It would've been really hard to gain 50 lbs on 1500 a day while pregnant. Unless you were meticulously weighing everything with a food scale I'm guessing you were eating a lot more. I am not judging you AT ALL, it's just really easy to underestimate calories. Unless most of that was water weight, your calculations were off. And it wasn't water weight or you most likely would've lost it by now unless you have an underlying medical problem.

    Please go easy on yourself. 1600 calories a day is fine for a new mom. I think it's amazing you are counting at all (I'm still not! Love me some MFP forums though ;)). Make sure you have a good food scale and that your calculations are accurate this time.
  • JustFindingMe
    JustFindingMe Posts: 390 Member
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    I don't know if I have much advice here but I do want to offer my experience, if it helps. I found myself in the same shoes as you after my second child. I was totally shocked as to how much I had gained and was in a constant state of uncomfortable disbelief for the first while after birth .I literally took the batteries in and out of the scale and re-weighed myself over and over, in tears the whole time.

    I will reassure you that your body did what its designed for. Our bodies are naturally going to nurture the baby, first and foremost.

    Congratulations on your 3rd little blessing :heart:

    I'll bet if you keep doing what youre doing - being accountable, active and honest about what you're eating, your pre-baby body will start showing itself sooner than you think :smile:
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Can you judge by the fit of your clothing, or measurements maybe, going forward? I doubt that you could have that much more muscle unless you are strength training.

    I have read that eating more lean proteins and moderate fats aids in weight loss, especially as people reach middle-age. Do you eat much processed or prepared foods? I find that when I make a concerted effort to eat a lot of my carb calories as fruit or veggies, I tend to do better (probably because I am able to eat more produce, volume-wise, than bread/potatoes for the same calories and thus feel fuller and am less apt to over eat).

    I am finding that losing weight after the second baby is much harder than losing after the first one, but my fitness level bounced back much more quickly.

    I do strength training. I have one or two personal training sessions a week, which is mainly strength training, and in most classes I do there's a strength training bit.

    This week, for instance, I didn't do a workout Mon as I'd been to see my family for the weekend and was travelling back by train, but I did walk to collect my son from school, then back home, then we went to collect my older daughter from nursery, which is about a mile. Tues I did a gym session, and the walking. Today I did a PT session, and will walk later. Tomorrow I'm doing step. Fri I'm doing a PT session. Sat I'm doing a gym session for the biggest loser competition I'm taking part in. Sunday I'm doing Fitball, which is using the gym balls, lots of squats, lunges, abs etc. Each week is slightly different as my husband does shift work, so I fit it round that. I'm on maternity leave still.

    I don't eat a lot of processed food (my diary is open if you want to check). A typical day is eggs or porridge for breakfast, fruit as snacks, salad with tuna or ham or cottage cheese for lunch, and dinner is something like fish or chicken and veg, or jacket potato, or stir fry. My biggest treat is a skinny cappuccino from Costa (an English version of Starbucks, but with better coffee!)

    All I can think is that maybe my BMR is lower than MFP thinks it is.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    You just had a baby, relax, it will come. You've got a great handle on this and you know you CAN do it, now just be patient!
    Congrats on your little one.
  • MarilynTC
    MarilynTC Posts: 98 Member
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    Sorry, I thought the OP was mid to late 30s, which is close enough to middle aged, frankly.

    Even if her measurements are different, I don't think she has that much more muscle without strength training. And it is hard to say how "good" she looks for 200 lbs because the baby covers most of her body in the current picture. :flowerforyou:
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    P.S lol at middle aged. I'm 36! I might not be in my 20s anymore, but I don't think 36 is middle aged!
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    Sorry, I thought the OP was mid to late 30s, which is close enough to middle aged, frankly.

    Even if her measurements are different, I don't think she has that much more muscle without strength training. And it is hard to say how "good" she looks for 200 lbs because the baby covers most of her body in the current picture. :flowerforyou:

    I do strength training!!
  • doctorregenerated
    doctorregenerated Posts: 188 Member
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    omg, that little face is adorable! look at that expression!!
    ...and you look good, and you will lose the extra weight. Just take it one day at a time.
  • aneary1980
    aneary1980 Posts: 461 Member
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    Sorry, I thought the OP was mid to late 30s, which is close enough to middle aged, frankly.

    Even if her measurements are different, I don't think she has that much more muscle without strength training. And it is hard to say how "good" she looks for 200 lbs because the baby covers most of her body in the current picture. :flowerforyou:

    Women live to mid 80s now how does that make the OP middle aged and she does do strength training.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
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    This photo is from about 8 weeks ago. No baby covering me! I am smaller now:

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  • earmuff111
    earmuff111 Posts: 36 Member
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    First of all, you look great. Second, while I do not have children, I am the oldest of three and my mother (who is petite and generally has a good metabolism) said that weight loss after baby number 3 was 100x more difficult (and took significantly longer) than pregnancies 1 and 2. She also had 3 kids in less than 5 years so I'm sure her body was like, enough LOL. You look healthy and strong and you will get where you need to be soon :)
  • minimalistmom
    minimalistmom Posts: 137
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    I just had my 3rd baby in February, and I was fluster as well. You have to accept it before you start losing it. It took me around the 4-6 month for me to lose all of my baby weight and I put on 40 lbs. during pregnancy. That's the most I ever put on during a pregnancy.The only differences I made post-pregnancy that made me start losing faster were,

    1. Eating when the stomach grumbles. I typically eat about every 2-3 hours no less that 350 calories per meal and 150 calories per snack.

    2. Be mindful. Eating what the body wants to. It was usually healthy food. It wants that apple or those carrots. It wants the whole grains. Listen to it. It will tell you what it want.

    3. I scaled back on the exercise. I still do yoga and pick up the weight when I get a few minutes, but I homeschool, I maintain a house, I do yard work, I am chasing after 3 kids and a puppy. That's plenty of exercise.

    LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. You're stressing it out doing too much and depriving it from what it wants, because you are too focused on dropping those pounds. Lighten up and you will find it's much easier to do so.

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