My second daughter was born eleven days ago! Now that I am home, I find myself still indulging as if I was pregnant. The macaroons, cookies and ice cream. I can't exercise yet because I had a c section and still have pain.
I have always struggled with my weight all my life. I grew up in a constant dessert household and fast food. My older daughter has a sweet tooth I know because of me. I gained around 30/35 pounds. But I was overweight when I started my pregnancy.
It's hard to just turn off my sweet tooth. When I don't have sweets in the house I miss it. When I have it in the house, I have little self-control. I usually join Weight Watchers twice a year b/c it is relatively affordable and I think I need the accountability in a meeting/group setting. But then I give up and quit.
I thought about how any of those in center weight loss programs are not a one size fits all. Why can't I follow a program on my own like the Dash Diet or the Mediteranean Diet?
I am not looking to drop drastic weight but I am not pregnant anymore. It's the hard truth. Any advice? Thank you!
Would it help if I told you that I've never eaten as much as I did when I was bfding? Between nausea, backpain, and discomfort of pregnancy, I never had much appetite. But once that baby was born, the sleepless nights and breastfeeding had me eating with the gusto of a college linebacker. All the preg weight came off too in about 2 months, save for about 6lbs, which my body held onto until after I stopped feeding.
Best,
F. B.
I have two thoughts on this. 1) It's way too early to worry about weight loss. Give yourself at least 6 months. 2) You can't eat something that isn't there. Stop buying junk.
If you don't buy it, you can't eat it.
I have the same sweet tooth problem... I can (and will) eat sweets all day long if I let myself. Lol. So I have started making a grocery list, and sticking to it. For snacks, I try to pick up a bunch of fresh fruits and veggies. I chop them and keep them in the fridge so they are easy access when I feeling,e snacking. It's crazy, because I'm pretty sure my taste buds are changing... I could never stand cucumber before, and now it's my go-to munchie.
I do eat sweets once in a while. That way, I don't go crazy and eat an entire box of Oreos in one sitting when I do slide back a bit. Lol.
Congrats! First of all, you just had your baby, so take it slow and be kind to yourself. You sound like you have a sugar addiction (sounds silly, but evidence is showing that it's a real thing). Watch some documentaries and TED talks online about how toxic and addictive sugar is. That will help you cut WAY back. They are now linking sugar to cancer, heart disease and of course diabetes. Once you have that info, it's easier to stop buying it and much easier to stop feeding as much of it to your kids. I was buying Easter goodies and thought carefully about each thing I bought, because of this new info. I found some sweets that are better (not great) but I'm working on it too. Once you stop eating the sweets, you crave them less too.
yep- you gotta stop bringing the sweets into the house.
A big thing that has worked for me is to focus on what I CAN and should eat instead of what I can't and should not have. There is more reason to eat healthy than just loosing weight and looking better. Try to eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. At least two servings at every meal and often for snacks too. Try to pack as many into a day as possible - this will focus on abundance of consumption NOT deprivation. Raw, steamed, stir fry/sautee with a little evoo and spice, roasted.
And then also protein with every meal. NO junk carbs!!!! I think once you start eating more fruit, your sweet tooth will change :)
Hi A., congratulations!! 2 girls, that is a blessing! My girls are 15 and 18 and it is fantastic!
I hear what you are saying, a "sweet tooth" is a sign of not getting what you need. It comes from the body missing some key nutrients. I was never into sweets, it was the salty stuff that hooked me. 2 large McDs french fries a day or more. A bag or 2 of chips...not the little ones but the family size bags. I just opened them, put them in a bowl and munched throughout the day. They seemed to just "disappear" every day ;)
A., my youngest was 7 before I got serious about my health and my cravings and my weight. With the help of my dear friend, I started working on my health instead of my "sickness" (the cravings, the fat...).
I focused on ME...I stopped bringing the junk into the house. Period. If I wanted it, I had to go out of my way for it. By the time I thought about getting the kids together etc, I changed my mind. Then I started feeling myself (and y family) better. In just 1 year I got it under control. Thank god for my friend who loved me enough to get me started. Then she coached me through it. The whole team did. It was great. Now, 8 years later, I have kept the weight off, I have completely changed my eating habits and I am earning an income by helping other moms do what I did because my friend showed me how. That is how network marketing works. You use a product, you get real results, you help others do the same and everybody wins.
A., I would love to help you, you just have to want it.
Do you want it?
B.
Girl, don't even think about this yet. It's been 11 days. Unfortunately it will take twice as long the second time around to get back. And you will have less time for exercise with two kids. And you will have more temptation around this time with an older child who also wants to eat cookies, mac'n'cheese etc.
You kind of have to get comfortable with a new normal. Your body is never going back to what it was pre-babies. So you have to go easy on yourself.
I've always been one of those who likes to treat themselves, and just exercises to counteract that. I have never been a good "dieter". But I do run, walk, workout to videos. But I have also had to accept I am not going to ever look how I did at 20/25/30.
I actually looked my best after my first baby. But I was unable to ever get back to that after the second baby (see reasons above). I just had a third two months ago and breastfeeding has helped shed some lb's but nothing magical you know? We'll see. One thing I try to focus on is that having daughters, I really want to model and healthy lifestyle AND a healthy Body Image. So that is usually my motivation to get exercise, eat only one cookie and really savor it, and not act all stressed all the time about food choices.
Congratulations on your new baby!
If you cannot control your urges to eat, then keep the junk out of the house. In reality, you don't need macaroons, cookies and ice cream. We are not a sweets/dessert family. I have boxes of girl scout cookies that are over 2 yrs old in my freezer and have never been opened... Same with holiday baskets of candy we received for Christmas.
MODERATION is key and keeping a balance. Of course you can't fully exercise yet but I would be doing some sort of movement to get my heart rate up, even it I just swung my arms harder when I walked around.
Good luck...
Please give yourself a break. You are doing a great job recovering and taking care of your baby. That is all you should think about. If your eating cookies it is probably because you are exhausted and stressed and need the sugar. Enjoy!This is no time to be self critical. You just grew a human in your body! You are beautiful and amazing the way you are! Thanks for all your hard work!
You can join WW for nursing moms, and they have mom and me group meetings. Also consider breaking down your meals/snacks to 5 smaller meals a day, maybe one of your meals you can make a shake. I am 14 wks right now and overweight, I have not gained any weight so far, have actually lost. It is not easy, I have cut out sweats pretty much all together, only keep chocolate chips in the house and have maybe an once of them after dinner, still need my chocolate.
It is very hard, I never lost the 50-60lbs I gained after having my first son. I guess what has inspired me to eat healthier is that I am able to be heathier and more active with my son, including more energy.
Another option is there is a website called emeals.com that you print your shopping list and meal list out for the week. There is no shopping list to be made and no menu planning. It does cost a little bit of money but they have many different options paleo diet, clean eating, low calorie, etc. We have been using emeals for awhile since I got pregnant, makes dinner time really easy right now at our house.
I use sugar free to quell the cravings. I have sugar free dark chocolate miniatures, and sugar free hard candies with me all the time.
Now, if you just eat them nonstop, there is no point. But if you have just 1 chocolate after dinner, or a "serving" of hard candies throughout the day...it will help.
Personally I find them just as good as the real thing.
Pregnancy isn't a time to indulge in cookies, ice cream and candy. When you know that you overindulge, it's a mistake to keep that stuff in the house.
You don't need a temporary diet. You need better eating habits that you can follow for life, not a few months to lose weight and then gain it back.
Don't keep things in the house that you shouldn't be eating. Exercise portion control. For when you must indulge, keep single portion serving treats in the house - individual sherbet cups, 100 calorie cookie packs, not something that you can keep reaching into the box of cookies or scooping into the tub of ice cream.
When I was looking to lose weight, I always did what I alled the quarter plan. I didn't eliminate foods/food groups. I ate the way that I normally ate, but I got rid of 1/4 of what was on my plate, thereby cutting my intake of calories and fat by 25%. It's not an excuse to eat ice cream when you didn't before, if you only eat 3/4 of it, but if you normally have pizza night on Fridays, you still do that but only eat 1 1/2 slices instead of 2. If your family goes out to Friendly's for an ice cream every Sunday, get a 2 scoop and immediately take 1/2 a scoop off and have the server take it away.
Good luck.
