Difficult weightloss after childbirth - fact or fiction?

[fionas]

I don't think it's harder in terms of there being any physical/biological barriers to losing weight, I just think if you've got into bad food habits pre and during pregnancy, you're likely to carry those on after giving birth.

So if you've been eating too much and the wrong things whilst pregnant, it WILL be hard to lose the weight because the last thing you want to do is to start thinking about healthier choices, cooking healthier choices while you're in a sleep deprived haze and getting used to motherhood.

I think it's more a matter of having the mental energy to change food choices if you're used to making bad ones. If you've eaten healthily and sensibly during pregnancy then those choices become second nature and you're not going to suddenly start eating Maccas/other junk every second day.

I was overweight when I got pregnant (about 74kg) but made an effort to eat smaller portions, drink less alcohol (obviously) and eat more healthily. As a result, a week after giving birth I weighed 5kg less than the day I got pregnant - but that really wasn't rocket science.

I do get a bit annoyed by the view that you should eat absolutely what you want when you're pregnant as it will be easy to get the weight off afterwards. As I said, I think it's hard to change bad habits into good ones when you've got a newborn on your hands.

[BellyBelly]

I was less than pre-preg weight both times, I breastfed for 2-3 years each child tho and found weight came off easy that way.

It takes 9 months to put it on.... give it fair time to go too

[Nai]

I found that I couldn't lose weight until I had stopped breastfeeding as I think I have the sort of metabolism that thinks it needs to hang on to fat

However once I went down to 2 BF a day I was able to lose the weight and got down to pre-preg weight quite easily.

[Cricket]

I weighed more before I had any kids than I do now! I'm about 40lb (18kg?) less than I was before I became pregnant with DD1. I think the combination of having to do more running around after the kids, as well as trying to eat more healthy food for their sake and mine made the difference. And for anyone wanting to lose weight, I highly recommend drinking water! It makes the biggest difference for me! However, it does seem that I always end up becoming pregnant shortly after starting a water-drinking campaign. Oh well.

[lj268]

I agree totally with Fiona, its what goes in when ur pg that counts, there is nothing good about the old saying "you're eating for two now"! I mean I used to weigh about 55kgs bc (before children) and after each child it has taken me many many years of trying, dieting and sheer will power to try and lose the excess weight I gained while pg. My last pregnancy I got to an all time high in weight, I got up to 94kgs and I was devastated as I know it is now a real battle to try and lose the weight, not to mention the shape my body has taken on after having children!! I now have the "classic baby roll" such an awful sight and since having my fourth child havent been able to shift this.
I dieted hard a couple years after I had my 5th bub and I got to my lightest since having children which was 64.9kgs and I just couldnt seem to get any lower, but as soon as I eat anything bad I gain more weight, its like I have the worse metabolism ever and have often wondered if there is anything that can help with that!! I get so depressed when I look at myself in the mirror and cant stand to let my partner see me naked atm, its truly a bad situation...

Anyway, all I can say is that some people can lose the weight easily, where others struggle emensly (like myself, even tho Ive breastfed all my babies, and that is supposed to help with weight loss, it wasnt until I stopped that I could actually lose anything!). Also some people can just eat and do whatever and never struggle, but its all up to the individual and what happens to your body after childbirth and pregnancy.

Hope you can manage to get to your pre pregnant weight easily as it can be very depressing if you cant....in my opinion anyway....

cheers Lindy

[Curly]

I lost all the weight I put on with DS with no special effort...but it did take a while to drop off. I was still getting around in my maternity jeans for a few months after he was born which was thoroughly depressing but all of a sudden it just dropped off - I didn't do anything, it just happened. From memory it was about 5 or 6 months afterwards. I think it would have happened faster if I'd been able to go for more walks with DS but he HATED the pram...but that's another story.

This time around it seems to be just the same...I am still having to wear the maternity jeans because I don't have many clothes that fit me nicely at the moment and DD is 2 months old (and she WILL spew on me and my clothes, no matter how often I tell her not to LOL). So I'm just waiting for the same thing to happen. My "fat jeans" fit me...so that's something.

I do have a philosophy that "God helps those who help themselves" ie I make an effort not to eat too much junk food, both during pregnancy and after. It's important to remember that while you need more calories for pregnancy and breastfeeding, if you take in more calories than you need then of course you are going to put on more weight than you need. I think the best way to regulate that is to not limit your portions, eat until you are satisfied but make sure what you eat is good quality fuel...that will naturally stop you from taking in too many calories.

Actually...one of the other posters has made me think...she said the weight dropped off when she stopped BFing so much and that has made me wonder if I am the same... now that I think about it, when the weight really started to drop off quite dramatically it was after DS started on solids and I introduced a couple of FFs. Hmmmm....

But I would concur with Kelly...I know that I was back to my pre-preggy figure by the time DS was 9 months old and I can honestly say it happened on its own. I do remember thinking "9 months to put it on, 9 months to take it off."

[Kitt3n]

6 months post dd1 i was a size smaller than my pre preg weight, just went for a half hour daily walk and breastfed.

lets hope i have the same luck this time round!

[BekZ]

I found lossing weight after giving birth very difficult. I packed myself off to the doctor and he found that I developed a subclinical thyroid condition that was triggered by pregnancy. Inorder to lose weight I had to go off gluten, dairy, sugar and most carbs, take a drug that dealt with insulin resistance and all other sorts of stuff. Before I went to him I walked very day and watched what I ate closey but I did not lose a thing. After being on his diet for 3 months I lost 7kgs without exercising.

After DD2 same thing, although I did a lot more exercise and went back on a similar diet. I did not take the drugs my doc prescribed previously, instead I went to a Naturapath and she gave me a hormone balancing herbal formula. Once again I lost 4kgs within a small amount of time.

Now I am pregnant again and this time I will be/am exercising more and sticking to the diet thats works for me. As soon as I have this bub I will going back on the herbal formula to help regulate my hormones.