From the moment I even thought we MIGHT be pregnant I've thought about what I was going to do to get the weight off. I just knew I'd gain quite a bit of weight and water weight because it's just what I do. :) Now the bigger I get the more ready I am to get this weight off. It's just miserable. I lost some weight before getting pregnant by using the Weight Watcher point system. My friend Jenny and I did it together without going to meetings. It really worked and I really liked the freedom of feeling like I wasn't on a diet. I just felt I was making better choices.
I've jokingly said that I was going to take Sadie to her first Weight Watcher meeting the week she's born. Obviously I'm not doing that but I am starting the program. I think I'm just going to do it online/on my own at first. I've had success like that before. I just know if I wait, even a little while, to start losing it will be that much harder. I'm glad Weight Watchers has a plan for breast feeding moms. I want to be able to breast feed and I don't want to do anything to mess that up. I also don't want to keep this extra weight around any longer than I have to. I'm going to attempt the new point program and see how it goes. I'm a calorie counter by nature so I'm not sure how well this new system and I will get along. But since fruit is "free" I figure it's worth a try.
If any of you have good "after pregnancy weight loss" tips please let me know. I'm hoping this time I can lose the baby weight and the other 20 pounds I needed to lose. Lord, help me!
2 years ago
15 comments:
You can do it girl!!! :) Can’t wait to see that sweet girl!!!
I was fortunate after Cilla was born and I thank breastfeeding.for that because lord knows, I can't seem to lose a pound otherwise! But I will warn you, I put the majority of my "baby weight" on after I stopped breastfeeding! Your body quits burning all those extra calories. Now, i still have about 15 lbs I would like to drop! Yes, I need to take care of myself but it is so hard when you put your baby's needs first. You can do it girl, you are so disiplined.
I think if you continue to make healthy eating choices, drink a lot of water, and exercise, you'll be doing just fine. Give yourself grace to not jump back in as quickly as you might think you ought to. I think it helps to just not have those tempting foods in the house and limit eating out, too. I used the Jazzercise Post-Preg. DVD (you can exercise with the baby, too). Actually, it'll be 3 years since our youngest was born, and I still like to use it! :)
You will be surprised how much you will loose by breastfeeding alone. I'm not exactly sure how much I gained b/c I was in the hospital for a week before I had my baby at 36 weeks. But, at my 34 week visit I had gained about 27 pounds. At my 7 week post partum appointment I had lost 25 pounds. I had not dieted or anything. Anyway, seriously don't stress about it! You will loose it!
I just posted about this yesterday! I used WW to lose my baby weight and it WORKS! You can find my post here - http://thelacyfamilyaz.blogspot.com.
Breastfeed AND do weight watchers! It works wonders!! And the beauty of weight watchers is that they take into account that you are breasfeeding. Seriously, when you sign up it asks you if you are breasfeeding. You get extra points every day with WW for breasfeeding.
You DO NOT want to starve yourself when you are breasfeeding or your milk supply will go down. You are actually supposed to intake more calories while breasfeeding then you do when you're pregnant. It takes food to make food (well,milk)! So, with WW you get the right amount of calories but still get the benefit of breastfeeding! And it gives you even more incentive to stick with breastfeeding longer... who needs running when you can just simply nurse your baby??
It worked for me and VERY fast!
Breastfeeding will be your best weightloss friend. :-) With both my children, I had huge weight gains because I was on bedrest the last few months. I nursed exclusively for the first 6 months and then continued to nurse while introducing them to solids. I breastfed each baby for approximately 14 months. (I know, I know, some people are absolutely horrified by that, but they were MY kids, so it was MY choice ) Anyway, by their first birthdays I had easily lost 50 pounds. The first few months were slow going, but it picked up the older they got and the more they nursed.
I also enjoyed pushing the kids in the stroller from the time they were a few weeks old and I think the exercise helped a lot too.
Hang in there! You will do it.
Hi there! I found your blog through Kelly's Korner (I think.) I did Weight Watchers (the old one) about six months after my son was born. It's been a couple of years, though and I gained some of it back. I am currently doing the new Weight Watchers points program online. I LOVE it! I have lost 15 pounds in three months! My husband is even doing it with me and has lost 10 pounds in a month and a half. Good luck to you!
I don't mean to be discouraging, but breastfeeding wasn't just easy weight loss for me, and I breastfed EXCLUSIVELY for 9 months. Every time I tried to reduce my calories, my milk supply dropped. I just wanted to say, go easy on yourself. You'll get it off. Just don't sacrifice the milk supply, if breastfeeding is important to you. :)
I'll do WW with you!
Don't stress...you'll be surprised how much just comes off right after birth. I'm doing WW online right now, and love it so far. There's an app for iphone (if you have one), and it's so easy to calculate and track points on the go. And it is different than the old points, but I really like the new system better.
Not to be a downer but I gained 70 lbs when I was pregnant and for my frame (or probably most people's frame for that matter) it looked like I had gained 700 lbs. After delivery I was left with 50 lbs to loose....miserable. I breastfed my son and I unfortunately was one of those "lucky" woman that could not loose a darned pound while nursing. I tried weight watchers, since I had heard how succesful it was, but due to breastfeeding my body just couldn't loose any of the weight. Now for my more encouraging part- while some woman I knew gained weight after they stopped nursing- that was the total opposite for me. My baby weight just melted off and within like two months of stopping nursing I had lost it all 50 lbs, crazy huh? I really hope this does not discourage you b/c way more often than not breastfeeing helps woman drop their baby weight but just now as long as you have the determantion you will get it off sooner or later!
I think you will be surprised at how much you lose with breastfeeding alone. You burn so many calories. Just don't go weigh yourself after you get home from the hospital! I had an almost 9lb baby and I came home from the hospital and weighed and had only lost 7 lbs. I was so depressed. But then I started losing 5 or 6lbs a day. I had a c-section and had to go back after 2 weeks and I had lost all but 2 lbs. I will say I only gained 27 lbs total which did help. Anyway, by my 6 week checkup I was ten lbs below what I was before I was pregnant. Plus you are so busy with the baby you don't have a lot of time to even think about eating. The weight gain comes after you stop breastfeeding and burning all those calories!!
As a two time breastfeeding mommy, I agree with people that you might not have as much time to worry about weight loss with a brand new baby. Do NOT get discouraged and do not stress, that won't help with your milk production.
Unfortunately, rather than losing tons of weight while bf'ing it actually made me ravenous and I my body held onto to extra weight during that time. Be prepared for anything, your body will know what it needs to do.
As far as WW, I had used the system before too and loved it but I always had a hard time with paying for something that is so simple. In my search for a free way to track calories and get encouragement I found www.sparkpeople.com This website is AMAZING. Shortly after having my second baby last year I started following the site and have now kept 30 lbs off for almost a year (this April). And trust me, if I can do it, you can too.
Here's a link to one of my fav bloggers and her experience on Spark. If you need any help with the site, let me know and I'd love to help. My screen name is sdkent79 on the wesbite.
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/my-weight-loss-story/my-weight-loss-story-before-after-photos.html
It looks like you're getting mixed reviews on this front, but breastfeeding was sort of the miracle weight-loss tool for me (goodness knows I wasn't watching what I ate!). I hope you have the same experience! Regardless, give yourself a lot of grace. Your body has a mind of its own after you have a baby, so don't feel bad if you wear your maternity pants for a while :)
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