Postpartum Weight Loss - Omaha,NE

J.,
It can be very frustrating at this time, because you feel like you should be back to normal. Don't fret. Keep doing what you're doing with the exercise, and the weight will eventually drop off. Keep an eye on your calorie intake (make sure you're getting enough, like one mom said, so you're not triggering "starvation" mode in your body and slowing your metabolism, but also make sure you're eating good calories). Also, try adding some other exercise to your routine if you can - sometimes getting different muscle groups working can help jump start that metabolism and fat-burning process. Go for a DVD that contains short 10-15 minute segments that you can choose, that way you can get in a decent workout in a short amount of time.
Good luck and don't worry - your body WILL go back to normal (well, almost normal... :)
A. K

This is going to sound like crazy advice, but increase your calorie intake. I was trying to lose weight w/ my first while I was breastfeeding. No success despite working out regularly and watching food intake. A personal trainer told me to count calories and make sure I was getting at least 1800 calories. The weight started to drop immediately and I lost about 25 pounds. Hope that helps.

The biggest thing is to chill out and just wait for your body to do what it's going to do. You are just not in control when you're breastfeeding. Keep exercising, it's still great for you.

One suggestion would be to do some resistance training instead of all cardio. That will increase your muscle mass to increase your metabolism. You probably won't lose a pound (may even gain) but you'll firm up. Huge caution is to eat enough calories, especially protein for your nursing baby.

If you're active and healthy, it will happen when you body is ready. God made our bodies pretty smart. Same thing happened to me on #2 compared to #1.

Best wishes,
A. Tix
ACE-Certified Personal Trainer
Independent Shaklee Distributor
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Hi J.
Any chance you're not eating enough calories?? Might be-- and the kind.
AT least 75 gm protein- more if taller than 5'7", one starch a day, 7 servings of colorful fruits and veggies- darker better, 64+ oz water per day. Cal in cal out.
Take an omega 3- your baby depleted you of that without supplements during pregnancy.

Hope that starts you out.

About me 48 yo perfusionist, wellness coach who helps with a nationwide online biggest loser challenge and mom to 7 yo twin girls.

Make today Great- and don't give up
B. J

I'd make sure that you are drinking enough fluids and eating lots of vegetables. I lost all the baby weight and 20 lb. more after #3 (I had it to lose.) I hit a plateau at a certain point and had to break through after about 2 weeks of the scale not budging. It will work. I'd also suggest a food diary to see what you are eating. I tried hard to steer clear of too much sugar and salt whenever possible. It worked for me.

It's tough, but wait it out. I was told by my OB and lactation consultant that often your body will hang onto those last 10 lbs or so until you finish breastfeeding - your body knows its feeding a baby, and wants to be prepared in case there's a famine or something. ;-) Don't get too fixated on the numbers - you're taking great care of your body, you're taking great care of your baby's body by breastfeeding, be patient and it'll work itself out. Good luck!

Hi J.-

I gained about the same amount with my second and found that a combination of cardio, weight lifting and pilates did the trick. It took only a couple of months for me to lose all of the weight plus a little bit more. I recently took a weight lifting class for women at the YMCA and loved it, as I am somewhat intimidated by the machines. Otherwise, if you belong to a club, someone should be more than happy to set you up on the weight machines. If not, try incorporating some lunges, squats and ab work into your cardio workout to start. Hope this helps. -L.

I hit a plateau at 5 months after my daughter was born... my doc told me not to try and shed all the pounds quickly because all the bad fat/toxins then goes into the blood stream and can enter the breast milk. For the first year I was told that I can lose any weight through walking and basic exercise that will only burn the pounds slowly.

So I would say keep up what you are doing and after you are done breastfeeding you can step up the exersice. It has been 2 1/2 years since I had my little one and I still want to lose 5-10 pounds so I was told to "step" up my routine and do more then just walk... so I plan on swimming laps, simple weight lifting, and yoga in addition to me walking.

Best of luck and try to focus more on your baby the shedding the pounds, they will come off when you can step up your exercise but your baby is only a baby once.

Change up your workouts. If you run that much your body might ust be used to it. Do a class, or get some videos from the library and do those at home. We just started a boot camp class and kickboxing class at our gym and they are kicking my butt!

I would try to do some weight training. Sometimes just changing up your workouts does the trick. Also, more muscle helps boost your metabolism which sheds the weight. Sounds like you're doing great already though. It's always taken me much longer to shed the weight.

I found that I shed the weight after I stopped breastfeeding. But, since that isn't an option, the only thing I can think of is that you might need to switch up your exercise routine. If you continue to do 4 miles each day, your body gets used to that and will only work so hard. Try a stationery bike or take a spin class, lift some weights or do the stairmaster. I have worked with several personal trainers who really push a variety of exercises to help maximize your metabolism. Best of luck!!

I hit a plateau around that time too even though I was exercising regularly. I breastfed for 7 months, then after weaning my son, I started eating a low-fat diet and balancing my protein/carb intake. Along with the exercise it seemed to do the trick. At 9 m. postpartum I was back to pre-baby weight. (I gained 33 lbs, so very similar to you)