HELP!!! I Cannot Take off the Weight....

W.,

I just got back from my sisters house and she was having the exact same problem, (except she had much more weight to lose.)
She was at a point that she thought her body was no longer working and something was "wrong" with her.

I sent her a book called six day total body makeover just before I went out to visit. When I got there she insisted we do it together. She was very skeptical, not thinking anything would work. Well, today is day six and as of yesterday, she has lost 11 lbs and I have lost 10 1/2.

The authors name is Michael Thurmond and you can probably find a used copy at a booksite like abebooks.com for about $1 plus shipping. It's a bit complicated and requires some time for preparation. But, if you do it, you will lose weight. It's basically very clean eating six small meals customized for your body type. (There's a little quiz in the book.) No salt, added fat, dairy, or wheat. It's a big change, but worth it if you really want to take the weight off.

Hope that helps,

D. Hand
Hands On Massage
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1 mom found this helpful

I've found there's always room for improvement in our daily habits. To get the last few lbs off this time (I never did get them off the first time) I gave myself a challenge. Give yourself 12 weeks and focus the entire time on improving one thing that you do. I just finished my "12 week challenge" where I limited my sweets to one day each week and exercised vigorously 3-5 times each week. I lost 5 lbs and 3 inches on my waist! Each person is different so you will probably have to focus on something different. My sister did it with me and she focused on eating more vegetables to balance out her diet. Good luck and I hope this helps!

1 mom found this helpful

Hey there, I know how frustrating those last few pounds can be. You said you go to the gym, are you doing weights to up your metabolism? (I'm not talking about body building intensity weights, but tone and strength) Also try switching out what you do with things completely different. If you've been doing a lot of cardio try to back off a bit, then build back up to a higher intensity. If you do elliptical try the bike, ect.. Also try switching up your calories. Eat a little more for a week or two. I'm not completely familiar with weight watchers but make sure what you eat is balanced with carbs, fat, and protein. We need all three but in the right percentages ( I want to say 50% carb, 25% each of fat and protein are good numbers, but with weights I found a little more protein vrs fat works for my body. There is a great website called daily plate and it will show a pie chart of your intake. Then main idea is to keep your body confused. When my hubby plateaued the fitness guy at the gym told him that our bodies get use to the same routines and calorie intake. If we switch things up our bodies will keep on guessing at what we are doing so it wont stall out. This seemed to work for my hubby and myself so it might be worth a shot. Keep up the good work and good luck.

1 mom found this helpful

I hear you. I was pregnant four times in five years two later miscarriages..and depression eating). Now my youngest is three and I struggle with the last ten...also turned thiry. But do change how you eat. If you are like e, you ate everything in sight while nursing. I now eat on a salad plate unless I am eating a salad. The Sonoma diet is actually a toddler segmant plate. Veggies are in the large section, meats/protien in one smaller portion, and fruit or starch (not both) in other section. Don't heap them. But if you get used to eating on your kid's plates, you will start eating less. It is great. Also, my son on a low tolerance diet with no perservatives (except citric acid), soy, dairy, and corn syrp. It is awesome for all of us because we have no junk in the house. I only buy natural plain potatoe chips nd plain tortilla chips. I really don't like either but is gives me a little salt crunchy when I need it. Also, I really didn't want Halloween candy. It just looks grose to me! So get rid of all corn syrup first...just toss it out of the house and learn to look of it on labels...ps: sodas are all corn syrup!

1 mom found this helpful

I can completely understand how you feel! It took me a while to finally get to a place that I was happy with after my first two pregnancies and breastfeeding (now I am pregnant with #3 and will have to do it again). I think the other posters had good ideas. You should track what you eat and try to change up your workout routine. Strength training is a must as well. Aerobic activitie only burns extra calories while you are doing while strength training will contiue to burn calories after and building muscle will increase your metabolism. I am a personal trainer and teach group fitness classes for moms with small children. We target specific issues of moms such as what you are having. You may want to check and see if we have any programs in your area. We provide group exercise but you get personal attention that you would recieve with a trainer at a much more affordable price. We also have a class specifically targeting the mommy tummy. Moms in my class have lost inches in their hips and waist in 4-8 classes. Good luck! You can find classes at www.strollerfit.com

1 mom found this helpful

Hi! I know your pain. I have three girls and I found that each consecutive baby it was harder and harder to take off the weight! I did a modified version of South Beach. I did phase one pretty strictly for 2 weeks and lost 8 lbs and kept it off. I also eat balanced and exercise regularly which has helped keep it off. I do phase one every once in a while (after holidays etc) and I get back to my goal weight pretty quickly. Oh, and when I say modified version of south beach, I basically ate unlimited vegetables, lean proteins, eggs, cheese, fat free plain yogurt with Whole Foods version of Splenda, nuts, V-8 and when I got a huge sweet craving, I ate either sugar free jello or 60% cacao dark chocolate. Drink lots of water! Phase two you can add fruits and whole grains. The first couple of days I was very grumpy and almost gave up, but after that I had a ton of energy and never felt better. The key to that diet is that it keeps your blood sugar very constant. Good luck!!

1 mom found this helpful

I just found out about a great weight loss product. Check out my website www.kristindean.myvi.net it is a meal replacement system that tastes great, is great for you and really works. It is actually cheaper than what you would usually spend on your breakfast and lunch everyday. Let me know what you think.

Go to the grocery store buy yourself some Hoodia. I needed to lose about 15 pounds for my cousins wedding last year and this stuff worked wonders. It isnt a diet pill it doesnt make you dizzy or hyped up. It is fairly cheap and it worked Wonders for me.

I strongly urge you to keep with weight watchers, really follow the program, like use the books dilegently for tracking etc. Weight watchers has a magazine and they have an article about the plateau, they will show different people and how they change things up to lose those last pounds. Youare so right, don't spend all that cash, you need a lifetime solution that you can maintain with your family's lfestyle and budget. I really think it works. You could also up your aerobic exersize. Also, walk every day, this works too, take the baby's with you and just do it, I promise this will work! Walk at least 2 or 3 miles! Bundle up if you have too! Good luck!

Hello W.,

I'm not sure if you are weight training at the gym. I was in the same situation after I had my daughter - a persistent 15 pounds. I was running and doing all types of cardio and nothing. Then, I started going to a weight training class(called Body Pump at my gym) a couple times a week and it made all the difference. I am not in better shape than I was before I had my daughter. Just a thought!

D.

Few suggestions for you:
1. Read "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell" by Debra Waterhouse. It will really help you understand what you need to do and it is definitely not starving yourself or dieting.
2. Make sure you are doing weight training. Muscle weighs more than fat, so it can be deceptive on the scale. A great program if you live in the Denver area is called Deeptone. It is a one hour one day a week program that I've been doing for over 10 years with good results.
3. Consider a Body Balance program with a cleanse component. I used to be a 2 - 3 bowls of cereal girl and now I drink a shake in the morning. The Nikken Body Balance program has the cleanse and rev up your metabolism components as well. You can use it to lose, gain or maintain. Email me if you want more info on it.
4. I also wear the Nikken CardioStrides tennis shoes. They worked with Nike to design these fitness shoes that have a 1.3 pound weight in the shoe. I wear them for walks as well as around the house and running errands. Figure if a 30 minute walk can be turned into 300 calories, plus help me tighten and tone, all the better! Again, email me for more info.
5. Drink lots of good quality water. Many times we eat because we are actually dehydrated. Get off the diet drinks as well (bad for you for many reasons). Nothing hydrates you as well as water. If you don't like the taste or quality of your water, I can also help you with that too.

Good luck!
S.

I agree with Kelly. Change up your exercise routine. Your gym should have someone that you can talk to about good ways to burn more calories, such as appropriate resistance training and anaearobic bursts during your cardio -basically, during your cardio training, you push it up into the anearobic threshhold - to a level where you can only maintain for a couple minutes. After a minute at this level, drop to a recovery level (dont stop altogether!) then resume your workout. Do this 2 to 3 times during your cardio. Your body can't burn fat during anaerobic bursts, and it forces it to deplete the sugar stores in your muscles. After the exercise, your body goes to work replacing the sugar stores and adding more so it is prepared for next time. This means there are fewer calories for other things, causing fat to be used for other activities. It increases metabolism.

Also track what you eat. You may need to drop 100-200 calories (count calories!) Or you may need to add 100-200 to make sure your body hasn't gone into "starvation mode".

I had hit a plateu with losing the last 10 lbs of baby weight (plus the 5 of newlywed) and I finally worked with a personal trainer who worked with me on both. See if your gym has a trainer and how much it might cost.

Hi W.,

First, I want to tell you how bold you are and how much greatness I see in you already! You can do this ;)
I would love to talk with you over the phone asap. I have just the thing for you. I know of a company that is THE WORLD'S LEADER IN NUTRITIONAL CLEANSING. This is permanent weight loss and optimal nutrition for life. :)

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<3

B.

It sounds like you get your work out in and you mention you are into nutrition. That's great! I had two babies in 3 years also! I have always been an exerciser and tried to eat nutritionally, but I got introduced to Herbalife a year ago and it changed my life so much better. I dropped 5% in body fat percentage, and I have vital energy now, more endurance, and just feel great. Now, I coach people on their health goals. I had a client, Bafi from Africa, lose 17 pounds in two weeks the healthy way. Another client, Ruth from Salt Lake City, lost 40 inches and 11 pounds in 5 weeks. If you are interested in taking a look, you can contact me at ____@____.com or 888-236-4453.
-O.

I have really liked 'The Flat Belly Diet'. It is easy to follow, tasy and very balanced and healthy. It is a way of life eating rather than a short-term diet, centered on replacing unhealthy fats with healthy monounsaturated fats. They are tasty and satisfying. You eat 4-x a day and you decrease (somewhat) your carbs. There is good, lean protein and produce. It is not the kind of thing where you eat a very specified meal on a specific day, but you are given guidelines and lots of choices. It helps you lose belly fat much more quickly, too. And I am a firm believer that you can't have permanent weightloss without exercise which you are doing- keep it up! I hope you find your solution!

Trying changing it up. Go the the gym an extra time or extend your time by 10 minutes. Take a good look at your diet. Eliminate white sugars and flours and go as "all natural" as possible. You may also try a cleansing diet to kick things in gear (I have a great one if you want it). I've found that you just have to change things up a bit. Great job though!

Hello! You said that you didn't have 1000+ dollars to spend on the program, but how about 250? I know of a WONDERFUL product called Visalus. Its a system that works. My dad lost 50 lbs in 2 months, my aunt who has NEVER been able to take off any weight lost 15 in the first two weeks, and the stories keep going on and on. I don't think I've met anyone who hasn't had success with this program. If you want more information, let me know. My father is a distributor,(Don't worry, we are not the pushy salesperson type) and he can hook you up with all sorts of info. Good luck!

W., the fact that you already go to the gym 3-4 times a week is great. You're already in the habit of exercising. That is huge!

You didn't write about what you do at the gym. Your plateau might possibly be because you are in an exercise rut. Make sure you're mixing it up a bit, and challenging your muscles in new ways.

Weight training is a MUST if you want to lose fat. If you are not already doing this, you need to start. Don't worry about bulking up, as a woman with low levels of testosterone, you won't. The muscle you gain will just melt away the fat, you'll be stronger and have more energy to chase your kids and carry your next pregnancy. If you are already weight training, increase the weight. Do new exercises that challenge the muscles in new ways.

As far as cardio goes, longer is not necessarily better. You need to work smarter. Research interval training, and incorporate that into your cardio workouts. Your heart will get stronger, you will increase your metabolism for longer post-workout, and you'll rev up the calorie burn, all in the same amount of time.

Good luck!

Hi W.!

I recommend reading The Raw Food Detox Diet- it's not just about raw food- despite the title. It was very interesting and it is easy for me to eat this way... If I tried to explain it I would botch it- it's not complicated, but I am rather long-winded. The auther is Natalia Rose. I borrowed it from the library, but you can also go to www.detoxtheworld.com and find it there also. No extra expenses, you just eat differently (more healthily!). I've lost 7 pounds, have more energy and feel so much better in the short time I have been following the principles.
Good luck!
H. Gaitten
www.naturalchoices4baby.com

As a mom of three, I can sympathize. As a birth doula, I know how important it is to be in good shape when you get pregnant. I am also in Aurora and I travel out to West Denver to attend Strollerfit classes, which aren't too expensive and kick my butt! Other than that, I count calories and carbs and try to workout for a half hour doing a mix of cardio, weight training, and yoga. Having good motivation helps alot, like trying to get pregnant, or having a friend to workout with and push each other. Let me know if you have any questions!

Triathlon training, W.!
beginnertriathlete.com has training plans, I love the site. I did a couple of races last year and the weight just melted away! Good luck! Good Mommin'!
A.

Hi I went through the same thing! I could not get the weight off after nursing, I was hitting the gym as much as I could and thought I was eating healthy. Then my husband became a personal trainer and through that I wasn't eating enough calories! My body was holding on to whatever I had. So we started using this food logging system for his clients (I started to use it too) and I started dropping weight! That last 10 pounds my body was desperately holding onto was finally gone. Here is a 7 day activation code:QRKT3J our website is www.phys1que.com on the home page click PHYS1QUE Nutrition. please use it! It worked for me! Please let me know if you have any questions. ###-###-####