Dissapointed in Weight Gain and Bummed That I Have to Lose It!

Some days I hate going to the gym and I am NOT happy to be on that darn treadmill, but once I get off, I feel soooo great. No one can take that exercising you have done away from you.

Maybe try to log what you eat. I stumbled on a Lance Armstrong get fit website a few months back. You can enter ecverything you eat, what time you eat it and what form of exercising you have done. It calcualtes everything for you. I found myself not eating certain things (like chips) that I would normally snack on right after work because I KNEW I would have to log it and then be upset with myself.

With Spring right around the corner (I hope), walk, walk, walk with that new baby. Good for the baby to get the fresh air and it will help to keep you on the move and not eating.

Good luck!! It's sooooooooooo hard, but you will be so happy when you can say I DID IT!!

You are not alone! I am now losing the same 75 pounds for the second time. You just have to not beat yourself up over it and take it one day at a time. On the bright side, you know you can do it since you already have! Congratulations on your new blessing!

Give up the junk food for life. A donut has not passed my lips for more than seven years. I love jelly donuts but look without touching. I never took my children to Mickey D's. I have never tasted a twinkie in my entire life.
I cook 5 vegetables together, each one cut a different way to blend the flavors.
Nothing comes home in a box to my house. Buy fresh fish, eat salads. Use lots of lean meat. Cook whole grains, eat lentils. If you don't do that you could have diabetes, high blood pressure and all that in your forties.
My siblings do and I do not. Prevention is the cure.

HI L.,

You CAN do it again. If the idea of dieting is daunting or depressing STOP, BUT make sure you are getting plenty of the good stuff first. For example, every food choice you make ought to contain fiber. Eat MORE, more vegetables, whole fruit, not juice as it has all of the calories and sugar with few benefits. Drink your daily water like it is liquid youth extract, when you eat your grains make them whole grains, no white bread unless it is whole grain, but don't be fooled, some that say whole grain have whole grain in them, but are not primarily whole grain. Choose Quinoa pasta, as it has a lower glycemic index, but tastes like the real McCoy (you know that bad stuff we grew up on).

Getting started is the hardest part, but you wll quickly see the benefits of exercising such as increased energy (and who can't use that with a new baby) endorphin release, and great mood elevating natural hormone relase too.

And above all, if you don't take any other advice AVOID ANYTHING with Partially Hydrogenated Oil. It is known to not only make people obese, but it is slowly killing people as our bodies have not adapted to metabolize it.

You can make these health changes fun, find new things, shop in the outside isles of the store first, these are your healthier products. You will feel good about setting a great example for your kids and helping them avoid the problems associated with childhood obesity. Childhood obesity is the number one marker for adult obesity. Above all, make exercise part of daily life, go out as a family and play, ride bikes, play ball, go on walks, so much in life to do that is active.

As for your milk supply, I can say with some authority that you can exercise and maintain your milk supply by drinking enough. If nothing else drink at least 16oz after heavy exercise. I always tell my clients, that with each time they nurse they should have a drink at hand and utilize it.

You CAN do it, your kids will be healthier for it, and you will feel SO much better. Have your snacks that are bad for you, BUT have an 8oz drink first, and eat high fiber lower calorie foods as a "go to". Use self control and rather than a BIG candy bar, have a regular sized and relish the taste, really enjoy it, and make treats just that TREATS, not part of your regular diet.

Please let us know how you are doing!

Best wishes,
T. Nelson CD (DONA)

Whenever I start to feel like I've gained weight (I'm a fitness junkie and pretty body conscious) I get REALLY down on myself.

Then I remind myself that I took it off once, I can take it off again, and in another week or two, I'll feel a lot better. It's not a permanent thing.
So as long as your committed to getting back into your good habits (and it sounds like you are), just remind yourself that you'll be in a better place in a couple of weeks. This is temporary.

Ok... don't set big goals yet. Set small and attainable goals that will build on one another. It is goingt to be a lot of work and you have done this to yourself. I'm not being critical here, but you know that you are capable of making healthy choices and pregnancy isn't a reason to stop exercising. So... get back to it, but start small.

You don't need to diet (very negative connotation), you need to start cooking at home and making balanced meals for the family. Not only will you be healthier, but you'll more money in your pocket to go out and buy clothes when you drop the weight! You don't need to jump into an hour of cardio, but 15 minutes of brisk walking every day will get you going again.

Sign up for a trainer at the gym- they will help keep you on track and get thee to a nutritionist! My aunt has lost over 100 pounds in the last two years working with a nutritionist and walking every day.

You don't need to climb mountains tomorrow (or floors), just get up and move!

Congratulations on the new baby! Congratulations on losing 105 lbs. You are amazing!

I lost over 25 lbs. two years ago, I gained 15 back. At first I was quite angry at myself...okay, honestly, there are still times, I kick myself. BUT, I didn't gain all of it back. That's what gave me hope. You are still down 45 lbs. Go pick something up that is roughly that weight...yeah, amazing!

We both have something in common, we've realized it sucks gaining some weight back. Yes, we would be down more had we not gained, but we also know we can do this. I've already lost 6 pounds in January. No, wait, I didn't lose 6, because when you lose something you want to find it again, I ditched 6 pounds.

I picked up a food journal called Lose Weight Fast Diet Journal by Alex A. Lluch. I hate that they put 'fast' in the title. I like it because I can count my count calories, and check boxes for your energy level, water, dairy, fruits & veggies, etc... It also has a place to record daily exercise and vitamins. There is also a graph at the front for recording each week's weight. I'm a visual learning so seeing that bar go down is encouraging. There is also a place for putting a picture each month to see your progress.

The only thing I don't like is the book says to record your weight each day. That's too discouraging for me. My weight is down by my weigh day (I've chosen to weigh myself each Monday) so I'm doing well.

I thought it would be hard writing down calories every day, but it's actually helped me keep to a serving size.

You know what you need to do, so I'm just going to cheer you on. When we're having a day that makes losing weight seem hard, sometimes, I little pep talk is all we need.

Hang in there, you are awesome and you can do it!

- Take it one step at a time. It took you 9 months to gain all that weight, so it won't fly off in a month. The healthiest way to lose weight, without regaining it back, is losing 1-2 pounds a week.

- Break up your goals into 5 or 10 pounds lost at a time. For example, "A month from now I would have lost 5 pounds"

- We all fall off the saddle. THe biggest thing is, is that you realized it, will get back on it, and lose it all! THere are moms out there who gain weight, never take care of themselves, and never exercise. The best thing about you is, you realize you gained weight and want to do something about it! :-)

- Join Sparkpeople.com, a free weighloss website that offers tons of tips, support, and information on exercising and weight loss. It's awesome. I'm still a member of it today.

- Find an exercise (or several) that you enjoy and would look forward to doing. I used to be an exclusive runner, but this time, after having my son 3 mos ago, I joined a Spinning class at my Y. It has challenged my muscles in a new way, and the weight is just flying off. It's a very fun class, and that is why I continue to do it - I enjoy it. Mix it up! Do spinning, kickboxing, elliptical, jogging/running/walking, etc. Shock your body and keep it guessing.

- Remember, The only way you will strip away the fat is to strip away the excuses. Do not let anything get in the way of going to the gym. Go when your husband is home from work, or in the am while everyone is sleeping. With a 5 yr old and a 3 month old at home and a hubby, I work full time. The only time I can go is 5 am - and I do it. Simple.

Good luck! You can do it!!!!!!!!

L., I think you need to remember two things: 1.) Exercising and eating healthy "real" foods will make you feel SO MUCH BETTER!!! and 2.) You need to do this for your baby. You brought this little one into the world, and now you need to be healthy and active enough to show him/her how to live in it! You need to be a good role model. You need to be around in 30 years to not only see your grandchildren, but to get down on the floor and outside to PLAY with them!!

YOU CAN DO IT!!! (And your milk supply will be just fine, especially if you're drinking a lot of water. Breastfeeding will HELP you lose weight faster! And by eating healthy foods, you'll be upping the nutrient and immune factors in your milk for your baby.)

You've done it before-YOU WILL DO IT AGAIN! Don't feel bad. I've done it 3 times. I had to lose close to 50 pounds after each kid. You know the fast food and lack of exercise put you back up there, so now you know that doing well will fix this.

If you behave (ALWAYS eat healthy stuff, work out every day, and don't eat at night) it will only take a few months. If you sort of slack but somewhat stay on track (eat healthy MOST of the time with some splurges, work out a few times a week), it will take a year, but you'll be a little better every day so it will pay off and you'll feel good about yourself each day instead of hopeless.

It's very hard to lose weight when you're nursing, because your body is using it's energy to make milk. So keep the workouts reasonable, not debilitating, and eat healthfully, so there isn't surplus fat above what your body needs to make milk. Don't think of "not eating" think of "eating right".

They say the difference between obese people and thin people is that obese people give up after they gain ten pounds, while thin people are always fighting to lose the ten pounds. SO TRUE! No one just "stays thin" or loses tons of weight without hard work. I'm in a constant battle with my first ten pounds, and when I had 50 to lose each time, I had to work like a dog, and be patient while nursing. You can do it!

At the gym, be sure to do your strength training before your cardio so your muscles have full energy to burn fat and set your metabolism, then use the cardio as a sort of "cool down". Be sure to eat protein like yogurt and some nuts before you work out, to help boost your muscles so you burn more fat between workouts.

And don't do too much, or you'll make yourself so hungry (because of nursing) that you'll cancel out all your work by binging. Nice light workouts and good eating. Hit each muscle group with three sets of whatever, and do 20-30 minutes on the treadmill at a pace where you can still hold a conversation. Nothing severe.

If your food is healthy, and you dont' over do it, you'll drop weight with the aid of nursing. Once you quit nursing, you can blast off your last pounds quickly with full energy, and you'll be used to the routine if you start now.

I only know one woman who came home from their post baby check in a good mood. Most of us feel like you do at 7 weeks after delivery. I had less weight gain, but it was so depressing to stand on that scale. Plus you are tired, your boobs probably are giant and you have spit up on your shoulder.

You can do it. Just going to the gym and having a break every day will help you feel better about yourself. It will be work, but you are a strong Mama and you can do it.

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy.
J.

Congratlations on the baby and the weight loss. You can definitely do it again! Weight gain is very discouraging. I have always eaten healthy and love to workout, but with my second son I went crazy during the pregnancy. I craved candy and had acid reflux that only seemed to go away when I ate. Then I ended up on bed-rest for 3 months, and the end result was gaining almost 50 pounds (I started at 115, so it was pretty substantial). Once I had finally started losing it, surprise! another pregnancy. I cried. I had worked so hard to get back in shape and here I went again. Even with excercise and healthy eating I ended up being another 5 pounds over my heaviest weight. Fast forward 3 years - I have lost 30 pounds from post-baby, I still have that annoying 10 to go. It has taken wayyyy longer than I wanted, but when I get discouraged cuz that scale isn't budging, I try to remind myself that I am getting healthy, and that is what is important. Eating healthy and excercising isn't only good for you, it is good for your kids too. They see you practicing healthy living and you'll have more energy to play with them. My biggest suggestion is to get a pedometer. Set a goal each day or week and try to meet it/exceed it. Bump it up as it gets easier. I noticed that it made me a lot more conscious of my movement and made me want to move more. You can do it! Good luck!

Going to the gym never helped me lose weight after any of my three were born. What finally worked was the Weight Watchers online program. If you do it while you are nursing, it is very easy (you get lots of extra points to account for the breastfeeding) and extremely effective. I couldn't recommend it more. It was life-changing for me. Good luck :-)

Baby steps, baby steps, one day at a time. You know each and every day find something else that makes you feel good or feel beautiful. A soak in a tub, five minutes by yourself, and just forget that you think you have an obstacle. Just love your kids, your family, your life! And celebrate being alive! That is beautiful by itself. The rest will come.

Ugh its so much harder for women! You did it once you can do it again!, It sounds like you have a great partner too.

keep on going