POST-PARTUM PACK - October 11

I am very excited to be a part of this group. I just read through everyone's posts, and I kept nodding my head and saying, "yep, yep, that is me". It sounds like we all have many things in common. My sweet baby boy is 18 months, and I am still working on the "baby weight". I gained 45 pounds during pregnancy and still have 20 more to lose to get back to PPW. Then I would love to lose 10 more, so I guess that makes my goal 30 pounds. Yikes! That sounds daunting to me. I spent my whole pre-baby life always trying to lose 5 or 10 pounds, and I was never successful. So I am a little overwhelmed with trying to lose 30 pounds.

My barriers....same as everyone else. Work, time, child, husband, chores, errands, friends, TV, naps! But truly I can make it work both with the food and the exercise if I will just suck it up and do it! So that is where you guys come in...I need someone to tell me to stop whining and complaining and JUST DO IT!!!!

Wow, so many of us are facing the same issues. It helps knowing I'm not the only one trying to reduce "baby" weight. I had my second child in Dec last yr at 29 weeks. Him being a preemie and all the stress associated with having a baby in the NICU and then worrying about his calorie intake etc made my weight loss a lesser priority task. Right now, he is a thrivng 10 month old, hitting his milestones somewhere between actual and adjusted ages and keeping his weight steady in the lower percentiles for adjusted age. Finally, I can focus on myself.
I had a very easy time losing pregnancy weight from my first child. I gained 50 lbs and lost 65lbs by the time she was 15 months old by eating whatever I chose. The pounds justed melted off, by breastfeeding. This time around, my body is hanging onto the fat and I've not lost a single gram from 6 weeks PP until last week. I guess I have to work on it this time around.
My biggest challenge is the Carbs/Sugar cravings I have thanks to breastfeeding. No matter how hard I try, I need a chocolate/ice cream or some other snack by the late evenings. I'm trying hard to curb my craving but am running short of ideas. If any of you have any tips, please do let me know.
My second biggest challenge is that I'm a vegetarian and I hate eggs. So my diet seems to be lacking in proteins(which I found out from MFP). I'm trying to add lentils/sprouts/cottage cheese/yogurt etc into my diet to get some proteins in but I still never make it to my goal intake.
Btw, I do an additional 300 cals since I'm nursing my 10 month old. He still nurses quite a bit but since he is on solids, I figured 300 cals should suffice. I add it to my food diary daily

I'm going to measure myself now and update the site. Thanks for the reminder!

i am probably too late to join, my baby is almost 17 months old. i wanted to tell you all something to keep you from falling in the same track. i was doing great at weight loss while breastfeeding. i could eat tons and never gained any weight. i actually lost it, getting to my pre-pregnancy weight when my daughter was about 7 months old. but then she wanted less milk as she ate more foods. i kept my eating the same and couldnt' stop it or slow down the weight gain. i wasn't really trying very hard, but i wish i had. i always had an excuse not to exercise. i kept saying i was worried i woudl haven't any milk if i lost weight. this wasn't true, of course. so then around 1 year old she stopped bf'ing and i kept my eating and not exercising the same. b/c of that i gained 10 lb from may to august 2011. i got on here with a goal of losing 20lb. i am halfway there. i stopped exercising when i was pregnant back in Dec 09 and didn't start again until august of 11. which i think was why i have a lot of body fat now. i am not overweight but not happy with how i look due to high body fat. so that is what i'm working on. the last 10lb and toning. just wanted to say please be aware of what will happen when you stop breastfeeding if you are. those pounds go on quick. i think if you stay on here you are on the right track.

it is so tough (at least it was for me) to keep the unwanted weight from happening when you stop bf. i could have done a much better job of watching it. but i didn't. but at least i found this site. one thing is good though, when you are done bf i think your body recognizes that you shouldn't have such a high fat amount and even though it's hard to start the weight loss, it's not too bad once you get rolling with it. you get kind of back to where you are supposed to be.. at least i did with a little effort. now i am back at pre-pregnancy weight again but want to be less than that. i was a little bit bigger than i wanted to be when i got pregnant so now i have to work on that.

Hi! My name is Aly. I have two children 19 month old boy and a 3 month old baby girl. I am a single mom- finally left an abusive relationship after my daughter was born.
My children are so close together that I didn't have much time to get the weight off in between. Now, I want it OFF! I have already dropped 37 lbs since her birth, but I have a LOT more to go. I want my kids to be proud of me, and to be able to keep up with them.
I am finally caring about my myself. I am sooo worth it!
I am determined to get down to 125. And I will!
My biggest enemy is Nutella...

Hi is it to late to join??
Im Ange and i have a 6yr old and a 14 week old, im getting married in Feb and planning to honeymoon on a beautiful beach in Phuket hopefully in something smaller than board shorts and a singlet.
I lost weight eventually after my first pregnancy then changed jobs to a more sedentary position, got into a new relationship, got pregnant again then looked in the mirror and went OMG. I am currently the heaviest ive ever been and it has completely knocked my confidence.
I want my children to be proud of me, i want to live to see my grandchildren, i want to be a good influence for my children but mostly i want to LOVE me again.
My biggest enemy is cheese - i love cheese and anything i can put cheese on, in or around.

Hello! I just wanted to say I went through the same thing after the birth of my son. I was exclusively breastfeeding, and although that helped me drop a lot of weight after birth, I got to a number and just stalled. I didn't diet much because I was nervous it would effect the quality of the milk for my baby, but honestly once I got serious it wasnt an issue.

You can add breastfeeding into mfp, if you are exclusively breastfeeding its 500 calories burned, and I just started working out...when I did eat, I made sure most fo what I was eating is nutritious (also ate oatmeal, its good for milk supply, low calorie and very healthy!)

I lost the weight I put on after baby, but I'm working on losing the weight I put on after marriage..and I'm still breastfeeding my 7 month old

Hello fellow moms! It's so nice to see others who are going through the same things as I am. I am the mother of 2 boys, 7 years old and the most recent 4 1/2 months old (born May 28, 2011). I started exercising around 7 weeks post partum (end of July) and was able to drop the baby weight pretty quickly with the help of breastfeeding. I recently stopped breastfeeding since I will be returning to work in a couple months and now the weight loss has stalled . I have increased my cardio to an hour per workout to counterbalance. I am still hovering at 120 which I don't have a problem with because I believe it's from turning fat into muscle (and we all know muscle weighs more than fat) so now I'm concentrating more on getting stronger than losing pounds (I'm still trying to lose body fat though). Some barriers I have are eating at night after dinner...especially ice cream. love love love it. To stop myself I have been going to bed early haha.

My normal workout routine:
Mon - 1 hour elliptical (burning anywhere from 500 to almost 600 depending on incline and resistance)
Tues - full body strength training
Wed -1 hour elliptical (burning anywhere from 500 to almost 600 depending on incline and resistance)
Thurs -full body strength training
Fri -1 hour elliptical (burning anywhere from 500 to almost 600 depending on incline and resistance)

I haven't started working yet so I don't have that time hindrance, but I'm sure I will. I'm hoping to keep myself motivated to find the time to workout once I do, with the help of you ladies of course :-)

PMUR - I do planks and side planks which really help to strengthen your core! regular planks twice holding for 30 second intervals each and once per side holding for 30 second interval. You'll really start to notice a difference.

I also recently was able to do a regular pushup!!!! I have not been able to do that in I can't remember how long. It's really nice to know that I'm getting stronger.

My major barrier is getting the energy and motivation to workout. Having a 3 month old, I don't usually have a lot of extra energy during the days, and once I've done my daily housework, the last thing I want to do is work out. (If my daughter hasn't woken up from her nap or decided that mum doesn't get any free time!). I usually am able to eat fairly well while I am home alone, but I am a total sucker for iced cream. I never buy it at the grocery store because I know it will get the best of me, but once in a while at the gas station I have to fold
I just want to get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes... But I am finding it ALOT slower than I had expected. Everyone say that breastfeeding makes you shed pounds like nothing else, but I am not finding this. Hopefully soon I will have more energy so I can start feeling like doing something again!

Hello, my name is Sarah and I am a new-be. I am 29 years old and a stay at home mom curently. My weightloss challenges are not having the motivation to exercise on somedays or the energy. I have 5 kids now and they keep me going also trying to eat healthy is a big challenge for me everyday but I am trying really hard to and have been trying to cu out all sweets and sodas.

Hello, Ladies!

I am so glad to find this group! I had a sweet baby boy in May, and I am still not even back to my pre-pregnancy weight (which was too high)... I am really lacking motivation. My husband just got a new job in a small town, where I don't know many people, and I am home all day with the baby... and the refrigerator.

I will be reading your posts as often as I can.

Hi,

My name is Nicole. I just started. My 2nd baby girl is almost 4 months old. I'm stuck at 140. Pre-baby weight is 120 to 125. It took me almost a year to loose it with my first daughter, and then I was pregnant again by the time she was 15 months!

I'm wondering if anyone knows how to adjust for breastfeeding. I don't want to lose the weight too fast, and want to make sure I'm getting enough protein. WW allows you to add extra points for BF'ing but MFP didn't seem to have an option to add that into your fitness plan. Any thoughts from other momma's out there?

I'm looking forward to reading through other posts and meeting more of the community.

Thanks,
Nicole

Sorry Im lagging behind a bit this week, its been a rather busy week last week and this weekend ive been out visiting!

My names Chrissy, I have 2 daughters who are teenagers and have a son whos 18 mths in a few days. I wanted to get right down to my pre pregnancy weight when I had my first daughter and Im about 12 lb away! Its getting harder now to lose as Im fitter and need to work harder to burn as my body is becoming more efficient !! Im still breastfeeding my son, so still take my pre natal vitamins as few times a week and keep my carbs/protein up to make sure the quality is there

My motivation..... my holiday at Christmas, My daiughers are away with their dad in Florida ( we live in UK ) so my partner, my son and I are off to Tenerife. YAY. I would like to be around 10 stone and a size 12 ( uk sizes ) After Christmas we are trying again for our last child, so I want to be at my optimum. I have lost around 30 lb i think since may 2011 and i have really enjoyed my journey , mainly as Ive seen it as a change of lifestyle rather than a " quick fix", Now i have got back into regular exercise I love it and still eat what I want, just smaller portions!

Lots of positive vibes going out to u all xxx