Post partum weight gain?! Gain 50, loose 25, gain 20?
I was a little chunky before I got pregnant at 175, larger build and 5’8″ tall. I gained a lot during my pregnancy… probably because I was inactive (did take an exercise class until 5 months preggo but it was not helping to slow the gain) and ate what I craved (which was mostly orange juice and soda but lots of healthy stuff too).
So at my daughters birth I weighed 225lbs. Within 8 weeks I had lost about 25 pounds and then I started stressing that it was not coming off quick enough. Since then I have gained another 20 pounds. Now I am almost 6 months postpartum and only 5 pounds less than what I was when I gave birth to my daughter.
I have been eating more healthy food but I do feel like I never get full. There are a number of bad eating habits that I have such as eating late at night and drinking soda (about 1 bottle a day until about 2 weeks ago when I cut way back). I have been slightly more active and will be starting to go to the gym this week…
I noticed at about 3 months PP that I had gained 10 pounds very quickly and had my thyroid tested (no problems) and stopped taking Micronor BC pills in case that was a contributor. The gain has slowed but it is still coming on.
Anyone else have this problem? How did you deal? How did you loose the weight.
PS. I AM breastfeeding (exclusively up until 2 months ago and now we do half and half).
July 28th, 2011 at 1:53 pm
I had weight problems after my firstborn as well. I was 135 prior to my pregnancy, and 172 the day I gave birth. Within 6 weeks PP I got down to 145, but soon after that I shot back up to 155 til about 5 months PP. I’m about 5’5, and I felt so silly looking because every pound of extra weight on my body was sitting in my stomach… I felt so unproportionate. Granted, I’ve never been a healthy eater, or exercised at all really. It took getting to that “I can’t step out of the house anymore” point for me to really get into gear and make healthy choices. I really feel like that’s all it comes down to, but it sure is hard I know.
Lifestyle changes I made:
-started exercising 15 minutes a day on my elliptical (I felt best doing it in the morning so my HR was up for the day and I just felt better all day)
-cut out ALL soda… and started drinking water for the first time in my life
-still made sure to eat 3 meals a day, but would limit to one portion instead of 3. Breakfast was oatmeal with toast and a banana, lunch I made sure to have a meat, starch, veggie, and dinner I still made what I used to for my husband, but really made a concious effort to not go crazy on the carbs. Eating a big serving of veggie first seemed to help because then I wasn’t craving seconds or thirds of mashed potatoes 🙂
-also made myself eat two snacks: mid morning around 10 (hard boiled egg), and mid afternoon around 3 (serving of walnuts). It helped curb appetite so I wouldn’t pig out at meals, and kept my metabolism up.
-no more snacking after dinner! I would treat myself almost every night to yogurt. It was a sweet way to end my day without 2 scoops of ice cream with sprinkles.
…so, by just making the choices I should’ve made all along, the pounds just shed off, and within about 2 1/2 months I was down 25lbs to 130 (5 below my pre-pregnancy). Granted it still looked different, weight was distributed differently, clothes didn’t fit like they used to, and I could never get rid of that extra tummy pooch, but it was so worth it.
I got lazy again at the end of the summer though and by Christmas had put 10lbs back on. I was about to start my diet again but found out I was pregnant, so I’ll be going through the whole PP weight thing again come fall.
Sorry I end up typing a book, but in my experience, once you get to the point where you’re DETERMINED, then by putting in good foods, cutting out the bad ones, and minimal exercise, you should be able to get where you want to be! I know it can get frustrating, but once you start seeing the results it is so worth it. Good luck 🙂
July 28th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
i gained 70 pounds with my son, lost 40 and now put on 13 by the 23rd week for my second pregnancy. when i had my son its the heaviest ive ever been , i was unhappy and still am with my weight but i promised myself to keep it to a min this time and get back to the gym after.
just remember you are not the first nor the last to go throught this