Has anybody else piled on the weight after having a baby?

vickylisseman
vickylisseman Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
Hi everyone I had a baby 6 months ago and had a really rough time with the birth I found that afterwards I just kept putting more weight on hence why I'm here now. I have recently started the gym about a month ago and have weekly PT sessions and go as much as possible on my own. I've just started dieting am currently trying slim fast for a week and finding it really hard to get motivated

Replies

  • LouPlusTwo
    LouPlusTwo Posts: 3 Member
    Hi, I'm in the same position as you. I had my baby 11 months ago and have been so hungry with nursing her. Everyone told me that I would lose weight but I ate the wrong things and kept gaining. I've just started today. My motivation is I don't want to be the big mum at all the school events. I've never used slim fast but good luck.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Why not just eat real food instead? You can eat anything and lose weight as long as you have a consistent calorie deficit. MFP tells you how much to eat to lose weight healthily. If you lose weight healthily, it's much easier to do it for a long time, and it only works if you do it for a long time.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,128 Member
    edited August 2017
    vickylisseman wrote: »
    Hi everyone I had a baby 6 months ago and had a really rough time with the birth I found that afterwards I just kept putting more weight on hence why I'm here now. I have recently started the gym about a month ago and have weekly PT sessions and go as much as possible on my own. I've just started dieting am currently trying slim fast for a week and finding it really hard to get motivated

    Scrap the slimfast, you will lose a bunch of water weight, learn nothing about how to eat properly and more than likely end up back at square one a couple of weeks after using it and end up with pounds out of pocket instead of off your waistline.

    Set your MFP account up honestly and accurately, set yourself a sustainable rate of loss
    • in a healthy BMI range already aim for 0.5lb per week (this will give you a 250 calorie deficit)
    • in the overweight BMI range aim for 0.5-1lb per week (this will give you a 250-500 calorie deficit)
    • in the obese BMI range aim for 1-2lb per week (this will give you a 500-1000 calorie deficit)
    Get yourself a food scale to weigh your foods and log your normal intake for a couple of days, this will help you to see where you are taking in extra calories that you can tweak out later.

    Make small sustainable changes by reducing portions sizes and reducing/switching higher calorie foods to get yourself to the calorie allowance that you're aiming for. Don't try and make dramatic changes you can't stick to and remember that the weight didn't pile on overnight, it won't vanish into thin air overnight either.

    If you're using the MFP database/exercise machines/non-HR fitness tracker for your calorie burns be aware they can be overestimated so try eating around 50% of your exercise calories for a period of 4 weeks and monitor your weight loss.
  • hedwardsb
    hedwardsb Posts: 201 Member
    Personally I need food to feel satisfied, so Slim Fast would never cut it for me. I need to eat, not drink my calories, so I can understand why you're having a hard time getting motivated.
    I gained over 70 pounds with my first child. I didn't lose it all until I quit nursing when she was about a year. Then I immediately got pregnant, but fortunately only gained 40 pounds the second time around. That weight didn't fully come off again until I stopped nursing. Same scenario when I had my 3rd child.
    I'm in my 40's now, and there have been two times since I had the last child, now 10, that I have gained over 20 pounds from eating whatever I want whenever I want. Both times I have jump-started my weight loss by cutting out sweets. That has worked for me because both times I had gotten into the unfortunate habit of eating sweets a lot. After every meal, I was ready for dessert. Cutting the sweets helped me cut the cravings once I got through the first 9 or 10 days. As you often read, the key is to eat fewer calories than you are expending. I think that's easier to maintain when you're eating food.
    One thing that has helped me lose weight this summer is eating the same breakfast nearly every day. Just this morning I faced temptation because my teenage daughter bought a big, sticky cinnamon cake that was on the counter tempting me. What could be more delicious that a delectable sweet with my morning coffee? I decided to stay the course with shredded wheat and fruit with my coffee instead and I feel satisfied.
    Good luck!

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