It's not working! :(

[butterfly_warrior]

Sometimes if you eat too little and exercise too much your body goes into starvation mode and it becomes very hard to lose weight. You may also find that your breastfeeding metabolism makes it harder to shift as well - friend of mine would gain weight while BF, no matter what she did.

I have to agree with the calorie king website - not only will it count calories but it will also let you know how much protein/fat/carbohydrate you are consuming so you can make sure you're getting a balanced diet.

Try not to be too hard on yourself.

BW

[sloane]

i'm another fan of the calorie king website! i liked it for the calorie counting help & guidelines of how many calories per day etc but i also liked that if i found i was becoming too obsessed with calorie counting (because that's a surefire way to make me want to eat MORE! ) that i could set myself things like fibre targets & that took away the pressure & made me focus on the quality & health benefits of what i was eating. and by default i lost weight & also felt better!

i also agree with BW that maybe you're not eating enough? and it does sound like you're doing alot of exercise!

the time i lost the most weight was when i saw a PT once a week - he really helped with my diet as well.

hang in there, it will come off

[aussienic]

I was going thru the same thing except I was simply to slack to exercise..

This year I have lost 12 kgs (and still going) the way i did it was this....

I stopped eating at night.. I still have the occassional snack but if I am not hungry I don't eat. If I am halfway through a meal and feel full I stop no matter how good the food tastes. I am drinking lots of water and trying to have at least 1-2 pieces of fruit a day.

I was constantly stuck at 85kg and it just wouldn't budge.. I am now down to 73. I am yet to lose my tummy but I know that won't go away without any exercise so thats next on my list

Can I make a suggestion though.. As BW said to much exercise and not enough food can actually make you gain weight. you body thinks it needs all the calories ect so takes it all from the food and stores the fat..

Maybe stick to 2-3 meals a day with a bigger lunch smaller dinner.. and if hungry have a apple or something,,

I hope you drop the dress size you want but also remember clothes hide a lot of things so go shopping for something that suits your body shape

[AllisD]

Hi

I have to agree with some of the comments above. I think that you should first of all be proud of the effort that you have already put into improving your health and fitness.

1. I think you should get out the tape measure and you may be surprised at the cm's you have lost - even though the scales wont budge.

2. Cut down your exercise - Breastfeeding makes a person extremely tired and your baby is still very young. You are probably exhausted and exercising while exhausted will only place more strain on your body that do good. 3 - 5 times a week walking is fine.

3. 8 weeks is plenty of time to lose a dress size - but for it to be of any benefit it is better to lose it consistently than quickly/crash diet.

4. Perhaps you need to refresh your mind as to healthy eating for weight loss. The Calorieking website looks fantastic.

5. If you can afford it - there are some fantastic weight loss programs that cost money - but can do several things - deliver the food to you, provide support in a controlled eating program etc etc.

I am also losing weight (Although I have a LOT more than 1 dress size to lose) and I am breastfeeding a 8 month old. It is very tough as I am always hungry and thirsty and ALWAYS tired!

Best of luck & I am sure you will do it!


AllisD

[Novella]

I have recently stopped bf my dd, I had trouble shifting the weight while bf but have managed to drop 6kg in 4 weeks when I stopped. My hunger has dropped heaps. Im not suggesting you stop bf at all, just that it may be a factor in the dificulty losing weight. Since I have stopped bf I have started weight watchers and have been going to the gym twice a week and it seems to be working


Sounds like you aren't getting enough clalories, as pp have said limiting your calories too severley will slow your metabolism significantly, also bf mothers require a significant amount of extra calories per day (I think 400-600 from memory). Good luck with the weight loss, I found it so frustrating trying to lose weight while bf and could not balance weight loss and maintaing my supply its a hard one.

[kirsty_lee]

Sometimes if you eat too little and exercise too much your body goes into starvation mode and it becomes very hard to lose weight

I was going to say that too. Have you tried eating six small meals a day? instead of the standard lge 3 meals a day. Also I agree with what someone else said about the tape measure. You might be pleasantly suprised with how many inches you've lost

[Glamourcide]

Thanks for the tips and support, ladies I'm just stuck in such a frustrated state of mind because I've lost the vast majority of the actual 'baby weight' (ie, belly & hips) and although my lower body needs a bit of toning, I'm not too unhappy with it. It's my upper body - flabby upper arms, huge pads of fat and loose skin on my back and under my arms (like beside my boobs, down my ribs) that is proving impossible to shift. I'm doing everything I can think of to work my back, shoulders and arms and it doesn't seem to be making a whit of difference - to be honest I'm not even using scales to measure weight, just my trusty tape measure and seeing how a certain outfit fits on me to determine whether any change is happening, and so far, no good. I'm so desperate to get rid of these disgusting arms - my upper arms are nearly four times the width of my forearms, and it's so disproportionate and ugly it makes me sick to look at. Trying different clothes to hide it doesn't help, as baggy/looser-fitting clothing on my upper body just makes me look like an elephant, and even *more* disproportionate when I have a pair of twigs with knees sticking out underneath it all, kwim? If I was a nice, even size 14 all over I wouldn't worry about losing weight or getting into shape, but because I have size 9 hips and legs and from the waist up I'm much, much bigger, it's really messing with my head.

I am trying to be sensible about my eating, as in 6 small meals/snacks rather than 3 larger meals, but as a recovered anorexic it's really hard to avoid falling back into the old habits of excessive exercise and obsessing about food. Of course I don't want to go there, for my own health as well as providing a good example to my girls, but it's a fine line when I'm so preoccupied with how awful I'm looking right now

[CrazyLady]

You need to relax and ease off on the exercise a tad. Sometimes stress can also contribute to weight gain and also try to get more sleep because studies have shown that people who sleep more are less likely to have weight problems. I know that's hard to say with a 4 month old baby but try heading to bed and having a cuddle with DH instead of sneaking back on the bike.