The Post-Baby Body Blues
Posted by joy10 Sep
For the past twelve weeks I’ve watched calories, joined Baby Boot Camp (an outdoor exercise class for a postpartum workout), and have breastfed this hungry baby of mine every two hours. I’ve lost four measly pounds from my post-birth weight. While part of me just wants to throw up my hands and cry into my steel cut oats, the other part of me realizes that patience is key.
Some of us shed weight easily while breastfeeding but apparently twenty percent of us have bodies that actually hold onto pounds while nursing. I must fit into that lucky fraction because it seems that weight loss was actually easier before I had the baby. How can that be?
Now that I’m back to work, there’s less time to dedicate to eating right and exercising. But being thrifty and green, my weight loss regime will consist of smaller portions of natural foods and lots of outdoor walks with my baby. I hope that combining those habits with a bit of patience will help me back into a healthy body.
Do you have any great weight loss tips to contribute? I’d love to hear them!
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11 Responses for "The Post-Baby Body Blues"
for the past twelve months i have done this, and gained 4 pounds!
argh. i feel your pain. actually, when the nursing decreased over the summer, i did manage to lose about 10 lbs (woo hoo, only 35 more to go!). but esp. once my cycle returned last month, i felt less bloated. hopefully this means things will only get better and i can shed this body suit!
Seriously, it was around the 6 month mark of nursing that all my weight came off. For some reason it just stuck around before that! I actually got skinny…mind you as soon as I stopped nursing, but continued to eat like I was, the regular weight came back. I keep telling people that my weight loss plan will be to have another baby. Hang in there! It will happen.
I literally walked my ass off. I live car free and pushing a twenty pound stroller around to do errands for around half an hour every day made me feel great and my jeans to big. I also pump for a milk bank which is basically fedexing calories to someone else (who needs them).
I hate that you’re struggling with this, but SO glad that I’m not alone. I want to scream when people are like, “Breastfeeding makes the pounds melt away!!!” Hmm, they seem to be puddling here….lol
No tips. I’m at a loss. Just wanted to say thank you. lol
Strolling has given me my best results. I have this “10 Minute Solutions” Pilates dvd and it’s great… but so much has to be in order in my life (or I have to just forget the laundry and the dishes!) so those workouts are few and far between.
As far as those last pounds… I’m right there with ya’ in the category of holding on. I’d love to hear more about those statistics. I’ve always thought of my “spare tire” as a nice little storehouse of fat for my baby in the case of famine! Ha!
12 weeks is early. (I’m guessing it doesn’t feel early, but looking back with a 20-month old, it really is.) My greatest weight loss came between 5 and 8 months, with a baby who wasn’t sold on solids yet.
I am in that lucky group with you also! I hardly lost any weight until I stopped breastfeeding and was so frustrated. When I finally did see the scale start to move, it was after breastfeeding and I was walking/jogging everyday and eating as healthy as I could with a toddler! One thing that really helped me was chewing gum and water, water, water. I drank a glass before every meal and it filled me up and helped me eat less. I am pregnant again, due next month, and am hoping the next time around my body has a different weight loss schedule in mind.
I’m one of those also that carries about 5-10 pounds more than pre-baby weight while breastfeeding. And it’s perfectly normal! After I had my son I actually gained 10 pounds because I had only been able to gain about 10 or 12 pounds while pregnant. But both times I start to lose the weight around the year old mark. Some women just need the extra weight as part of breastfeeding. Ahhhh, what we endure for our little monkeys!
If I remember correctly it’s at about the 5 months mark that your body burns the most calories from breastfeeding. It takes 9 months to put the weight on and at least 9 months for the body to go back to what it was. I think part of the problem is all these movie stars that look super skinny right after birth. They have personal trainers, cooks, and I wonder if some of them might have a little surgical help. Keep walking and eating healthy foods. It will happen.
i second what other posters say above…just be patient. it def took me at least 6 months to begin fitting into old pants. it will happen:) give yourself some grace!
Unfortunately, I am in the same boat. I just had my third baby in less than four years 8 weeks ago. The weight has always stuck around so it seems. I exercise and eat right all the way up until I give birth, but I still feel like I am one of the few people that I know that just hangs onto the extra weight put on by pregnancy. It doesn’t help mind you that I keep getting pregnant. I was a size 4 before I got pregnant with my first and now I am in the double digits. I dropped my 3 year old off at preschool the other day and there was another mom there with a new baby (only 2 weeks old) and she was already back in her old clothes, looking amazing. The whole post baby body blues is a huge challenge for me. I wish I had something encouraging to post, but I am struggling with the same thing myself. I am trying to enjoy my baby (my last baby) and not worry so much about the weight and just continue to eat healthy and exercise, but it has me very down. Good luck! I hope it comes off when you stop nursing.
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